Winslow Is Bringing Ventura Back From Oblivion

In his second season as men’s basketball coach at Ventura College, Greg Winslow has the program on a fast track to success.

The Pirates had an 8-2 record before hosting Glendale in a Western State Conference interdivision game on Wednesday and are ranked No. 19 in the state and No. 10 in Southern California.

To those who followed Ventura’s powerful teams of the late 1980s and early 1990s, which frequently were top-ranked in the state from wire to wire, the current ranking might seem low.

But this is a program barely back from oblivion, a program that was disbanded for the 1997-98 and 1998-99 seasons because of rules violations.

The Pirates won state titles in 1987, 1995 and 1996, although they were stripped of the last one because of the violations. They placed second in 1993 and 1994.

Winslow, a 1982 graduate of Buena High, has the Pirates on the upswing.

“We have a lot of depth,” Winslow said. “We are playing 11, 12 guys every [game]. . . . Practices are more competitive because you have guys breathing down your neck.”

Forward Desmond Penigar, a 6-foot-7 sophomore, makes the Pirates click. He is averaging 30 points and 12 rebounds, and is catching the eye of recruiters from four-year schools.

“He’s a huge factor for us,” Winslow said. “In my opinion, he’s the best player in the state.”

The Pirates finished 14-14 last season, partly because of poor perimeter shooting. Guards Chaun Ballard, a transfer from Northeastern junior college in Sterling, Colo., and Alhaji Mohammed, a freshman from Chicago, have helped solve that problem.

Ballard is averaging 13.8 points and shooting 50% from the field. Mohammed is averaging 10.1 points.

Winslow is not new to reclamation projects. While Ventura’s program was on the shelf, he guided San Bernardino Valley to 19-14 and 25-8 seasons. The Indians were 4-19 the season before his arrival.

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Winslow and his assistants attended the Lakers game against Philadelphia on Tuesday night at Staples Center as guests of Mohammed, whose older brother, Nazr, is the 76ers’ starting center.

“It’s hard to get 15 [complimentary] tickets for a Lakers game,” Winslow said.

ANTELOPE VALLEY: What happens when your top three point guards can’t play?

You turn to a quarterback.

Cory Allred has traded his cleats for sneakers and is helping the men’s basketball team regroup after a slow start.

“He decided to come out at the last minute after football,” Coach Newton Chelette said.

Allred started at point guard in Antelope Valley’s previous three games before hosting Canyons in a nonconference game Wednesday night.

The Marauders, 5-6 before playing Canyons, lost one point guard to academic problems and two to ankle injuries.

Sophomore forward Jimmy White, sophomore center Bo Segeberg and sophomore guard Brady Chelette, the coach’s son, are carrying the offensive load. White is averaging 23 points, Segeberg 17.6 and Chelette 13.5.

GLENDALE: Despite an eight-player roster, the women’s basketball team is off to a 6-3 start after winning the Hartnell tournament in Salinas last weekend.

Sophomore guard Marilyn Dubon, the Western State Conference scoring champion last season, averaged 23.3 points and was selected the tournament’s most valuable player.

Allison Gonsalves, a freshman forward from Fairfax High, was selected to the all-tournament team.

The Vaqueros play in the Southwestern tournament on Friday and Saturday.

MOORPARK: The Raiders are hosting an eight-team women’s basketball tournament.

In first-round games today, Ventura plays Trade Tech at 4 p.m. and Valley faces Moorpark at 8 p.m.

The semifinals are at 6 and 8 p.m. on Friday and the final is at 6 p.m. on Saturday.