Pirates’ win not classic

COSTA MESA — Operating under the premise that there’s no such thing as a bad win, Orange Coast College women’s basketball coach Mike Thornton said he would gladly pocket the Pirates’ 68-50 triumph over visiting Cuesta in the first round of OCC’s Coast Christmas Classic Friday night.

But, when you’ve won 421 games not yet halfway into your 19th season at OCC, and your winning percentage is .864 the last two-plus campaigns (70-11), a discerning eye can develop to spot potential pitfalls.

“I’m not happy,” Thornton blurted as an opening remark/salvo to the media after Friday’s seemingly rather casual victory. The win put the Pirates (12-1), ranked No. 2 in Southern California and No. 3 in the state, into tonight’s 7:30 semifinal against a Cerritos team they defeated, 76-61, just last week. It might take a slow-motion review of the videotape, and at least a couple seasons of coaching experience to dissect the tournament opener with any such venom. But Thornton was ready to give it a try after his courtside review.

“[Cuesta] had three starters missing,” Thornton said. “We had a real bad practice Tuesday, our worst in a long time. I thought we played like we practiced.”

The Pirates, in fact, did not shoot exceptionally well (23 for 61 from the field for 37.7%), lost the rebounding battle, 40-28, and allowed the Cougars to shoot 42.9% from three-point range (six for 14) and nearly 42% from the field (18 for 43).

Thornton said playing 40 minutes against Cuesta’s two-three zone defense — a first this season since most teams attack the sharpshooting Pirates with man-to-man — may have exposed enough vulnerability to encourage future foes, like the handful of Orange Empire Conference squads represented in the stands scouting, to try more zone against OCC in the future.

OCC sophomore Courtney Ford, who led the winners with 25 points, nine rebounds and five steals, was also willing to concede that the Cuesta clash would not be nominated for their team time capsule.

“I’m not disappointed,” said the 5-foot-7 guard who signed with Mercer after earning Orange Empire Conference Player of the Year laurels as a freshman. “But I felt like we could have done a lot better.”

Cuesta would be hard-pressed to agree, as it committed 29 turnovers against the swarming full-court pressure that helped Orange Coast overcome less-than-coach-pleasing results in other areas.

“We’re pretty good on defense, but there is still a lot we need to work on,” said Ford, who made nine of 14 field-goal attempts (64.3%), including two of five three-pointers, and was five of six from the foul line.

Ford, however, said there was no need to panic, just yet.

“I’m really happy,” she said when asked to assess the team’s progress this season. “I think we’re doing a great job.”

Ford clearly did more than her share Friday, as sophomore Brittany Taylor was the only other OCC player in double figures with 10 points.

Sophomore point guard Rachael Maulit had seven assists, four steals and three points, while not committing a single turnover.

Freshman Casey Gomez came off the bench to chip in nine points and five rebounds, while seven Pirates converted at least once from three-point range.

OCC used a 7-0 run that began with 15:56 left in the first half to secure a 14-3 advantage and upped the lead to 19, before settling for a 35-21 halftime edge.

The Pirates then scored the first six points after intermission.

A 16-foot jumper by Ford allowed OCC to double the score on the Cougars, 42-21, with 16:36 left in the game, and the Pirates led by as many as 23.

The win was the eighth straight for the Pirates.

Coast Christmas Classic

First round

Orange Coast 68, Cuesta 50

Cuesta – Hood 6, Blair 18, Torres 13, Briasco 10, Glaziner 2, Durrett 1.

3-pt. goals – Blair 3, Briasco 2, Hood 1.

OCC – Ford 25, Ibbotson 8, Taylor 10, Kissee 3, Maulit 3, Gomez 9, Wakamiya 5, Barney 3, Cargill 2.

3-pt. goals – Ford 2, Kissee 1, Ibbotson 1, Taylor 1, Wakamiya 1, Gomez 1, Barney 1.

Halftime – OCC, 35-21.

BARRY FAULKNER may be reached at (714) 966-4615 or at [email protected].