Chabot College (30-3) defeated the Huskies

NORWALK—Chabot College (30-3) defeated the Huskies, 84-77, in the CCCAA state championship semifinal game. Chabot will play Mt. San Antonio College (34-0) in the championship game tomorrow. East Los Angeles College ended its best season in the school history, 29-4.

Chabot led the entire second half mostly with double-digit leads its largest at 69-51 with 5:52 left when ELAC freshman guard Olivia Ochoa took matters into her own hands.

Ochoa’s 14 consecutive points brought Huskies within eight, 73-65, with 2:45 left. An Ochoa free throw with 1:33 left had the Huskies down 75-70.

Twice the Huskies came within four, with 1:11 left off a sophomore forward Jocelyne Diaz layup (76-72) and with 0:35 seconds remaining after a freshman guard Dynasti Shelby jump shot, which both times brought the ELAC contingent to its feet.

Although she was doubled and sometimes triple guarded, Ochoa led all scorers with 29 points (nine rebounds, seven assists, four steals), 25 in the second half. Diaz had the only double-double for the Huskies (16 points, 11 rebounds) while freshman guard Kyla Martin-Burnley added 17 points for the Huskies, 12 in the first half.

Sophomore guard Alana Simon led Chabot 28 points (nine rebounds, five assists). Teammate sophomore guard Michelle Townsend had a double-double (20 points, 12 rebounds) with freshman forward Briana Booker hauling down 10 rebounds.

Chabot shot better connecting on 37.8 percent of its shots (28-of-74) to ELAC’s 32.1 percent (25-of-78). The teams were about even at the free throw line. ELAC connected on 80 percent (20-of-25) to Chabot’s 81.5 percent (22-of-27). Chabot had 16 consecutive free throws during the game.

-Tadzio Garcia