The time has come for the Bulldogs boys basketball to face their cross-town rivals, the Ventura Cougars, and this year, Buena dominated Ventura by double digits, with a final score of 65-31.

The game against  the Cougars was smooth sailing all the way to the final buzzer, with the first quarter getting off to a hot start. 

Junior Colin Guenther started off hot, with a quick corner three pointer and a 10-foot fadeaway jumper.  Junior Daniel Ortiz matched his jumper with a three pointer from the elbow. Buena had great defense in the first quarter, which resulted in good offense, and led them to a first quarter lead of 20-7.

During the second quarter Buena played good defense, with junior Zane Carter and sophomore Luke Ortiz denying shots at the rim and passing the ball down court for easy fastbreak layups. 

Senior Darin Cole drilled a top of the key three pointer to widen the lead, and the half ended with a score of 35-15, Buena lead. 

The second half continued with senior Jadon DuBransky getting a quick steal, and Carter getting two more blocks. Rebounding was key as well, with the rebounding category being led by Buena and by a big margin. The offensive rebounds were leading to second chance scores, which widened the lead.

The game was a defensive story, with Buena not allowing the Cougars to get hot. Steals and blocks led to easy buckets, and their shots were falling. The game ended with a final score of 65-31 Bulldogs.

Cole and Carter stayed hot throughout the game and led the team in scoring with a combined 36 points, Carter and Luke Ortiz led in rebounding with Carter grabbing 16 rebounds and Cole collecting a solid six boards. 

Playing in the Rivalry game is always a different feeling than any other regular game. ¨The difference between playing Ventura and any other team is the amount of intensity you play with,¨ Senior Moses Garman said. ¨You give more effort, just because it means that much more.¨ 

Preparing for the rivalry game is no easy task. ¨In practice we watched film, we went over what they run to get adjusted to that,¨ Garman Said. ¨We worked harder in practice knowing what we wanted our outcome to be.¨