The energy was electric from both sides, tension filled the air as the rivalry game began between the Bulldogs and Cougars.
“Going into one of my last rivalry games reality hits you hard because you know this will be one of the last games of your high school career,” Molina said
Buena won the jump ball but it immediately sailed out of bounds, which Ventura took full advantage of. They scored nine straight points forcing Buena’s head coach, Matthew Colton to take his first timeout; but the Cougars could not be stopped. They continued to hold the Bulldogs at zero points and by the end of the first quarter, allowing Ventura to hold a dominant 16-0 lead.
To start the second quarter Bunea finally scored off senior Luke Ortiz’s first layup of the night. Following Ortiz’s layup was a steal from senior Wakine Molina making the score 16-4. The quarter ends with more points from Molina putting Bunea back in the game as they trailed 24- 13.
Tides began to turn as Junior Josh Ullegue scored 13 straight to open the third quarter causing the Cougars to call their first time out. Both teams played tight defense for the rest of the quarter resulting in a score of 31-36 with Ventura still in the lead as the game entered the last quarter.
As the fourth quarter began both student sections roared. Ventura scored first with a layup but Bunea responded quickly with a three-pointer from Molina. They continued to score back and forth with Ventura clinging to an eight point lead. Ortiz was on fire, scoring on the majority of his possessions.
Ventura called another timeout and their lead sat at just seven with less than a minute to go. Ortiz was almost unable to stop as he scored two three-pointers in that short period. Ventura responded and the score sat at 49-56 at the end of the game. Ventura held onto their lead and beat the Bulldogs. Oritz finished the game with an astonishing 21 points while Ullugue finished with 19.
“We could have communicated better and been tougher to start because we started the first slow,” Ullugue said.
