The Dons and Cougars rode a roller coaster together on Friday night, and the Santa Barbara left J.R. Richards Gym with motion sickness.
Ventura’s Paul Batausa, meanwhile, was the kid who stayed strapped in his seat screaming “Again, again!”.
With 12 seconds remaining and Ventura trailing by two, the 5-foot-7 senior guard threw up a long-ball that banked in and was fouled in the process, converting on the 4-point play and lifting the Cougars to a wild 52-50 win.
“I couldn’t make no shots the whole game, but I got the ball at the top of the key and it just went in,” he said after being mauled by his teammates.
Santa Barbara star Roberto Nelson had an NBA three from straight away at the buzzer for the win, but it hit the front end of the rim and fell to the floor.
“They’re just a good team, because they never get too high or too low,” said a dejected Nelson, who scored a heroic 22 points with 14 rebounds and four assists. “We’ve just got to get back to practice and keep working.”
Both teams went through wild ups-and-downs on the night.
Nelson drove to the hoop for an early score that tied things up at 10 apiece with 2:10 left in the first, but the Dons didn’t score for nearly an entire quarter after that. The Oregon State-bound senior drove in for a bucket with 3:11 left in the half to break the ice and cut the Cougar lead to 22-12. Ventura would go up by 11 at 26-15 before Nelson hit a running buzzer-beater from long range to close the gap to 26-18 at the half.
The Dons (7-8, 0-1) came out of the locker room as a team possessed, mounting a 20-1 run that gave them an 11 point lead near the end of the third. There were some spectacular plays during the surge.
Nelson was fouled on a running jump-shot from the key that rolled around the rim about four full times before dropping in. Kyle Leonard knocked down a big-time trey that gave the Dons the lead at 28-27, then took a charge to send the crowd nuts.
Nelson swished a 3-pointer, then dished to John Uribe for a 3-point play with 1:23 left in the third to build the lead to 34-27.
The highlight-reel run was capped by a fast break in which Nelson got the ball to Freddy Maldonado who threw a pass behind his head to Spencer Thomas for the lay-up.
The game got chippy in the fourth, and the pressure was high enough to cause always-animated Santa Barbara coach Chris Hantgin to rip off his tie (he and assistant John Slavin were dressed to the nines for the affair) with the score tied and 1:11 remaining.
With the shot clock expiring, Thomas pulled up and nailed a baseline jumper that gave Santa Barbara a 50-48 lead with 35 seconds remaining.
After so many memorable plays, Batausa and the Cougars (15-3, 2-0) somehow managed to pull one more out of the hat.
The Cougars have a big target on their backs now, after also beating Dos Pueblos in the final minute earlier in the week.
“It’s early, and this will certainly get our attention,” said Hantgin. “They’ve been in two close games. The DP game will be like this too.”
If that’s the case, everyone should be strapped in for another Channel League boys hoops season filled with blissful parity.
VENTURA 52, SANTA BARBARA 50
VENTURA — Batausa 9, Houck 13, Reeves 13, Fausset 10, Kelsch 4, Waxer 3. 6-10 FT 52.
SANTA BARBARA — Thomas 9, Uribe 11, Nelson 22, Leonard 5, Maldonado 3. 5-12 FT 50.
Ventura……………..10 8 20 12 — 52
Santa Barbara…..13 13 3 23 — 50
3-point goals — V 7 (Batausa 2, Houck 2, Reeves 3), SB 4 (Nelson 2, Uribe, Leonard).
Total fouls — V 15, SB 16.
Technicals — Kelsch (Delay of Game).
Team records — V 15-3, 2-0. SB 7-8, 0-1.
