Pirates Win Physical Contest in Kiwanis Classic

The Pirates' women's basketball team prevailed in a physical contest Friday night, defeating West Hills Lemoore 63-50 on the second day of the VC-Kiwanis Club Classic at the Athletic Event Center. Ventura moved to 5-0 on the year after shooting a season-high 30 free throws in the contest against the Golden Eagles. Tiernan Phillips led the effort with 17 points and nine rebounds and Alexa Coubal turned in another double-double of 12 points, including a 6-7 performance at the free throw line and 15 boards. Sam McKenzie was 8-10 at the foul line with 14 points.

It was another wire-to-wire win for Ventura. After the Pirates forced a shot clock violation against West Hills on the opening possession of the game, Elena Ferrara hit a deep shot from the right corner on VC's first shot of the game for the early 3-0 lead. Coubal scored inside and Phillips followed with a deuce as VC moved ahead 7-2 in the first four minutes of play. McKenzie hit a pair of shots and Mykah Johnson scored two and the Pirates held a 13-9 advantage after the first quarter.

West Hills pulled back to within 13-11 at the 8:48 mark of the second period before Ventura took control with a 12-0 run. Daphné LeBrun hit from three to start things off and Phillips scored a bucket on the next trip down the floor. McKenzie nailed two free shots and Phillips had back-to-back scores, the second off a Dani Henley assist. Leslie Salazar hit one of two free throws to give VC a 25-11 margin with 5:44 on the clock. The Pirates went cold at that point, scoring just three points for the remainder of the stanza, an old-fashioned 3-point play by Coubal at the 1:42 mark. The Golden Eagles also continued to struggle offensively as they totaled four points over the final minutes of the first half. Ventura led 28-15 at intermission.

The third quarter got more physical as the Pirates scored eight of their first 10 points from the free throw line. McKenzie scored a two at the 2:52 mark to stretch the VC lead to 40-19 before the teams combined for 18 points in the final two minutes of the period. LeBrun's three with 16 seconds remaining gave Ventura a 50-25 lead before West Hills netted the final score of the quarter.

The Golden Eagles went on a run in the fourth quarter, scoring the first 13 points of the period. Phillips ended the skid with a basket with 7:08 on the clock to maintain the double-figure lead, 52-40. WHCL followed a Coubal free throw with a 3-pointer to reduce the VC lead back to 10, 53-43, and pulled to within 55-46 with 3:42 remaining. Phillips was a calming force for Ventura, scoring two more buckets on consecutive trips down the court, then assisted a score by Coubal for a 61-46 lead with 1:31 left. McKenzie's free throws set the final score at 63-50.

LeBrun scored seven points and handed out a team-high six assists in the game and McKenzie added six rebounds and three steals to her point total. Phillips stacked the stat sheet with three assists and a pair of blocked shots.

The Pirates conclude the Kiwanis Classic on Saturday Nov. 18, taking on Antelope Valley at 3:00 pm. The first game of the day will feature Napa Valley and West Hills Lemoore at 1:00 pm.