Dos Pueblos won the battle of the forwards at Ventura on Thursday night, beating the Cougars, 46-45, and completing an 8-0 Channel League season (19-7 overall). The DP staff believes no previous Chargers team has ever gone through the league without a blemish.

The game featured two pairs of senior forwards who have dominated their teams from a scoring standpoint. Ventura had James Staniland (17.9 points per game, 18.3 in league games) and James Ennis (16.9 ppg, 18.7 league), while Dos Pueblos had Sean Park (18.5 ppg, 21.7 league) and Ryan Beall (11.6 ppg, 13.3 league). Park and Beall are also 1-2 in the league (and Santa Barbara County) in rebounding. Both teams get 56 percent of their scoring from their starting forwards.

Dos Pueblos won the battle decisively as Beall scored 16 points with a pair of three-pointers, and Park added 11 to go along with 12 rebounds. Park’s excellent defensive effort held Staniland to three points, and Beall held Ennis to 13  The defensive effort, as always, was helped by the entire team, especially centers Ben Johnson and Malik Heptot, who combined for three blocked shots, all on help defense. Heptot contributed eight rebounds off the bench, and DP received strong bench play as well from Evan Hamilton (five points, five rebounds) and Robert Vickers (four and four). Beall and Park had five assists apiece, and Daniel Placencia added three.

The Chargers have not been a dominant team in league, but they have a formula, and they use it. In eight league games, they have allowed under 48 points per game, allowing them to win all eight despite scoring just 53 themselves.

Thursday’s game was typical. Ventura took a 29-24 halftime lead on Ennis’ shot at the buzzer. But after a spirited halftime discussion, the Chargers held Ventura to six points in the third and seized a 38-35 lead. Some of the Chargers’ defense was detected to be overaggressive, however, as the referees whistled DP for 12 second-half fouls to five for the home team, with a similar disparity in free-throw attempts.

A hoop from Park pushed the lead to 42-37, but Ventura crept back at the free-throw line, and Ennis made his only field goal of the second half, a three to push Ventura back in front at 43-42. A basket by Beall caused another lead change, and after Ennis tied the score with a free throw, Beall’s miss was tipped off the board by Johnson, allowing Park to secure the ball and score for a 46-44 lead.

Ennis made another free throw with 36 seconds to play, and Ventura got a final chance after a steal. DP effectively denied the ball to the Ventura forwards, and the Cougars had to settle for a contested three-point shot. That missed, but Ventura was able to collect the long rebound and fire yet another contested three. Devean Davison controlled the rebound, and although he was tied up, the arrow favored DP, and with less than a second remaining, all that was required was an inbound pass.

Will Beall is a Dos Pueblos parent.