PUSHING THE PACE—Simi Valley High senior Danny Cox brings the ball up the floor during the boys’ All-Star game at Ventura. Behind 20 3-point baskets, the East boys crushed the West, 125-68. WENDY PIERRO/Acorn Newspapers Always a bundle of energy, Jenna Bandy could hardly contain her excitement.

The Thousand Oaks High senior guard and Cal State Monterey Bay signee had just helped lead the East girls’ squad to a 69-66 double-overtime victory over the West during last weekend’s Ventura County Basketball Coaches Association All- Star Game at Ventura High.

Surrounded by loved ones after the hard-fought contest, Bandy, who missed her entire senior year with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee, reveled in the postgame energy.

“I feel great,” she exclaimed. “I’m not even thinking about my knee right now. . . .

“It’s the best feeling I’ve had in a while, for sure. I have my family here, my friends and my coach. It’s awesome.”

Bandy wouldn’t have even played in the game if it wasn’t for a friend, Agoura senior guard Sasha Borenstein, who gave up her spot on the East roster so Bandy could compete one last time in her Lancer uniform.

Borenstein missed her sophomore season after tearing an ACL. With firsthand knowledge of the injury’s tedious recovery process, Borenstein said awarding her spot to Bandy was a no-brainer.

“I know how much it means for her to play and represent her school,” Borenstein said. “To be out an entire year, especially a senior season, that would have been tough for me, too.”

Proving that good guys—or girls—sometimes finish first, Borenstein knocked down nine baskets during halftime to claim the girls’ 3-point-shooting crown.

“Sasha made a really nice gesture in giving up her spot to me, and I feel very fortunate for that,” Bandy said. “But she also had an opportunity to make a name for herself in the shooting contest, which is her specialty, and she did really well.”

As for the game, the action was nip and tuck throughout.

The East took a 40-37 advantage into the fourth quarter but found itself down five points with less than three minutes remaining in regulation. Westlake guard Taylor Ignoto hit a big 3-pointer to make it 55-53 West.

Shortly thereafter, with 10.3 seconds remaining, Agoura forward Brittany Oster was fouled behind the 3-point line and proceeded to make all three foul shots, sending the game into overtime.

In the first overtime, Rio Mesa guard Julissa Devad converted one of two free throws with 19.3 seconds on the clock to knot the score at 64. Oster missed a potential game-winner for the East, sending the contest into a second extra session.

The biggest basket of the second overtime belonged to Royal center Destinee La Fountain, whose off-balance shot from the paint gave the East a 68-64 lead it would not relinquish.

Oster was named the contest’s Most Valuable Player after scoring a team-leading 15 points for the East.

Thousand Oaks guard Katie Deamer added 13 points, while Ignoto logged 12. Oak Park forward Lauren Varney had nine points. La Reina forward Mary Kate Jankowski and Bandy both chipped in five points.

Camarillo’s Kelli Nishimori, Brett Hall of Oak Park and Thousand Oaks’ Camilla Chun all played important roles in the girls’ victory.

East boys shoot

the lights out

The boys’ All-Star showcase was far less dramatic.

In a display of shooting rarely seen at the high school level, the East nailed 20 3-point baskets en route to a 125-68 whitewashing of the West.

Oak Park assassin Austin Ramljak had a game-high 25 points, including six buckets from behind the arc, to take home MVP honors.

Ramljak also won the boys’ 3-point contest with 15 longrange bombs.

“In the third quarter, after I made two threes in a row, every time I put it up I knew it was going down,” Ramljak said.

Thousand Oaks guard James Whalen added 18 points for the East. Calabasas guard Jordan Coleman won the dunk contest before the game and proceeded to score 17 points in the game.

Agoura’s Hasan Khan, Sam Schaefer of Royal, Mark Friedman from Westlake, Simi Valley’s Danny Cox, Dominique Campbell of Calabasas, Thousand Oaks’ Alex Tiffin and Josh Langer from Calabasas all contributed to the East’s blowout.

“It’s an All-Star game, our last game,” Cox said. “We wanted to go out with a bang and shoot the lights out. That’s what we all wanted to do.”

Handing out

hardware

Several awards were doled out throughout the evening.

On the girls’ side, Oster of Agoura was named the Ventura County Basketball Coaches Association’s Player of the Year.

Chuck Aplin of Thousand Oaks is Junior Varsity Coach of the Year, while Agoura’s Steve Scifres collected the varsity coaching honor. Buena won the frosh/soph award.

Tiffin of Thousand Oaks and Calabasas’ Coleman are the county’s boys’ co-MVPs. The Varsity Coach of the Year award was shared by Jon Palarz of Calabasas and Richard Endres from Thousand Oaks.

Rio Mesa’s Lee McGee and Joe Mulrooney are sophomore coaches of the year. Satish Kayastha, who guides the freshman team at Calabasas, was also honored as a top coach, as were Ventura’s coaches in the junior varsity category.

Nori Parvin, who stepped down from the girls’ program at Newbury Park, was given a lifetime achievement award.

TV timeout

The All-Star games will be replayed on Time Warner Cable channel 101.

Girls’ game broadcasts are slated for tonight at 11 p.m., Sunday at 8 a.m. and Tuesday at 10:30 p.m.

The boys’ contest will be shown Saturday at 10 a.m., and Sunday at 1 and 8 p.m.