Community college women’s basketball: Hatsushi leads the way

Steve Virgen

COSTA MESA - The Nancy Hatsushi Show has traveled across the street

and still carries a strong following.

Hatsushi, a former standout at Costa Mesa High, scored a game-high 16

points and dished out six assists in front of her former coach, Jim

Weeks, and teammates to lead the Pirates to a 73-52 win over visiting

Cerro Coso in the opening round of the Southern California Regional

Playoffs Friday.

The Costa Mesa Mustangs fans also received a special treat with 1:15

remaining when another former Mesa star, Leigh Marshall, knocked down her

only shot of the game, a three-pointer.

But, it wasn’t all feel-good action for the Pirates (24-8), who did

not impress their coach.

“We played real poorly,” said OCC Coach Mike Thornton, who noted his

team’s goal is to reach the state’s final four in Stockton. “We have to

play a lot better. That was the worst defensive team we have played.

That’s a game where we should score 85-90 points. I was disappointed and

I haven’t been disappointed in them very much this season. Nancy came up

big and she provided us with the (scoring) spurts.”

The Pirates will host Palomar (a 53-44 upset over Santa Barbara)

Tuesday at 7 p.m., and the winner will play for the right to advance to

the final four.

OCC, which is riding an eight-game winning streak, built a 42-27

first-half lead, but shot just 35% from the field (14 of 39). The Coyotes

(15-17) didn’t help their cause by shooting 5 of 20 from the foul line in

the first 20 minutes.

Hatsushi opened the second half with a three-pointer after a pass from

OCC team captain Kyra Melville, a sophomore forward who scored 13 points

and grabbed seven rebounds. Hatsushi then fed a pass to Lindsey Galasso

for another three-pointer, to put the Pirates up, 48-27 with two minutes

spent.

Coast eventually earned its biggest lead, 60-35, with 10:47 remaining

and cruised to the win. OCC starting center Charlenda Van Buren led the

Pirates with 10 rebounds, while Candice Quiroz contributed eight points.

OCC finished second in the Orange Empire Conference after closing with

a seven-game winning streak that was capped by a 63-55 win over host

Santa Ana, ending the Dons 24-game OEC winning streak.