Coast earns third place at Coast Christmas Classic
COSTA MESA -- The Orange Coast College women's basketball team earned the third-place trophy at the 2011 Erin Tomlinson Coast Christmas Classic following Sunday's 67-60 win over Orange Empire Conference rival Irvine Valley College.
All-tournament selection Ashley Engeln led OCC (7-7) with 21 points, while teammate Jenna Arnett added 17 points and eight rebounds. Engeln finished the three-day tournament with 58 points, while Arnett racked up 37 points and 25 rebounds.
Irvine Valley's Shomari McCorkle -- also an all-tourney pick -- led the Lasers (7-8) with 20 points and eight rebounds.
After trailing 29-26 at the half, OCC clawed back into the game and tied things up at 54. With just over five minutes remaining, Engeln converted a three-point play, putting the Pirates up for good. Arnett and Nisma Ali each hit a pair of clutch free throws in the final minute of play to secure the win for Coast.
In other Coast Christmas Classic action --
SADDLEBACK 79, CANYONS 72 -- The Gauchos won the Coast Christmas Classic on Sunday, thanks to a furious second-half comeback and a dominant overtime period. Trailing 53-39 with just over 10 minutes left in regulation, the Gauchos (13-2) outscored the Cougars (8-5) 20-6 over the next eight minutes of play to tie things up at 59. Shala Kirkpatrick calmly nailed a pair of free throws with six seconds remaining to help the Gauchos force overtime and from there, Saddleback turned up the jets, outscoring the Cougars 15-8 in OT. Tournament MVP Shalae Edwards led the Gauchos with 25 points and 12 rebounds. She finished the tournament with 43 points and 32 rebounds. Raven Gammage added 18 for Saddleback, while Kirkpatrick added 13. For the Cougars, Bev Weaver and Amanda Ajdari each had 18 points, while Angelica Sahagun added 17 and Jazzmyn Davis tossed in 16.
CHAFFEY 73, CUESTA 61 -- In the consolation championship, the Panthers (12-3) lost an early double-digit lead, but fought off the young but talented Cougars (8-6) in the opening game on Sunday. After watching an 11-point lead reduced to two with just under 13 minutes left in the game, Chaffey regrouped and went on a 13-4 run over a four-minute span to pull away. Alyssa Domingo led the Panthers with 17 points, while Marcelina Moreno added 15 points and 10 rebounds and Ashlee Harper and Shannon Moore each added 14 points. For the Cougars, Kate Rodriguez -- the tournament's leading scorer -- came up with 19 points, while Kati Sheldon added 12 points and 10 rebounds.
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
MVP -- Shalae Edwards (Saddleback)
Rina Towne (Saddleback)
Desire Ale (Saddleback)
Angelica Sahagun (Canyons)
Jazzmyn Davis (Canyons)
Ashley Engeln (Orange Coast)
Shomari McCorkle (Irvine Valley)
Destinee Duncan (Chaffey)
Katie Rodriguez (Cuesta)
