In a Saturday morning clash between Ventura and Windward, an opportunity was presented for the Girls Division 1 regional title to be won, as well as a trip to Sacramento for next week's state title matchup. Windward prevailed in a dominant performance, by a final of 61-43.
Sophomore guard Charisma Osborne led all scorers with an emphatic 35 points for Windward, a performance her team desperately needed. Windward head coach Vanessa Nygaard was proud of her teams performance, saying, "I knew the girls were going to show up today and be ready to go."
Savannah Page (10 points) was the high scorer for Ventura, and Aubrey Knight also contributed with 9 points and 9 rebounds.
After holding onto a 25-19 lead at the half, Windward's pressure defense helped extended their lead deep into the third. Osborne's solid shooting (11 of 23 from the field) also helped propel her team. By playing together as a unit on both ends of the floor, Windward simply began to dismantle their opponent. Ventura struggled to take care of the ball throughout the quarter, and found themselves down 46-30 heading into the fourth.
Despite spurts of intensity on the defensive end from Ventura, Windward's lead would be too much to overcome.
Straight from the tip, Ventura full-court pressed, looking to force turnovers. Windward stayed calm and collected however, and went on a nice run to end the first with a 12-9 advantage. Osborne continued to score at will, torching Ventura with outside shooting and penetration.
Windward advances to the Division 1 state championship game next weekend, and will face off against McClatchy.
