On Monday, Jan. 14, the Ventura High School Cougars faced up against the Buena High School Bulldogs at their house. The boys have been preparing for this rivalry matchup their whole season and the preparation came in clutch.

In the first quarter the Cougars and Bulldogs faced off bouncing back shot after shot. With four minutes left in the first, the score was 9-7 and Buena was up. A foul was called on Buena and senior Cade Auster (number twenty one) stepped up to the free throw line and nailed both shots.

Senior Derrick Young (number forty one) was able to come away with a steal with 50 seconds left in the first quarter and a block shortly after. Junior Andrew Ramirez (number twenty) made a three pointer with 20 seconds left and the first quarter ended with Buena up, 15-14.

Right off the bat, senior Isaiah Montano (number twenty two) came in with a three pointer. Another foul was called on Buena and Montano made both shots. Number twenty one on Buena

made a layup, moving the score up to 19-17, this time with the cougars on top.

After another foul was called on the Bulldogs, unfortunately, Young did not make either of the free throws.

On their next drive the Cougars displayed a strong passing game which ended with Young scoring two points. The score was now 21-17, Cougars up. A foul was called on the Cougars and Buena made one attempt, and on the second, Young came up with the rebound.

Buena made two more points which brought the score to 21-20. Sophomore Liam Cameron (number thirty five) scored two points, extending Ventura’s lead.

Another foul was called on the Cougars and Buena made both free throws and then scored two more points, putting Buena on top 25-23 with two minutes left in the first half. Ramirez scored another three points then was able to come up with a steal.

One more foul was called on Buena before the end of the first half and Auster shot two for two on his free throws, putting the Cougars on top at 28-27.

Junior point guard Drew Ramirez started out the second half with a three pointer to make the score 31-29, with the energy of a Buena Ventura basketball game, anything can happen. Right after Ramirez scored with a three pointer to start out the second half, the Bulldogs immediately answered back with a three pointer of their own.

With the third quarter being a very competitive quarter, senior Cade Auster (number 21), senior Derrick Young (number 41), and senior Isaiah Montano (number 22) all contribute points to end the third quarter with a tied score of 42-42.

Going into the fourth quarter with a tied score at 42, anything could happen. Ramirez, Montano and Auster came out strong and all contributed points to give the Cougars a lead at the beginning of the fourth quarter with a score of 51-43.

The Cougars continued to exchange points with the Bulldogs throughout the fourth, with two fouls called on VHS.

The Bulldogs pulled forward with a score of 57-55 with 1:20 left in the game. Ramirez answered back with a three of his own to put the Cougars back on top at 58-57, but shortly after, the Bulldogs responded with a three of their own.

Ventura called a timeout in this extremely high energy matchup, and right out of the timeout, senior Cade Auster hit a three pointer to put the Cougars up 61-60 with 2.3 seconds left.

BHS inbounds the ball and missed a layup that could’ve put them on top, the Cougars rebounded the ball and were fouled. Auster once again, made 1 out of his 2 free throws to end the game, with a final score of 62-60. Another Buena vs. Ventura victory for the Cougars.