COS comes up short against No. 1 Mt. SAC
by Damian Marquez, Visalia Times-Delta
If the Tom Gilcrest Invitational is considered a preview of the state championship tournament, then the College of the Sequoias women's basketball team has to feel pretty good about the rest of its season.
They Giants don't have to feel good about the way the tournament ended though — with a 64-63 loss against Mt. San Antonio College in the tournament championship game on Sunday at the Dr. S. Thomas Porter Field House.
"I told the kids in the locker room, 'we had a chance to win this game, but we gave it to them,'" COS coach Ray Alvarado said. "We're not here to come close, we're here to get a job done. We're on the right track but there are some things we need to do to get better."
The Giants were eyeing their first Gilcrest Invitational title since 1991, but Mt. SAC denied them in the championship game for the second straight season.
Last season, Mt. SAC won the championship by 20 points.
This season, the Giants pushed Mt. SAC, the top-ranked team in the state, to the limit.
"I think it shows our potential and how far we've come," Alvarado said. "I'm proud of the kids. That team is a state champion, not the defending champion, but they win. For us to have the ball at the end with the lead, it shows a great effort by our kids. The ball just didn't bounce our way."
COS had a 63-61 lead with 13 seconds left in the game and Corissa Turley at the free-throw line. The sophomore, who finished the game with 24 points, missed both free-throw attempts to give the Mounties one final chance.
Mt. SAC drove the length of the court and missed a contested lay-in, but Lashanique Young was in the right spot for the rebound, converted on her lay-in and was fouled to set up a free throw for the lead with 4.4 seconds left.
After a COS timeout, Young's free throw hit the back of the rim, bounced straight up in the air and down through the net.
Vanessa Mancera's desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer came up short.
"Everything happened for us to win," Alvarado said. "We had the right people in the right places. I'll take Corissa at the line 10 out of 10 times, and I'll take Vanessa with the ball in her hands there.
" ... This game was a good lesson for us. We'll bounce back."
Turley and Mancera were named to the all-tournament team for the Giants, who fell to 11-2 on the season.
Mt. SAC stayed perfect on the season, improving to 11-0.
COS and Mt. SAC will both be playing in the Antelope Valley Tournament next week. Alvarado said he hopes to get another shot at the Mounties.
The way the Giants are playing, the two teams might run into each other again in the state tournament, which is something that has been almost unheard of at COS in recent years.
"For us, this was a good lesson because our goal is to get to the state tournament and play in an Elite Eight or Final Four type game," Alvarado said.
"We'll play teams like this in the playoffs. It was a good lesson for us. Better that we learn it now than later. We have a lot to learn from it and we'll continue to grow."
http://www.visaliatimesdelta.com/story/sports/2014/12/08/cos-comes-short-mt-sac/20078487/