The VC women's basketball team used a strong second half effort to move past Cypress 65-55 Friday afternoon in the consolation semifinals of the Buddy's All-Star Classic at LA Valley. Alexa Coubal posted her sixth double-double of the year with 19 points and 14 rebounds and Sam McKenzie netted 14 points. Tiernan Phillips totaled eight points and six boards while Daphné LeBrun handed out four assists and Leslie Salazar pulled in eight caroms.
Ventura (7-4) got off to another slow start, giving up a 12-2 run to the Chargers after Phillips' initial basket to tie the game at 2-2. After trailing 14-4, Amari Hurt, Coubal and McKenzie all scored in the final two minutes of the opening period to pull VC back to within 14-10 at the end of the quarter.
Coubal netted a free throw and McKenzie hit a jumper to begin the second quarter, completing a 9-0 Pirate run to pull them back to within one point with 9:02 left in the first half. Coubal completed the comeback with a pair of free throws for a 16-16 game at the 7:36 mark, and the game was tied three more times before Phillips' bucket with 2:53 on the clock gave the Pirates their first lead of the game, 24-22. Cypress answered with a 6-0 run before Alexis Howery made a free throw with 3.4 seconds remaining, and Aliah Jackson grabbed a steal and hit a jumper on the ensuing inbounds pass to pull the Pirates back to within 30-29 at halftime.
Cypress came out hot in the second half, hitting a pair of three's and a two, but the Pirates were hotter, making five of their first six shots. LeBrun assisted buckets by Coubal, Phillips and McKenzie to start the half before Coubal hit back-to-back mid-range shots to give Ventura a 39-38 lead with 5:53 left in the third quarter. The lead changed four times before the end of the stanza with LeBrun scoring a lay-up on VC's final possession for a 48-47 lead.
The Chargers made on of two free shots to open the final quarter, knotting the score at 48 before Ventura went on an 8-0 run to take control. Howery made a break away lay-up off an outlet pass by Coubal before Mykah Johnson scored on the drive. Howery dropped a dime to Coubal for two and Dani Henley assisted a bucket by McKenzie as the Pirates held a 56-48 margin with 6:46 on the clock. Cypress did not go away quietly, hitting a three and a two around a McKenzie charity shot to pull to within 57-53, but McKenzie held off the tide with a pair of free throws at the 4:05 mark. Down the stretch, Ventura struggled from the free throw line, but the Pirate defense held fast allowing just two Cypress free shots in the final four-plus minutes of play. LeBrun ended the Ventura drought at the foul line making three of four shots, the latter two with 47 seconds on the clock, as the Pirates pulled away for the 65-55 win.
Coubal was 7-11 from the floor in scoring her 19 points and she added two steals and a pair of blocked shots. Phillips was 4-5 from the floor as the Pirates shot 42 percent on field goals on the afternoon. McKenzie, Johnson and Henley all added two assists each and Phillips joined Coubal with two thefts.
The Pirates head to the consolation final of the tournament on Saturday Dec. 9 at LA Valley. VC takes on Rio Hondo with a 1:00 pm tip off.