Cypress Unable to Close the Gap in Loss to Ventura
Batiste scored a career high 19 points Saturday night. |
December 15, 2007
box score
Cypress, Calif. – After enduring a long delay, Cypress aimed to pull off a home upset against fourth ranked Ventura in their annual matchup. The Chargers played with the favored Pirates but could not close in on the lead running out of time and losing 72-61. Sophomore forward Letisha Batiste had a banner night with a career high 19 points and eight rebounds.
Because of traffic delays for visiting Ventura, the game did not start until over an hour after the scheduled 7:00 pm tip-off. From there Cypress suffered a slow start allowing Ventura to build a twelve point lead through the first half. The Chargers were able to cut it to ten to end the half 42-32. Cypress had an uphill climb in the second half attempting to close the gap. Every one of Cypress’s baskets seemed to be matched by a Ventura basket. The Chargers were able to close the lead to six with 7:48 remaining in the game with a three-point bucket by freshman guard Michelle Salemi. The run ended there as Ventura built their lead back up and held on to win by 11. Ventura earned their win on the run outscoring Cypress 14-0 in fastbreak points.
Freshman guard Candyce Carlberg was the only other player in double digits for Cypress with 11 along with five rebounds. Salemi and freshman guard Janice Griesser combined for 14.
Cypress falls to 3-7 and has less than a week to recover before hosting Glendale. The Gauchos are 10-6 coming off of a 74-59 win over Mira Costa on a three game win streak. The two meet up Friday at 5:30 pm at Cypress.