GAME PREVIEW: Defending CIF-ss champion Ventura visits the Thunderhut on Friday night for a Channel League clash with the Royals of San Marcos. It’s the second league game for each team, with both having won their openers on Wednesday.
The Royals are looking to hand the Cougars their first league loss since the 2009-10 season. San Marcos enters the game with an 8-2 record while Ventura stands at 6-3.
Be sure to visit PresidioSports.com after the game for a game story and video highlights.
GAME OVER – Ventura was a different team in the second half and took the Channel League victory 45-34. Cougars come-from-behind by outscoring Royals 36-17 in final two quarters.
2:10 – Ventura just took its biggest lead of the game on a layup by Jammal Ennis in transition. Cougars up 11 at 43-32. San Marcos inbounding after timeout.
6:00 REMAINING IN GAME – Ventura is dominating the second half here in the Thunderhut. The Cougars have outscored the Royals 29-11 so far, with Ventura punctuating their run with an alley-oop dunk in transition on a pass from Gage Henley to Nick Rudolph for the dunk.
END OF THIRD QUARTER – After scoring all of nine points in the first 16 minutes, Ventura poured in 23 points in the third quarter to take a 32-26 lead into the final period.
1:01 – This game just came alive. After struggling on offense for the entire first half, Ventura is feeling it. The Cougars have made five 3-pointers in the quarter, taking a 32-23 lead after trailing by eight at the break. The Royals broke the run with a 3-pointer of their own to pull within six at 32-26. What a turn of events here in the Thunderhut.
5:05 REMAINING IN THIRD QUARTER – The Cougars reel off nine unanswered points to take their first lead of the game at 20-19. Ventura took the lead after a steal led to a behind-the-back-pass and layup that forces Jarrod Bradley to call a timeout for San Marcos.
START OF THIRD QUARTER – Same starting lineups for both teams start the second half. Gwin sinks two free throws to open up the scoring. 17-11 Royals.
HALFTIME – Spencer Johnson drains an 18-foot jump shot at the buzzer to give the Royals a 17-9 lead at halftime. Ventura had just closed the gap to 12-9 but the Royals posted five quick points just before halftime. Thayer White scored six points in the second quarter and has a game-high 8 points at the break. Henley and Rudolph lead the Cougars with 3 points each.
2:00 REMAINING IN FIRST HALF – Thayer White puts in his second bucket of the quarter to put San Marcos up 12-5. That matches San Marcos’ biggest lead of a low-scoring first half.
END OF FIRST QUARTER – San Marcos holds an 8-4 advantage after one quarter. Chad Ridenour leads all scorers with four points.
4:06 – Tevin Krall checks into the game as the first sub and finds Zach Rudolph in the corner for a 3-pointer that gets the Cougars on the scoreboard after the Royals started the game on a 7-0 run.
5:16 IN FIRST QUARTER – The Royals shoot out to a 5-0 lead on a 3-pointer from Chad Ridenour followed by a breakaway layup by Kevin Hempy after a steal.
TIP-OFF – Starting lineup for San Marcos: Kevin Hempy, Chad Ridenour, Thayer White, Greg Zajic, and Spencer Johnson. For Ventura, it’s Gage Henley, Jammal Ennis, Conner Neary, Nick Rudolph, and Zach Gwin.
PREGAME: The San Marcos JV team just beat Ventura’s JVs 59-45 in a game that ran late and has pushed the start of the varsity game back a few minutes. Looks like we should be starting here around 7:15 p.m.
