Ventura Wins Seventh State Championship
NORWALK – The Ventura College (VC) Pirates stifling defense produced poor first-half shooting and vaulted them to a 68-55 win over the Mt. San Antonio College (MSAC) Mounties in the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) Women's Basketball Championships Final Sunday afternoon (Mar. 16) at Falcon Gymnasium on the campus of Cerritos College.
By John Czimbal, Sports Information Association
NORWALK – The Ventura College (VC) Pirates stifling defense produced poor first-half shooting and vaulted them to a 68-55 win over the Mt. San Antonio College (MSAC) Mounties in the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) Women's Basketball Championships Final Sunday afternoon (Mar. 16) at Falcon Gymnasium on the campus of Cerritos College.
The Pirates broke the tie between the two programs as each had won six state championships coming into Sunday's final.
Ventura (32-3), the No. 1 seed from Southern California, led from start to finish as it raced to leads of 3-0, 11-2, and 22-4, en route to a 26-13 halftime lead. In terms of lowest scoring output for a half, MSAC dodged a bullet, as Cypress scored only 12 points in the first half of a 2011 semifinal.
Mt. San Antonio (29-5), the No. 2 seed from Southern California, didn't do itself any favors by shooting only 18.2% (six of 33) and had a pair of significant scoring droughts in the first half. The Mounties went 8:09 between points two and four, and then went another 6:47 between points four and six. By that time, the Mounties were trailing, 22-6, with 3:36 to play in the opening stanza.
And along the way, it was the stellar play of sophomore forward Adrianne Sloboh (Simi Valley / Royal HS) on both ends of the court. Sloboh, who arguably could have selected tournament MVP, had 14 rebounds in the first half, en route to a game-high 19 caroms.
In the second half, Sloboh went to work on offense as she poured in 20 of her game-high 27 markers on eight of 14 on field goals. She was ten of 12 at the free-throw line, 11 of 14 for the game. At one point, Sloboh had ten straight points and 14 of Ventura's 16 points in the final frame.
Also helping the Ventura cause was tournament MVP Lisa Marie Sanchez (Bakersfield / Centennial HS), who added 22 points (15 of 18 from the charity stripe) and five assists.
For MSAC, sophomore guard Shaela Flynn (Pasadena / Muir HS), an all-tournament selection, led the Mounties with 14 points and four steals and Sashanique Youngblood, a sophomore guard from Moreno Valley (Rancho Verde HS) added 13 points and eight rebounds.
With the win, Ventura has won state championships in 1996, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2010, and now, 2014. MSAC, the two-time defending state champion, settles for its second runner-up finish (also in 2002). The Mounties won state crowns in 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2012, and 2013.
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2014 CCCAA Women's Basketball State Championships all-tournament team:
Ventura: Lisa Marie Sanchez (MVP), Adrianne Sloboh, Brooke Dixon;
MSAC: Shaela Flynn;
Fresno City: Keyora Wharry;
San Joaquin Delta: Selina Moore
