16th Straight Win to Reach Elite Eight!

The No. 5-seed Knights are headed to the 3C2A state championship quarterfinals for the fifth time in the Mitch Charlens era after getting past No. 4 seed Ventura College, 67-59, for their 16th straight win. Freshman Dylan Griffin led the way with game-highs in points (20) and rebounds (13), while sophomore Junior Camacho added 18 points, four rebounds, and four assists to help the Knights reach the elite eight for the second time in three years.

As the lowest remaining seed in Southern California, the Knights will face the No. 1 seed from the north, City College of San Francisco, on Friday, March 13 at 5 p.m. at College of the Sequoias in Visalia, Calif. where the remainder of the tournament will be held.

It was all about defense on Saturday night with both teams shooting poorly. The Knights had their 4th-worst field goal percentage of the season (36.9%), but they held a Ventura team that had the 3rd-best shooting percentage in the state (49.9%) to its worst offensive performance of the season.

The Pirates shot 28.4% while converting a season-low 19 field goals on 67 attempts.

The Knights got out to another fast start by hitting four of their first seven shots to go up 12-3 in the opening five minutes.

Camacho scored 12 of his 18 points in the first half to help build a 13-point lead, City's largest of the game.

Ventura got it down to 33-26 at the half, but the Knights pushed their lead back up to 10 early in the second half. 

The Pirates, however, chipped away and got within one after a pair of free throws from Snookey Wigington with 5:32 remaining.

Griffin went to the line on City's next possession and made both free throws to give the Knights a 3-point lead. 

Both teams failed to score over the next three minutes until a Ventura free throw got the Pirates back within two with 2:35 left, but Griffin responded with back-to-back layups to put City up by six.

Andrew Azebeokhai Jr and Luke Hecht then combined to make all six of their free throw attempts in the final 18 seconds to keep Ventura from making one more run as the Knights pulled away for an 8-point victory to keep their state championship hopes alive. 

Charlens' Knights also made it to the elite eight in 2009, 2017, 2018, and 2024. They brought home the state title in 2017 and were the state runner-up in 2018. 

Admission for the state tournament is $15 for the general public and $10 for students, faculty, staff, senior citizens age 60 and over, and children. Kids 6 and under are free.