Husky Women Advance in Regional

MONTEREY PARK – The East Los Angeles College men's and women's basketball teams have advanced to the quarterfinal round of the State Southern California Regional playoffs.

Coach Bruce Turner's second-seeded Lady Huskies, who have an impressive record of 27-3, will take on seven seed El Camino College (21-8) at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Men's Gym.

It's a matchup of two teams from the South Coast Conference and the second meeting between the teams this season. ELAC defeated El Camino, 73-62 Jan. 30 in Torrance.

Meanwhile, Coach John Mosley's men's team will be playing just north of the border as the No. 13 Huskies (19-10) face five seed Southwestern College (21-8) in Chula Vista.

Ironically, the ELAC men and women each needed to defeat Antelope Valley College Saturday to reach the quarterfinals. The women's team won 66-60 at home, while the men won, 111-106 in Lancaster.

Olivia Ochoa, a freshman guard from Roosevelt High School, scored a game-leading 23 points and had four steals to lead the women's team. Kimberly Perez (Garfield HS) put in 14 points and grabbed six rebounds to also lead ELAC. Kyla Martin-Burnley (Etiwanda HS) added 11 points and was credited with a game-high eight steals. She also led an aggressive defense which forced 35 turnovers.

Abigail Vasquez (Wilson HS) came off the bench to contribute six rebounds and two blocked shots, and Vianey Chavez (Schurr HS) also came in to chip in six points and three assists.

With the loss, Antelope Valley ended its season 17-12.

El Camino defeated Pasadena, 71-64 in overtime to earn its date with ELAC in the quarterfinals.

While the ELAC women were defeating Antelope Valley, the streaking Husky men managed to outlast No. 4 seed Antelope Valley 80 miles away, scoring an exciting 111-106 road win.

They frequently scored from long distance, making 13 of 23 three-point shot attempts (56.5%) and helped themselves at the free throw line by converting 36 of 45 shots (80%).

ELAC had seven players score in double figures, with sophomore guard Je'Ron Primus leading the way with 19 points. The Westchester High product made three of five three pointers and had four rebounds.

Sophomore guard Marcus Romain (Progressive Christian HS), of Brooklyn, N.Y., and freshman guard Miles Ford (Alhambra HS) also turned in impressive performances, scoring 16 points each. Romain made 11 of 13 free throws, dished off six assists and had four rebounds. Ford made five of seven field goal attempts and four of six three-pointers.

Sophomore forward Marquis Salmon (Village Christian HS) and sophomore guard Michael Cardenas (Fontana A.B. Miller HS) scored 14 points each. Sophomore Richard Bivens (Bakersfield Ridge View HS) had 12 points and sophomore guard Te'Shon Burton (Leuzinger HS) added 11.

The Huskies' 111 points was the most scored against Antelope Valley since 1989. Saturday's game also marked the second time ELAC defeated Antelope Valley this season. The Huskies also were victorious (83-79) when the teams met in November at the San Bernardino Valley College Tournament.

Antelope Valley finished 24-6.

With consecutive postseason victories, the Huskies have won five straight and 11 of their last 13 games.

Southwestern reached the quarterfinals by defeating Cuesta College, 77-74 last Friday in the second round.

ELAC defeated Victor Valley College, 96-91 in a play-in game Feb. 25.

Photo by Mario Villegas