A day before her birthday, Mya Victor and her Pirate teammates had reason to celebrate. The transfer sophomore took an inbounds pass from Maddie Ozbourn and drained a long 3-pointer with 0.1 seconds remaining to lift VC to a 52-49 win over West Hills College Lemoore in the first round of the VC-Kiwanis Tournament of Champions Thursday. Victor finished the night with 16 points and 18 rebounds to lead Ventura (2-2) while Ozbourn added 15 boards to go along with six points and four assists.
The Pirates and Eagles were locked in close battle from the beginning. After West Hills opened up a 5-0 lead early, Ozbourn scored to get VC on the board and Kenya Edelhart answered an Eagle bucket with a 3-pointer. Ozbourn made a pair of charity tosses and connected inside for a deuce to tie the score at 9-9 before WHCL scored again before the end of the quarter for an 11-9 advantage.
Ventura went on a 9-2 run over the first five minutes of the second quarter to take an 18-13 lead. Edelhart's pull-up J tied the score before Sam Martinez bounced in a three for a 14-11 edge. Martinez connected inside ia few possessions later and Edelhart made a lay-up with 5:22 on the clock to expand the advantage to five. Victor hit a pair of inside shots, one on a sweet high-low pass from Ozbourne, before connecting on a pair of charity shots for a 24-19 advantage. Sofia Torres-Reyes hit one of two free shots before the end of the period for a 25-19 Pirate lead at intermission.
West Hills continued the fight into the second half, and the Pirates shooting woes from the floor and the foul line - VC shot 25 percent from the floor for the game and were 13-29 at the free throw line - helped keep the Eagles in the game. Jasmine Glover and Victor managed buckets for VC in the first four minutes of the period, but WHCL was able to erase the Pirate lead by the 6:00 mark. The eagles hit two free throws with 3:57 on the clock to take a 33-32 lead. Victor answered with a putback, and Alyssandra Lacanilao made two free shots to reestablish the Ventura edge. Lacanilao made two more charity tosses and Victor connected from the foul line as Ventura took a 39-35 lead into the final period.
VC went scoreless for the first 3:21 of the fourth falling behind 44-39 before Torres-Reyes cashed in an assist by Lacanilao to hit a three from the left corner to end the drought. Torres-Reyes then connected from range on the next possession to put Ventura back ahead 45-44 with 6:03 remaining. The teams went scoreless for another three minutes before an Eagle three put West Hills back in command. Victor had another offensive rebound and putback with 2:36 on the clock to tie the score, and Edelhart answered a West Hills free throw with a made jumper to put the Pirates ahead 49-48. Down the stretch the VC defense held fast, holding West Hills scoreless, but they struggled offensively, missing four free throws with a turnover. The Eagles tied the score making one of two free throws with 3.1 seconds remaining, setting the Pirates final game-winning play following a timeout.
"Five players in the floor working together, no one more important than the other, Team, team, team." -Coach Norman Dale. Execution by all 5 on the floor. Ozbourn to Victor for the TEAM win! #VCWePlayHard @VCAthletics @ventura_college @vcscolleges @TheAcornSports @TheGaragePod pic.twitter.com/VwMI8psiqg
— VC Womens Basketball (@VCwbbWPH) November 18, 2021
Edelhart scored nine points with five rebounds and Kylie Gallick grabbed nine boards in her first action of the season. Ventura owned a 62-38 rebound advantage for the contest.
The Pirates will host Long Beach at 7:00 pm on Friday Nov. 19 in the tournament semifinals. The other semifinal match up features Mt. San Antonio and College of the Canyons at 5:00 pm. Santa Monica and West Hills Lemoore open play at 1:00 pm followed by Napa Valley and Cypress at 3:00 pm.