Buena Defense Stops Ventura in 4th Quarter

In a tough defensive battle throughout a key Channel League girls’ basketball game, Buena High was glad to have Michelle Giordano and Laura Dahl on its side.

Giordano had team highs with 10 points and 13 rebounds and Dahl had four fourth-quarter rebounds and four clutch free throws to lift the host Bulldogs (8-2, 4-0 in league play) to a 42-38 victory over arch-rival Ventura on Thursday night.

Ventura trailed, 26-16, at halftime, but pulled to within one early in the fourth period on four three-point shots--two each by Mari Peinado and Ember Brown.

Ventura finally took the lead, 38-36, with 4 minutes 33 seconds remaining on a pair of Norma Marquez free throws. But the tough Buena defense held the Cougars (9-3, 3-1) scoreless the rest of the way and Giordano and Dahl provided the offense.

Dahl made two free throws with four minutes to go to tie the score and Giordano hit a 15-foot jump shot to put the Bulldogs in front for good with 3:27 left.

“I thought if we kept our cool and worked hard, we would win,” Giordano said.

Ventura had four good shots from the field down the stretch and a one-and-one free-throw opportunity by Brown with 40 seconds left, but came up empty each time.

Brown was the game’s leading scorer with 12 points.

After a miss by Buena’s Tammy Worley with 12 seconds remaining, Ventura had one last chance, when Peinado fired up a 15-foot jumper from the baseline that missed. Dahl grabbed the rebound and was fouled by Jessica Lepper.

Dahl was perfect on both free throws to clinch the victory.

“It just didn’t go in the hole,” Ventura Coach Glenn Gray said of his team’s late opportunities. “The kids played really hard. They gave it an excellent effort.”

Ventura shot 12 of 41 from the field, but stayed in the game by forcing Buena into 26 turnovers. The Cougars were hurt by more than poor shooting in this defensive struggle, making 20 turnovers themselves.

“I thought we came out hesitant and that seemed to carry over for most of the game,” Buena Coach Joe Vaughan said. “Sometimes you can make a game too important. When you do that, you don’t function well.”