Pirates miss last-second bid to cash in

COSTA MESA — Hypothetically speaking, Orange Coast College women’s basketball coach Mike Thornton said he would have wagered his paycheck that sophomore Casey Gomez would not miss two free throws with one second left in Friday’s 58-57 nonconference loss to visiting Cerritos.

The irony in the gesture is that Thornton may have to earn his compensation more this season than any of the previous 19 he has guided the Pirates.

“As you can see, this team does not have as easy a time scoring as the ones I’ve had the last few years,” said Thornton, who will count upon Gomez and fellow sophomore Simone Ibbotson to carry much of the offensive load coming off a 29-4 campaign in which OCC averaged 74 points per contest.

Gomez did what she could, scoring 11 of her team-high 18 points after halftime to help OCC seemingly establish control after trailing the first 24-plus minutes. And her crossover dribble freed her on a drive, with seconds ticking down, that eventually sent her to the free-throw line with a chance to tie or gain the lead.

But Gomez, who stepped to the stripe having made 77.8% of her foul shots this season (21 of 27), including all four in the game to that point, saw one free throw swirl around and off the rim. The second banged off the heel, then the inside edge of the front rim, before it spun out and fell harmlessly as the buzzer blared.

“Her free-throw shooting is actually one of the most improved parts of her game,” Thornton said of Gomez, who shot 54.5% from the line (24 of 44) as a freshman. She was our worst free-throw shooter last year. But I told my assistant coaches afterward that other than Michelle Mahi, who is a great free-throw shooter [eight of eight this season], I would just as soon had Casey at the line as anybody, because I feel that she’s a competitor and she hates to lose. I would have bet my paycheck that she would have made at least one of those two.”

OCC (9-4) was down early. The Falcons (6-6) took a 17-8 lead as the Pirates missed 13 of their first 16 field-goal tries.

“We go up and down,” said Thornton, whose team is averaging just shy of 60 points per game this season. “We go through horrendous scoring droughts sometimes. We made our first field goal [Wednesday at El Camino] with eight minutes to go in the first half. We started off a little like that tonight, but obviously it wasn’t as long and wasn’t that profound.”

A 9-2 run that included five points from Gomez, pulled the hosts within 20-17 and a three-pointer by Ibbotson, who finished with 12 points, drew OCC within 27-24 at intermission.

Gomez, who made six of 11 field-goal tries, scored her team’s first seven points after halftime. And, when Gomez later netted two free throws with 15:23 left, the Pirates had their first lead, 35-34.

A three-pointer by freshman Chelsea Alfafara, who had 14 points off the bench to match her season high, gave OCC a 47-38 edge with 8:51 left.

But Cerritos erased the deficit and led, 55-52, with 59 seconds left.

Gomez scored on a drive with 29 seconds left and Alfafara answered a Cerritos free-throw with a clutch, step-back three from the top of the key for a 57-56 advantage with 11 seconds left.

Mahi, part of a double-team on the ensuing inbounds pass after a timeout, brushed Cerritos point guard Maleta Daughtery in the backcourt and was called for a foul.

“I thought [the call] was shaky,” Thornton said. “We knew they were going to go to [Daughtery], so we wanted to double her and contain her. There was a little contact but, in my opinion, not enough contact to call a foul when you’re 70 feet from the basket in that situation.”

Daughtery made both with eight seconds left

“We’re a blue-collar team and we’re going to have a lot of games like that,” Thornton said. “We have to work hard for everything that we get.”

Nonconference

Cerritos 58, Orange Coast 57

Cer – Taylor 18, Faagata 10, Tripp 8, Butler 3, Garcia 2, Daughtery 17.

3-pt. goals – Tripp 2, Daughtery 2, Taylor 1.

OCC – Ibbotson 12, Harrell 4, Lujan 2, Gomez 18, Simmons 0, Alfafara 14, Murray 3, Bueno 2, Mahi 2.

3-pt. goals – Alfafara 3, Gomez 2, Ibbotson 2.

Halftime – Cer, 27-24.