Coach C Classic: Ventura Cougars 67, Santa Clara Saints 39

Ventura beat host Santa Clara, 67-39, in game two of the opening day of the Coach C Classic. The game was fairly competitive until the fourth quarter when the Cougars outscored Santa Clara 17-4.

The Saints only trailed by two late in the first quarter after senior Adrian Jimenez hit a three-pointer to make it 16-14. Ventura went on to lead 20-14 at the end of the quarter.

At the 6:00 mark of the second quarter, Sebastian Macias fed fellow freshman Gio Gude for a nice bucket to close the gap to 20-16.

Then Ventura went on a 7-0 run to lead by double digits for the first time, 27-16. The run was capped by senior Finn Fancher scoring off a nice assist from soph Valentino Canessa, followed by a three from Fancher.

Another three from junior Will Guettler extended the margin to twelve, 30-18. Soph Jett Ryan followed with an assist to senior Harper Martinez to make it 32-18. When Ryan connected with a three ball it was 35-20 and Ventura had its largest lead of the half.

But Jimenez nailed a soft jumper at the buzzer to end the half with a score of 35-22.

Santa Clara came out in the third quarter determined to get back into it. Junior Mark Perez connected from downtown to make it 35-25.

And later when Gude completed a three-point play, the Saints were only down by a 37-30 score at the 5:10 mark. Then they had the ball with an opportunity to add to their 10-2 run.

But they turned it over and Ventura capitalized with a fastbreak deuce by Ryan on a long feed from Fancher to make it 39-30.

Ventura pushed the lead to 41-30 and led by double digits the rest of the way. The third quarter ended with Ventura ahead, 50-35.

Martinez with 10 points and senior Kayden Hamilton with 5 points powered Ventura to a dominating fourth quarter advantage, as Santa Clara was held to one field goal and two free throws. The final score was Venture 67, Santa Clara 39.

Martinez had a game high 18 points and was awarded Player of the Game honors. Fancher added 15 points and senior Levi Davenport had 10.

For Santa Clara, Jimenez led the way with 15 points and Gude tallied 13.

Individual Scoring:

Santa Clara (39):

3-Mark Perez Jr. 3

10-Adrian Jimenez 15

24-Gio Gude 13

32-Sebastian Macias 8

Three-pointers made: Jimenez 3, Macias 2, Perez

Ventura (67):

21-Will Guettler 3

22-Levi Davenport 10

23-Jett Ryan 7

24-Kayden Hamilton 5

25-Mathias Wallace 3

30-Harper Martinez 18

32-Finn Fancher 15

33-Sam Bamieh 2

31-Joe Rose 4

Three-pointers made: Davenport 2, Guettler, Ryan, Hamilton, Fancher, Wallace