Pirates claim crown, 73-53

Freshman forward Alisa Carrillo connected on 9 of 14 from the

floor and finished with game highs of 22 points and 12 rebounds to

claim MVP honors of the Coast Christmas Classic on the OCC campus.

The Pirates used their height advantage to its fullest, pounding

the ball inside to Carrillo, Liz Mendoza and Lauren Murray throughout

the game. The trio combined for 43 points and knocked down 18 of 35

shots to help the Pirates pull away in the second half.

The Gauchos raced out of the gate with the first seven points of

the game, but the Pirates answered with a 10-2 run to take their

first lead of the game just two minutes later. It remained close most

of the opening 20 minutes before the Pirates crept ahead just before

intermission.

All-tournament choice Nancy Hatsushi hit a pair of three-point

shots to lead the team with 10 points heading into the break with a

34-28 lead.

The sophomore point guard canned her third from beyond the arc

just 18 seconds into the second half to send the Bucs on their way to

a fifth championship in the 12-year history of the event and fourth

in the past five years.

The Pirates pushed the lead to 45-33 at the 12:54 mark on a

Mendoza jumper, but the Gauchos fought back with a 9-2 spurt to close

the gap to 47-41 with 10:30 remaining.

The teams traded baskets over the next minute, but that was as

close as the Gauchos would come the rest of the way. After Kaili

Eszlinger made it a 49-44 game with 9:43 to play, the Pirates used a

10-0 run over the next 2:57 to blow the game open.

Hatsushi capped the stretch with her final three of the night,

hitting 4 of 6 for the game to finish with 19 points, along with six

assists.

Murray tossed in 15 points and picked up six rebounds to earn

all-tournament honors, while Mendoza had eight rebounds and eight

assists.

All-tournament honoree Hazel Woods led the Gauchos (11-2) with 14

points, while fellow all-tournament selection Jamie Goodman tossed in

13 points and a team-leading 10 rebounds.

Coast (12-3), riding a seven-game winning streak, hosts Rio Hondo

on Saturday in the Coast-Cerritos New Year’s Classic at 7:30 p.m.

Coast Christmas Classic

Championship

OCC 73, Saddleback 53

Saddleback -- Goodman 13, Iglehart 10, Dawson 4, Peloza

2, Woods 14, Burling 0, Goodall 5, Hooper 0, Rodriguez 0, Eszlinger

5.

3-pt. goals -- Dawson 1, Woods 1.

Fouled out -- none.

Technicals -- none.

OCC -- Murray 15, Mendoza 6, Carrillo 22, Hatsushi 19,

Galasso 3, Marshall 0, Haueter 0, Garnica 0, Shaw 2, Von Tungeln

6.

3-point goals -- Hatsushi 4, Galasso 1.

Fouled out -- none.

Halftime -- OCC, 34-28.