Carrillo selected player of the year

Orange Coast College sophomore Alisa Carrillo, a 6-foot sophomore

forward, was named the Orange Empire Conference player of the year

Monday after averaging 19.9 points and 8.1 rebounds in conference

play, leading the Pirates to a 7-7 mark and a berth in the Southern

California regional playoffs.

The Pirates (14-14), the No. 14 seed in Southern California, will

begin defense of their state title of a year ago on Friday, at No. 3

Pasadena at 7 p.m.

Carrillo, an all-state tournament performer last season when the

Pirates captured their first-ever state title, finished the regular

season averaging 17.4 points and 6.9 rebounds while shooting 57.4%

from the field and 77.8% from the free-throw line. In one of her

final regular-season games against Saddleback, Carrillo scored a

career-high 36 points.

As a freshman last season, Carrillo finished second on Coast in

scoring average (12.6) and rebounds (6.2), while leading the team in

field-goal percentage (.563 on 183 of 325 attempts). Her two free

throws gave the Pirates a 51-49 win over Compton to advance the team

to the state tournament.

The Pirates will need a big performance from Carrillo, one of four

returners from last year’s team, against Pasadena (23-2), the

second-place finisher in the South Coast Conference North Division.

The other top seeds in Southern California include No. 1 Mount SAC

(28-2), No. 2 Ventura (26-3) and No. 4 Canyons (22-5).