Pirates add to list of believers

Irvine Valley, which sees Orange Coast rally from 15-point deficit, is latest testimonial to Pirates’ rare resolve.COSTA MESA -- It’s not as if he doubts its existence. But Orange Coast College women’s basketball coach Mike Thornton still marvels at the volume with which his players’ belief in themselves continues to surface.

This team-wide self-assurance was there when Irvine Valley College scored the first seven points of the Orange Empire Conference game Friday night.

It was even apparent when the Lasers made five of their first six three-pointers on their way to a 26-11 advantage with 8:55 left in the first half.

“Our girls just never think they’re out of a game,” said Thornton, who watched the Pirates rally for a 59-55 triumph to further solidify their place atop the conference standings.

Orange Coast, which led for only a few minutes in Wednesday’s Orange Empire home win over Santa Ana, took its first lead against IVC with 5:04 left in the contest.

And, by virtue of some maniacal defensive pressure and some uncannily clutch offensive production, the Pirates -- ranked No. 3 in Southern California and No. 5 in the state -- improved to 22-2, 6-0 in conference.

Irvine Valley (19-4, 3-3) reluctantly joined the growing list of teams forced to deal with OCC’s increasing invincibility.

Thornton, meanwhile, continues to smile through his own disbelief.

“The story just keeps going and going,” Thornton said of this season, in which the Pirates have battled myriad injuries, including the loss of point guard Laurie Denning to season-ending knee surgery. “It’s just incredible, but they just keep finding a way to win. That was the biggest hole we’ve ever had to come out of. We’ve never been down by 11 at halftime before.”

Ironically, it was the Lasers’ remarkably hot shooting that helped trigger their demise.

“We came out in a zone, because we didn’t think they could shoot that well,” Thornton said. “But they shot us out of it.”

Back in their familiar man-to-man, the Pirates ratcheted things up defensively to help whittle away at the deficit.

After IVC, ranked No. 5 in Southern California and No. 10 in the state, made eight of its first 11 field-goal tries -- including 5 of 6 beyond the arc -- the Lasers cooled. They made only seven of their final 22 first-half field-goal attempts.

And, with Orange Coast players draped upon them, the Lasers were just 6 of 29 from the field after intermission (20.7%).

OCC improved from 42.3% from the field in the first half to 54.2% in the second (13 of 24).

OCC’s Jillian Ricks, a 6-foot-1 sophomore, scored a game-high 15 points and sophomore Crystal McCormick added 14 to lead the way.

Teeya Fernandez (nine points) was 3 for 3 from the field after halftime, including an 18-footer from the baseline that put the Pirates ahead, 49-47.

Valerie Katayama’s driving layup with 1:31 left upped the hosts’ lead to 56-53, and Thornton called sophomore reserve Nancy Castro “the unsung hero of the game.”

Castro had four consecutive points to finalize a 12-2 run early in the second half. The spurt pulled the Pirates within 43-41.

Madison Parks finished with seven points, 14 rebounds and three blocked shots for the winners, who posted a 44-27 advantage on the glass.

Katayama had six assists, five rebounds and four points. She also stepped in front of a Lasers player to cause a traveling violation that denied IVC a chance to erase a 54-53 deficit with 2:10 remaining.

In addition to their shooting and rebounding woes, the Lasers were hampered by Vanessa Dominguez’s foul trouble.

Dominguez, who entered the week leading all conference scorers at 21.3 per game, had just eight points in 22 minutes.

Orange Empire Conference

Orange Coast 59,

Irvine Valley 55

Score by Halves