Chaffey conquers Coast

Bryce Alderton

The search for consistency hit another snag in the road Saturday

night for the Orange Coast College women’s basketball team in the

semifinals of its own tournament.

Despite shooting 52% from the field, which included 22 points from

sophomore Alisa Carrillo, Chaffey’s press caused confusion, fatigue

and in the end, a 65-61 victory over the Pirates in the 13th annual

Coast Christmas Classic -- an event OCC had won five of the previous

12 years, including last season.

Chaffey freshman guard Dominique Burke -- making her first start

of the year -- tallied 19 of her game-high 30 points in the second

half in helping erase an eight-point lead Coast held with just more

than 12 minutes to go.

“We can’t take care of the ball. We are a poor basketball team

right now,” OCC Coach Mike Thornton said. “This is the fourth time in

a tournament [this season] we’ve had a chance to go to a championship

game and we have lost every time. We made Chaffey’s season.”

“To beat Orange Coast in their gym after they beat the snot out of

us twice last year, once in this tournament ... this is the biggest

win since I’ve been here,” second-year Chaffey Coach Dawn Baker said.

The Panthers shot just 40% (17 of 42), but hit on 4 of 7 shots

from three-point range and committed 14 turnovers to the Bucs’ 23.

Freshman Biava Arganda came off the bench to score 14 points and

was the only other player besides Carrillo (10 of 12 field goals) to

score in double figures for OCC. Arganda led Coast with five assists

while Carrillo grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.

“We have to find more ways of getting Alisa the ball,” Thornton

said.

Carrillo scored 11 of Coast’s first 15 second-half points as the

Pirates (6-6) built a 50-42 lead with 12 minutes, 9 seconds to play.

A Celeste Haueter scoop shot gave the Bucs a 52-46 lead with 9:07

to play, but Chaffey went on a 15-0 run, using four three-pointers to

take a 61-52 lead before Carrillo found Arganda under the hoop for a

layup and she subsequently converted the three-point play.

Coast chipped away and cut the lead to 63-61 with nine seconds to

play after a Jessica Chades steal and layup. But Coast was forced to

foul and Burke converted her final two free throws to seal it.

“We wanted to pressure their guards because we knew fatigue might

set in and I think it did a little bit,” Baker said about the

Panthers’ second half strategy.

Coast took its first lead since 2-0 after a Lauren Stepanski layup

made it 22-20, capping a 13-2 Pirates run through 4:53 of the first

half. The Pirates then erased a 28-24 Chaffey lead by closing out the

final 5:34 of the half on an 11-2 run with Arganda scoring seven of

those points.

But the Pirates, the defending state champions, couldn’t sustain

the momentum and Thornton was left looking for answers.

“The press is always a factor against us. We are going to get

pressed as soon as people walk into our gym,” Thornton said. “We are

trying to make things like last year, but it is hurting us.”

The Pirates host Cerritos at 2 p.m. today for third place.

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Coast Christmas Classic

Semifinal

Chaffey 65, Orange Coast 61

Chaffey -- Burke 30, Campbell 6, Romero 0, Blake 6, Abrego 14, Howard 7, LeDay 2, Garcia 0, Davis 0.

3-pt. goals -- Abrego 4, Burke 2, Blake 2.

Orange Coast -- Carrillo 22, Naff 4, Stepanski 4, Shaw 7, Chades 2, Arganda 14, Van Buren 4, Viloria 2, Haueter 2.

3-pt. goals -- Arganda 1, Shaw 1.

Halftime -- OCC, 35-30.

*--*