Buzzer Beater Downs Pirates in Gilcrest Finale

The VC women's basketball team fell victim to a buzzer beater by San Joaquin Delta Saturday as the Pirates fell to the Mustangs 59-57 on the final day of the Gilcrest Invitational at College of the Sequoias in Visalia. Sofia Torres-Reyes scored 18 points, including a 6-7 performance from three, to lead the way for VC (6-2). Kylie Gallick had her string of seven straight double-doubles snapped as she had 12 points and eight rebounds and Kenya Edelhart totaled 12 points, five boards and three assists in the effort.

The first quarter was a story of two runs. After Torres-Reyes opened the scoring with a 3-pointer, the Mustangs went on a 10-0 run to open up a seven-point advantage midway through the period. VC responded, however, with a 14-0 run in the final 3:49 to hold a 19-12 advantage at the quarter break. With the Pirates trailing 12-5, Torres-Reyes hit twice again from range to begin the streak. Jocelyn Contreras followed with another triple off of Edelhart's assist to put Ventura ahead 14-12. Gallick then scored on a lay-up and an old-fashioned 3-point play to stretch the VC margin.

Delta countered with an 11-0 run to begin the second period before Edelhart ended the skid with a pull-up[ jumper at the 7:04 mark. Alisha Cruz-Lisberg hit a jumper to pull VC even at 23 and another Torres-Reyes three gave the Pirates a 26-24 lead. There were five lead changes before the end of the half, and Delta held a 36-32 lead at intermission.

The second half remained competitive between a pair of the state's most-storied programs. Jasmine Glover's three from the right corner pulled the Pirates to within one, 44-43, with 3:18 left in the third period, and Gallick followed with a steal and coast-to-coast drive, finishing with a sweet Euro-step to put Ventura back on top. The Mustangs hit the final bucket of the stanza to lead 46-45.

Gallick assisted another three by Contreras to begin the final quarter, restoring the Pirate advantage, but Delta countered to hold a 55-50 margin with 3:54 on the clock. Torres-Reyes nailed her sixth three of the game to pull Ventura back to within a deuce, 55-23, with 2:09 remaining and Edelhart's triple from the top with 34 second left put Ventura back on top. Delta scored on a drive with 11 seconds remaining, and Dani Henley hit one of two free throws with six ticks left to tie the game at 57. With a baseline inbounds with 2.5 seconds remaining, the Mustangs found an open player inside for the buzzer beater, defeating the Pirates 59-57.

VC will return to action on Thursday Dec. 8 against Long Beach in the LA Valley Buddy's All-Star Classic. Tip-off with the Vikings is slated for 7:00 pm.