The walls of the Pacifica High gym were pulsating from the sounds of dueling cheers last night during the boys' basketball game between rivals Pacifica and Oxnard.
Each time the packed Pacifica side would explode with encouragement for the Tritons, the equally-jammed Oxnard side would counter for their Yellowjackets.
The standing-room only crowd included students, parents and administrators from both schools and they were treated to the usual close contest between the teams with Oxnard emerging with a 55-49 victory.
It seemed like the entire city of Oxnard attended the game, not as much to escape the rain as to witness what has become a great rivalry in every sense.
The chants and good-natured taunts continued until the very end, when, despite a warning, some Oxnard students rushed the court to celebrate with their players.
"This environment was so crazy," Oxnard head coach Jeff Staniland said. "There is no better environment than what you saw here tonight. No matter where you go in the country you are not going to get better than this."
Junior guard Dylan Houck had 25 points and sophomore point guard Zach Gwin added five points, five assists and five steals as the Ventura High boys' basketball team moved into a first-place tie atop the Channel League with a 60-29 win over visiting Santa Barbara Friday night.
The Cougars shut out Santa Barbara in the first quarter along the way to scoring the games first 15 points
"We worked hard, came in and played well," said Ventura coach Dan Larson. "Santa Barbara as been improving all year.
Ventura (14-10, 5-1) joined idle San Marcos atop the league standings ahead of a decisive final week of the regular season.
Jennifer Kerns sank a free throw with seven-tenths of a second remaining
Thursday night to give Santa Barbara High a 52-51 girls¹ basketball victory
over Ventura.
Kerns went to the line with the score tied after being fouled on a defensive
rebound. The victory lifted Santa Barbara to a 5-1 record in the Channel
League and 18-5 overall. Ventura slips to 21-3 and 4-2.
Rebecca Griffin led all scorers with 24 points for Santa Barbara. Amy Pupa
scored 19 to lead Ventura. Maddie Fahan added 12 points.
The Royal High boys turned a showdown into a showcase on Thursday.
Thor English scored two goals, and the Highlanders won a first-place matchup
in the Marmonte League with host Newbury Park, 5-0.
Sean Upton, Cole McWhirter and Oren Roples each scored one goal as Royal
improves to 8-2-2 in league (14-3-5 overall). Royal remains tied for first
in the Marmonte League chase with Simi Valley.
Newbury Park moves to 5-1-6 in league and 7-4-9 overall.
Rio Mesa High clinched the Pacific View League girls¹ water polo championship with a 12-3 victory at home on Thursday over Hueneme.
Jenny Jamison scored four goals for the Spartans. Abby McCardell and
Courtney Walters each had three goals.
Rio Mesa is undefeated in league at 9-0 and is 21-6 overall.
Boys' basketball
Ventura 60, Santa Barbara 29
Dos Pueblos 62, Buena 60
Oxnard 55, Pacific 49
Rio Mesa 60, Hueneme 51
Camarillo 56, Channel Islands 43
Nordhoff 46, Fillmore 41
Oak Park 64, Oaks Christian 48
St. Bonaventure 47, Carpinteria 41
Bishop Diego 51, Villanova Prep 48
Girls' basketball
Oaks Christian 73, Nordhoff 27
Boys' soccer
Santa Barbara 7, Buena 0
Malibu 1, Carpinteria 1 (OT)
Girls' soccer
Camarillo 1, Rio Mesa 1
Oaks Christian 3, La Reina 1 (OT)
St. Bonaventure 6, Fillmore 0
Moorpark 4, Thousand Oaks 0
Girls' water polo
Carpinteria 10, Oaks Christian 6
Cate 4, Nordhoff 2
Girls' basketball
Santa Barbara 52, Ventura 51
Royal 57, Newbury Park 52
Agoura 85, Simi Valley 11
Thousand Oaks 51, Moorpark 49
Rio Mesa 79, Hueneme 34
Camarillo 54, Channel Islands 38
Pacifica 50, Oxnard 34
Buena 66, Dos Pueblos 28
Oaks Christian 52, Oak Park 48
Fillmore 50, Villanova 48
Santa Clara 54, Malibu 32
St. Bonaventure 63, Nordhoff 49
Boys' basketball
Westlake 69, Calabasas 63
Thousand Oaks 68, Moorpark 49
Newbury Park 69, Royal 51
Simi Valley 53, Agoura 51
Boys' soccer
Royal 5, Newbury Park 0
Thousand Oaks 2, Moorpark 0
Simi Valley 1, Agoura 0
Pacifica 1, Oxnard 0
Channel Islands 2, Camarillo 0
Rio Mesa 1, Hueneme 1
Grace Brethren 1, St. Bonaventure 0
Santa Clara 3, Villanova 0
Girls' soccer
Westlake 1, Calabasas 0
Newbury Park 2, Royal 0
Agoura 1, Simi Valley 0
Santa Clara 4, Villanova 1
Malibu 3, Grace Brethren 0
Santa Clara 3, Bishop Diego 1
Camarillo 5, Channel Islands 0
Rio Mesa 9, Hueneme 0
Coed soccer
Newbury Park Adventist 4, Cornerstone Christian 1
Girls' water polo
Rio Mesa 12, Hueneme 3
Camarillo 8, Channel Islands 1
Oxnard 12, Pacifica 10
Westlake 8, Newbury Park 6
Thousand Oaks 9, Calabasas 4
Royal 9, Moorpark 5
Malibu 17, Villanova 3
Wresting
Pacifica 36, Hueneme 31
Santa Barbara High has been a major thorn in the side of the Buena and Ventura girls' basketball teams this season.
Both teams have suffered Channel League losses against the Dons, including Ventura's 52-51 loss last night on a free throw by Jackie Kerns with 0.7 seconds remaining.
It marks the first time Santa Barbara (20-5, 6-1) has defeated Buena (16-8, 5-1) and Ventura (21-3, 4-2) in the same season since 2003, and makes the Channel League race much more interesting entering the final week.
Buena and Ventura meet on Monday night at Buena High. If Ventura beats Buena, Santa Barbara will claim at least a share of its first Channel League title since 1988.
If Buena wins, it will come down to Wednesday night's winner-take-all showdown between Buena and Santa Barbara at Buena High in the final regular-season game.
St. Bonaventure High senior lineman Giovanni DiPoalo signed his letter of intent to play football at USC this morning.
DiPoalo had verbally committed to USC, but re-opened his recruitment after Pete Carroll left USC to take the head coaching job with the NFL's Seattle Seahawks.
But new USC coach Lane Kiffin and his staff were able to do enough to convince DiPoalo the Trojan family was the best place for him to be.
DiPoalo was considering heading across town to UCLA, but will be donning a cardinal red and gold uniform after all.
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