Advancing to the state "Sweet 16" for the 21st time in coach Ned Mircetic's 25-year tenure as head coach of the Ventura College women's basketball team did not have a sweet ending Wednesday, as the No. 4-seeded Pirates fell 69-47 to No. 5 Palomar in the CCCAA SoCal Regional Semifinals. Ventura (26-6) seemed to break down in every phase of the game and the Comets took advantage, advancing to Saturday's regional final. Freshman forward Brooke Zamora led VC with 14 points, seven rebounds, three blocked shots and a pair of steals.
The Pirates had a strong effort early. Christina Gonzalez converted an Aubri Smith assist for the early lead, and Zamora fed Makenna Murray for a 3-pointer to make the score 5-4 for VC. Erin Ross' power lay-up at the 14:16 mark gave Ventura a 9-6 lead, and Zamora nailed a 3-pointer with 8:08 on the clock for a 17-13 advantage.
The Comets came right back, however, scoring the next 10 points of the game to take a 23-17 advantage with 6:02 remaining in the first half. Ventura, seemingly fatigued, struggled to keep up with the Palomar attack. The deficit stretched to 30-19 with 3:02 remaining before a triple from Zamora and a drive from Aubri Smith cut it to six, 30-24, with 1:14 left. But a missed shot and a turnover by the Pirates, and two scores from the Comets closed the half and the score stood at 34-24 for Palomar.
The Comets scored the first seven points of the second half to stretch their advantage to 41-24 and the season began slipping away for Ventura. Murray and Carolyn Ruffino made four of the game's next six points, but the Pirates never could muster the energy for a comeback. VC pulled to within 12 on Madison O'Donnell's free throw at the 13:58 mark,but Palomar built the lead to 19 points, 52-33, less than two minutes later.
As the clock ticked away on the 2014-15 season, Palomar was simply the better team. The Comets led by as many as 25 points before Shiloh Smith's 3-pointer brought VC back to the 69-47 final score.
VC never got untracked offensively, shooting just 31 percent for the game from the floor and 22 percent from behind the 3-point line. They also struggled from the foul line, hitting five of 17 free throws. The comets also outrebounded VC 46-29.
On December 13 the Pirates were 7-5, having just lost to Fullerton for the second time in the non-conference season. The transformation from that team, a freshman-heavy team laden with inexperience, into the No. 4-seed in the SoCal playoffs was a testament to the players on the floor, the effort they gave in and out of practice, and their desire to improve a tiny bit every day.
A team that seemed vulnerable in November and December rallied to win 19 straight games, including a perfect 12-0 march through the Western State Conference North Division for the program's 25th straight conference title. They won their first-round playoff game against those same Hornets, who had beaten VC twice, to advance to the state "Sweet 16".
The Pirate sophomores, Micaela Pericone-Kapp, Madison O'Donnell and Carly Maciel, all state champions, closed their careers in the orange and black with dignity and class, living up to the expectations that are heaped upon all those who choose to play for Ventura College. Carolyn Ruffino, who is a sophomore academically and could move on, is also a state champion and proved to be a valuable leader for the Pirates.
The returning freshmen, Aubri Smith, Brooke Zamora, Makenna Murray, Christina Gonzalez, Erin Ross, Shiloh Smith and Felicia Magana, have a year of experience now. They progressed along the learning curve, and, with a solid off-season of improvement, should be ready to lead the next crop of talented newcomers to continue the We Play Hard tradition of Ventura College women's basketball. #WePlayHard