VC Basketball Advances to Irvine Valley Classic Final

Darrell Handy-Johnson had 17 points and six rebounds while Jacob Alonzo came off the bench for 14 points, nine assists, six rebounds and four steals as the Pirates' men's basketball team won their fourth straight game, 74-69 over host Irvine Valley in the semifinals of the IVC Classic Friday night. Isiah Reyes netted 14 points with three assists and three steals and Malcolm Ruff had 11 points and six boards in the victory. John Williams contributed 12 points. The Pirates advance to the tournament final at 4:00 pm on Saturday Nov. 18 against Cerritos.

The Lasers, who VC eliminated from the playoffs a year ago on the same court, held the early advantage, opening up leads of 19-12 and 21-14 nearly halfway through the opening period. Isaac Ramirez hit a 3-pointer with an assist by Alonzo with 11:21 remaining in the first half to cut into the IVC advantage, beginning a Pirate comeback. Malcolm Ruff converted a lay-up with a helper from Lamont Landers at the 5:50 mark to tie the score at 27-27, and Darrell H-J's dunk off an Alonzo dime with 3:37 remaining gave the Pirates their first lead of the night, 31-29. After Irvine tied the score, Alonzo hit a lay-up to put Ventura ahead 33-31 at halftime.

The game remained close early in the second half, with the lead changing hands four times in four possessions at one point. Reyes assisted a Ruff lay-up to give the Pirates the lead for good, 40-39, with 16:17 on the clock, and Williams hit a triple on the next possession to give VC some breathing room. A pair of charity tosses from Reyes at the 15:27 mark made it 45-39 for Ventura, completing a 7-0 Pirate run.

Irvine Valley kept bringing the fight to the Pirates, and Ventura seemed to have multiple answers. Rafael Johnson dropped a dime to Darrell H-J for a slam dunk at the 9:14 mark and VC led 57-49. Johnson then made his own lay-up on the next possession and VC extended the advantage to nine points.  Alonzo dished to Darrell H-J for another deuce with 4:24 remaining and the Pirates seemed to be in control with their biggest lead of the game, 71-60.  But a 7-0 run by the Lasers over the next three minutes kept the pressure on. Ruff broke the VC scoring drought with a lay-up in the final minute, and Irvine finally ran out of steam, hitting a late bucket to make the final 74-69.

Ventura advances to the tournament final on Saturday, playing Cerritos at 4:00 pm in Irvine.