Pirates bounce Cerritos from the regionals

Freshman forward Alisa Carrillo led all scorers with 19 points and

added five rebounds to lead fourth-seeded Orange Coast College to a

55-47 victory over 13th-seeded Cerritos in the second round of the

Southern California Regional Playoffs at OCC Wednesday.

The Pirates will host No. 5 Compton Saturday night at 7, with the

winner gaining a spot at the State Tournament March 14-16 at the

University of San Diego.

“Defensively I thought we played well the whole game,” said OCC

Coach Mike Thornton. “Both of our games against them last year were

almost exactly like this, part of it because we know each other so

well but also because they do a really good job pressuring

defensively.”

The game was dominated by tough defense as the teams combined to

force 47 turnovers and each squad converted on just 17 field goal

attempts.

As they have so often this season, the Bucs jumped out to an early

advantage, scoring the first eight points and assuming a 12-3 lead.

It didn’t last.

Cerritos led at halftime, 25-23, and had a 46-465 lead with 2:52

left after a 10-1 run.

“I was worried (at 46-45) because the biggest problem we have had

all year long was finishing teams off when we had an opportunity to

put them away,” said Thornton.

“We challenged our team during a timeout and I felt like we wanted

the game and we came down and made some tough shots.”

Nancy Hatsushi and Liz Mendoza each scored 16 points and accounted

for all seven three-pointers by the Bucs. Each had six rebounds.

Mendoza hit a pair of free throws to give the Pirates a 47-45 lead

and then the defense took over.

The defense kept the Falcons off the scoreboard for the final 2:43

as they missed their last five shots.

Mendoza canned a three right in front of the Coast bench to break

the deadlock and spark the Bucs to an 8-0 run to claim the victory.

“One of our unwritten goals all year long has been to get to the

state finals after coming so close last year,” said Thornton. “We got

the opportunity to play at home tonight and we get to play at home on

Saturday and I don’t think our sophomores wanted to let that go. That

was a key factor for us. I think the fact that we were a little more

motivated helped us out.”

Lauren Murray led the Bucs with nine rebounds, helping them

overcome a 29-16 deficit on the boards at halftime to finish down

just 41-36 overall.

LaVonne Amete led the Falcons (20-12) with 15 points to along with

nine boards. Tiffany Amete added 10 points.