Ventura Girls Get a Wacky Win, 48-35

Familiarity doesn’t breed only contempt, but also wackiness. That’s the opinion of Ventura Coach Ann Larson, whose girls’ basketball team beat rival Ventura Buena, 48-35, Thursday and earned a share of first place in the Channel League.

It was the teams’ fourth meeting this season. The Cougars won for the third time and avenged a 48-27 loss in the first round of league play.

Buena and Ventura are ranked sixth and seventh, respectively, in the Southland by The Times and first and second in the Southern Section Division I-A coaches’ poll.

Should both teams win the rest of their league games, a coin flip will determine which one goes into the section playoffs as the first-place team. By winning Thursday, Ventura (17-4 overall, 4-1 in league) positioned itself to be the potential top-seeded team in the playoffs, despite committing 23 turnovers and allowing Buena (16-4, 4-1) 30 free-throw attempts, of which 17 were made.

“No matter what, these games are always wacky,” said Larson, whose team won a section title in 2002. “It’s familiarity. Packed gym, hotter than heck. Everybody’s so wound up. ... “

Ventura led at halftime, 20-16, after 5-foot-1 Ariane Hendrix-Roach hit a three-point basket at the buzzer. Then Kali Bennett, a 6-5 junior limited to three points in the first half, made her first five shots of the second, on her way to finishing with 16 points.

Hendrix-Roach scored 10 and Caitlin Kearns, a 6-3 center, added eight, but Taylor Comer’s defense was as big as anything. Comer guarded Washington-bound Sami Whitcomb, who scored 18 but made only three of 13 field-goal attempts.

The score was tied at 11 with 6:09 left in the half, but Buena made only one field goal over the next 17 minutes as Ventura built a 39-20 lead.

“Everybody makes such a big deal out of this game, but anything can happen,” Whitcomb said. “They settled down quicker than us, and their shots started dropping while ours weren’t.”

-- Martin Henderson

Football

Times All-Star Darian Hagan Jr., a 6-foot, 170-pound cornerback/receiver from Los Angeles Crenshaw, has committed to California. He returned four of seven interceptions for touchdowns and averaged 28.8 yards per reception while leading the Cougars (11-3) to their first City Section Championship division title.

Travon Patterson, a 5-11, 180-pound receiver from Long Beach Poly, has committed to USC. He had 24 receptions for 607 yards while sharing duties with Terrence Austin (UCLA).

Rancho Cucamonga’s Devin Ross, one of the Southland’s top defensive backs, has committed to Arizona. Ross (5-11, 175) had 60 tackles and four interceptions this season.

Boys’ Soccer

Two former Long Beach Millikan players who were arrested in connection with their actions during a brawl in a soccer match between the Rams and Moore League rival Long Beach Wilson on Dec. 10 were recommended for placement in the Juvenile Offenders Intervention Network program of the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.

Evidence against the players -- who both have been banned by the Long Beach Unified School District from competing -- was reviewed by deputy district attorney Brian Schirn, head of the Long Beach Juvenile Division of the district attorney’s office.

JOIN is a diversion program of counseling and community service for minors that is most often applied in cases of first-time offenders and non-detainees. Upon completion of terms of a contractual agreement, cases are typically dismissed if the minors stay out of trouble.

One of the arrested players was transferred to Lakewood by the school district, while the other still attends Millikan.

Their arrests stemmed from a police report filed by Long Beach Wilson Coach Sean Kennedy, who accused the players of attacking him during a Millikan tournament semifinal game last month.

-- Lauren Peterson