Pirates top Saddleback to advance to tourney title game
COSTA MESA -- The Orange Coast College women's basketball team advanced to the championship game of the 2012 Erin Tomlinson Coast Christmas Classic with a 51-42 win over conference-rival Saddleback on Saturday inside the Peterson -- but the win came at a steep price.
The Pirates (5-4) will be without the services of standout point guard Caitlin Bunting for an extended period of time after she severely injured her leg in the final minutes of the win. According to the training staff and head coach Mike Thornton, early reports were a season-ending fracture, but no official report was available.
Jessica Johnson led Coast with another solid performance down low, scoring 14 points and grabbing 14 rebounds. Jenna Arnett also notched her second double-double of the tournament with 10 points and 12 rebounds, while Jalecia Wilson came off of the bench and provided a spark with seven points and 10 rebounds.
Karla Roacho-Cota led the Gauchos (8-8) with 17 points and 12 rebounds, while Myishia Watkins added 10 points.
Both teams struggled to find their offense, especially from beyond the 3-point line. Saddleback was 2-of-15 from behind the arc, while OCC hit just 2-of-19.
In other Coast Christmas Classic action ...
Canyons 73, Southwestern 60 -- The Cougars (7-4) also punched their ticket to the title game with a solid win over the Jaguars (5-7).
After a hard-fought first half, the Cougars were able to pull away in the second half, outscoring the Jags 38-29.
Delisa Chapman led the way for Canyons with 21 points and 11 rebounds, while Hope Smith came through with 12 points and a game-best 16 rebounds. Miriah Howard added 12 points and eight boards, while teammate Jennifer Franco tossed in 10 points off of the bench.
For the Jags, Carla Flores (12 points, five rebounds), Shanesha Clayton (11 points, six rebounds, seven assists), Chelsea Ball (10 points, 14 rebounds) and Kayla Payne (10 points) all provided solid numbers, despite the loss.
Cuesta 72, Palomar 62 -- It's not often a team gets outscored 21-0 to start the second half of a game and STILL find a way to win, but that was the case for the Cuesta Cougars, who advance to the consolation championship with the hard-fought win.
Leading 45-28 at the break, Cuesta (8-3) suddenly went ice cold, while the Comets (6-5) could not miss. In just over five minutes, the lead was gone and a few minutes later, the 21-0 run put the Comets ahead 49-45.
But the Cougars managed to regroup and outscore the Comets by 14 in the final eight minutes of the game to prevail.
Alyssa Palma led the Cougars with 20 points. Aria Johnson chipped in 18 points and nine rebounds, while Priscella Kluis tossed in 11.
For the Comets, Alliya Pinckney paced the offense with 15 points. Mikaela Stanton added 12, Melanie Lombardi chipped in with 11 and Shalia Williams tossed in 10.
Irvine Valley 59, Chaffey 46 -- A rough first half was too much to overcome for the Chaffey Panthers (6-5) as they lost in their consolation semifinal matchup with the Lasers (8-6).
While Chaffey struggled in the first 20 minutes (5-of-32 from the field), IVC was rolling, shooting 56% from the floor (14-of-25), 67% from 3-point range (4-of-6) and 75% from the free-throw line (3-of-4) to grab a 35-17 halftime advantage.
That lead was never threatened the rest of the way as four IVC players -- Amber Wharton (12 points), Jasamine Kennon (11), Taylor Casey (10) and Shomari McCorkle (10) each reached double figures on the scoresheet.
Malika Fofana led the Panthers with 18 points off of the bench.
SUNDAY'S SCHEDULE
CONSOLATION CHAMPIONSHIP -- Irvine Valley vs. Cuesta, 12 p.m.
THIRD-PLACE GAME -- Southwestern vs. Saddleback, 2 p.m.
TOURNEY CHAMPIONSHIP -- Canyons vs. Orange Coast, 4 p.m.
