Pirates' amazing rally comes up a point short
COSTA MESA -- Down by 22 points with just under 12 minutes left in the game, the Orange Coast College women's basketball team refused to quit and pushed College of the Canyons to the edge of a monumental collapse.
But in the end, the Cougars held on for a 66-65 victory in the second of two championship semifinal matchups on Saturday night at the 2011 Erin Tomlinson Coast Christmas Classic at the Peterson Gym.
With the win, Canyons (9-4) will take on Saddleback (12-2) on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. for the tournament title, while the Pirates (6-7) are forced to settle for the third-place matchup against Irvine Valley (7-7) at 1:30 p.m.
Ashley Engeln led Coast with 19 points, while Jenna Arnett added 16 points and nine rebounds. Nisma Ali added eight points and eight rebounds, while Anna Bartel added seven points off of the bench.
For the Cougars, Jazzmyn Davis posted 21 points and eight rebounds, while Angelica Sahagun added 14 points and Bev Weaver and Amanda Ajdari each tossed in 10.
It appeared like a done deal when the Cougars led 60-38 with 11:40 left in regulation, but the Pirates used a relentless defense and turned turnovers into points, sparking a 27-4 run. An Ali lay-up with 2:40 remaining gave OCC a 65-64 lead -- its first lead of the entire game.
With 1:40 left, the Cougars snapped a 10-minute field-goal drought when a long in-bounds pass from Nakira Johnson found its way to a wide-open Adjari, who scored the lay-up and put the Cougars up, 66-65.
The Pirates had three more shots at retaking the lead, but the ball wouldn't find the bottom of the hoop the rest of the night.
In other tournament action ...
SADDLEBACK 66, IRVINE VALLEY 54 -- In the first championship semifinal matchup of the afternoon, the Gauchos led by as many as 26 points in the second half and earned a spot in the tournament championship game behind the strong play of Raven Gammage (12 points, four 3-pointers), Shala Kirkpatrick (11 points, seven rebounds) and Shalae Edwards (10 points, seven rebounds). Irvine Valley rallied late, but the deficit was too much to overcome. Leading scorers for the Lasers included Jackie Fa'asamala (14 points, six rebounds), Shomari McCorkle (13 points, nine rebounds) and Amber Wharton (11 points).
CUESTA 64, SOUTHWESTERN 61 -- Near-comebacks were the theme of Day 2 as the Jaguars showed an early blueprint of how to rally from a huge deficit to the Pirates. Leading 37-21 at the break, the Cougars suddenly found themselves in a battle to the finish, courtesy of a 33-17 Jags' run that tied the game at 54 with just over five minutes left to play. Southwestern actually led by a point with under two minutes left to play, but back-to-back baskets by Rachael Warner and Kati Sheldon helped put Cuesta up for good. Katie Rodriguez led the Cougars with 21 points, while Emily McCullah added 11 points and seven rebounds. Top performances for the Jaguars included Gabby Robledo (14 points, eight rebounds, five assists) and Chloe Cook (13 points).
CHAFFEY 71, PALOMAR 58 -- A gritty effort by the Comets (1-10) came up short as the more experienced Panthers (11-3) earned a spot in Sunday's consolation championship. Leading by just five points at the half (31-26), Chaffey turned up the intensity and outscored Palomar 19-7 over the first six minutes of the second half and never looked back. Destinee Duncan led Chaffey with 18 points, while Ashley Harper added 14. For the Comets, Kathia Cordero scored a game-high 12 points off of the bench, while Alliya Pickney and Miriah Bennett each added 10.
SUNDAY'S SCHEDULE
Consolation Championship
11:30 a.m. -- Chaffey vs. Cuesta
Third-Place Game
1:30 p.m. -- Irvine Valley vs. Orange Coast
Tournament Championship
3:30 p.m. -- Saddleback vs. Canyons
