Gondos Finally on a Winning Streak

In the middle of the season, the Venice High boys' basketball team had lost seven straight games and seemed close to falling apart. Now, the Gondoliers are playing at their best, heading into the City Section playoffs with momentum from a 60-50 victory Friday over Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies.

“I’ve been telling the guys all year that it isn’t how you start it’s how you finish," Venice head coach David Galley said. "During the season, we had some guys who got away from the game plan but we are playing great team basketball right now.”

Galley started five seniors since it was Venice’s last home game and it gave Alex Walker a chance to play the best game of his career. He scored 12 points in the first half on his way to a game-high 21 points.

“It felt amazing to play this well since my family was here," Walker said. "It was a team effort today, it wasn’t just me."

With two of Venice’s regular starters on the bench, LACES took advantage and shot out to a 14-9 lead by the end of the first quarter. However, junior captain Chad Tanioka started the second quarter with a three-pointer, and the comeback was on.

Walker continued to score for the Gondoliers, converting on all eight of his free throw attempts in the first half. Despite holding LACES to just seven second quarter points, Venice held a slim 23-21 halftime lead.

The Gondoliers came out on fire in the third quarter, running fluid offense and getting constant easy shots. Tanioka hit two three pointers, and just like that, Venice used a 14-1 run to take a 37-22 lead.

“I thought we came out flat in the first half and the guys were a bit disappointed," Galley said. "Our shots finally started to fall in the third and the press was causing a lot of turnover.”

LACES was able to cut down on the turnovers and thin the deficit to 40-33 by the end of the third quarter. After a five-point possession, the Venice lead was just five at 47-42 when Walker once again stepped up.

Walker hit two more threes late in the fourth putting the game out of reach.  Venice held on strong at the end, winning the game 60-50.

“Alex played great for us tonight," Galley said of Walker. "He’s a great scorer and tonight he got the minutes. I’m sure he would like to have.”

It’s now a waiting game for Venice. On Saturday, the Gondoliers will find out their fate when the draws are released. Galley expects his team to get a middle seed.

“I think we are in the 5-9 range right now,"Galley said. "I’m hoping its more a 6 or 7 seed so we can get a home game in the playoffs. We are coming together at the right time, so I’m hoping we can make a run for it.”