Ranked teams post wins at South Coast tripleheader

No. 1 East Los Angeles 84, Long Beach City College 52 (box score)
No. 3 Mt. San Antonio 88, Cerritos 45 (box score) 
No. 11 Pasadena City College 70, El Camino 69 (box score)

TORRANCE, Calif. - Three statewide-ranked South Coast Conference North Division teams defeated three SCC South Division teams in a triple header at El Camino College.

No. 1 East Los Angeles College improved to 17-1 with an 84-52 win, in the tournament style setting, against No. 13-South Region-ranked Long Beach City College (9-10).

No. 3 Mt. San Antonio College (19-1) defeated Cerritos College (5-13) 88-45. No. 11 Pasadena City College (16-3) survived a scare from upstart El Camino (6-9) with a 70-69 win. El Camino lost at Mt. SAC 75-74 on January 11.

Long Beach opened with an 11-2 lead against ELAC when Miranda Martinez (assisted by Janay Wellington) made a 3-point jump shot with 5:05 left in the first period.

The Huskies responded with a second period rally and took a 38-33 lead when freshman guard Farrah Castillo (Rowland HS) connected on a 3-point swish at the buzzer, assisted by freshman guard Monica Garcia (Garfield HS).

ELAC outscored Long Beach 26-6 in the third period with back-to-back 13-3 runs. The Huskies lead by 33 points in the fourth period.

"We got out of the blocks slow, (but) didn't have our normal lineup. Once we get active that's when the true Huskies come out," said ELAC Head Coach Bruce Turner. "We play better coming from behind, for some reason. We almost have to get tired before we play our best."

And that the Huskies did with their best start in the school's 71-year history.

(Courtesy Tadzio Garcia, East L.A. College SID - Sports Information Desk)