Ventura Gets Some Help From Palmer : Basketball: Forward who had off-season knee surgery leads unbeaten Pirates past Santa Barbara, 103-76.

VENTURA —  Only a few days ago, David Palmer wasn’t sure whether he would play basketball this season for Ventura College.

The 6-foot-5 forward had surgery last June to repair torn cartilage in his left knee and doctors told him he might not play again. But play he did Wednesday night even though his name is nowhere to be found in the Pirate media guide.

In his first game this season, Palmer made several crucial shots down the stretch and helped Ventura to a 103-76 victory over Santa Barbara City in a Western State Conference North Division game.

The victory put the Pirates at 27-0, 5-0 in division play. It is the best start ever in a season for Ventura, ranked No. 1 in the state.

Palmer scored 11 points, all in the second half, had four rebounds and a steal. Nine of his points came in the final 4 minutes 27 seconds and the unexpected performance left him searching for words.

“If I can get off the adrenalin high, I could tell you the truth about his effort,” said Palmer, a transfer from Johnson County College in Overland Park, Kan. “Right now, I don’t feel nothing.”

It seemed like neither team had a feel for the game through most of the first half.

Ventura led the entire first half but never by more than nine points. The Pirates committed 16 of their 25 turnovers in the half.

Santa Barbara (13-14, 4-1) managed to keep pace with Ventura behind guard Jamelle Dolphin, who made three three-point baskets and scored nine of his game-high 24 points in the first quarter.

“I thought we did a good job in the first half taking care of the ball,” Santa Barbara Coach Morris Hodges said.

The Vaqueros, however, got more careless with the ball in the second half--11 turnovers--and Ventura put together a pair of big runs to secure the victory. The Pirates forced many of the Santa Barbara mistakes with their harassing full-court press.

Ventura led, 49-41, early in the second half when forward Hakeem Ward hit a jumper from the free-throw line that started a 14-1 run for a 63-42 advantage with 12:39 remaining.

After the Vaqueros cut the deficit to 71-61 with 6:04 left, Ventura went on a 15-2 surge sparked by Palmer and forward Kenny Washington’s seven points in the run.

“For a kid to come off knee surgery like that was outstanding,” Ventura Coach Philip Mathews said.

“He gave us a lift that turned us around. He wanted to play bad so we let him.”