Community college women’s basketball: Melville keys OCC win

Steve Virgen

COSTA MESA - When the Orange Coast College Pirates were primed for

doom and upset in this month of madness, they looked to their team

captain, Kyra Melville, in the second round of the Southern California

Regional women’s basketball playoffs Tuesday night.

Melville, a sophomore forward, scored 11 of OCC’s final 17 points and

finished with a game-high 19 to lead the Pirates to a 58-53 win over

visiting Palomar. After missing her first three shots in the second half,

Melville went on to make four of her next five field goals down the

stretch.

“Shots weren’t falling. This one was all about heart,” said Melville,

who shot 7 of 15 from the field (47%), including one three-pointer. “(OCC

assistant coach) Jamie Shine talked to me at halftime and told me that

I’m the leader out there. (My teammates) want me to have the ball, and I

should want to have the ball. I should be proud and have the confidence.”

The Pirates (25-8) will play at Los Angeles Valley in Van Nuys Friday

night at 7, and the winner will advance to the state’s final four in

Stockton. L.A. Valley (29-5) defeated Chaffey, 63-56.

“I think they enjoy seeing my hair grow gray,” Coach Mike Thornton

said of his OCC squad. “We shot 27% in the first half and (44% total, 17

of 37). It was a gut win. There were a lot of opportunities we had to

give it up. Give Palomar credit. Every time we went up by six or eight,

they came back. We can’t have anymore subpar wins. We need to play better

and shoot the ball better.”

The Pirates gave Thornton win No. 263, and his first in as many games

over Palomar.

OCC outscored the Comets, 13-8, in the final 5:45. With the score tied

(45-45) for the sixth time, the Pirates pulled away, ignited by a

three-pointer from freshman guard Lindsey Galasso (10 points), who nailed

the trey after a pass from freshman point guard Nancy Hatsushi (nine).

Melville later made the front end of a one-and-one for a 49-45 lead.

Then, Hatsushi recorded her fifth and final steal and OCC called a

timeout. Hatsushi found Melville down low for a bucket and a 51-45 lead.

The duo hooked up again with 1:54 left and Melville’s deuce produced a

53-48 edge. Melville scored her last two points after a turnaround shot

from five feet out with 32 seconds left, giving OCC a 55-51 advantage.

The Comets (16-15) faced a 56-53 deficit after Galasso made one of two

free throws with 16 seconds left. Hatsushi applied pressure on Palomar’s

best player, Christina Preciado, who scored a team-high 18 points. OCC

freshman forward Liz Mendoza, who came off the bench to score 11 points,

stole Preciado’s entry pass to her teammate, Malia Altieri, to seal the

win with two seconds left. Mendoza was fouled and hit both free throws

just before time expired.

Coast grabbed a 27-21 halftime lead after an 11-2 run in the final

4:30 of the first half. The Comets answered in the second half with a

13-4 run, which included two three-pointers by Palomar freshman Allison

Strause (15 points). The Comets held a 44-34 rebounding advantage led by

center Cynthia Sorrell, who grabbed a game-high 17 rebounds.

Palomar, like OCC, featured four starting freshman.