Canyons wins ELAC Husky Tournament
MONTEREY PARK, CA — All four regional ranked women’s basketball team’s won trophies in the 2nd Annual East Los Angeles College Husky Classic with College of the Canyons winning the title 80-79 against Mission College.
No. 8-ranked ELAC (11-5) took third place with a 67-53 win against Saddleback College while No. 13 San Bernardino Valley College (7-6) defeated the Bethesda University junior varsity team 78-74 in the consolation championship game.
Down 59-41 with 4:31 remaining in the third quarter, No. 7-ranked Mission College (11-5) rallied with a spirited run against No. 12 Canyons (10-4).
Mission sophomore guard Celina Pagan (Honolulu Sacred Heart Academy HS), capped off a 31-12 Mission run after she connected on a jump shot with 4:56 remaining, which tied the score at 72-all.
Pagan then left the game after a hard fall. She scored a tournament-high 80 points.
The game then had four lead changes and two ties when Mission sophomore forward Rachel Baity (San Jose Pioneer HS) fouled out with 41 seconds left with Mission leading 79-78.
Canyons took advantage of the Mission Saints being down two starters and tied the score 79-79 with 29 seconds left. After a Mission timeout, the Saints inbounded the ball for the apparent last shot.
With the crowd screaming Mission lost control of the ball. Canyons (10-4) had the last shot and the win off sophomore forward Monica Friedl’s (Canyon Country Canyon HS) free throw with three ticks left.
“We loss to the better team today,” said 7-year Mission Coach Corey Cafferata. “We had our chances. Hats off to them.”
Friedl was named The Husky Classic’s Most Valuable Player with a team high 61 points.
Teammate and sophomore forward Hannah Green (West Ranch HS) was named to the All-Tournament Team. She had tournament-high totals of 52 rebounds and 12 blocked shots.
Other All Team recipients were Pagan and San Bernardino Valley sophomore guard Ashley Carson (Upland HS) with team-high tournament totals of 44 points, 28 rebounds, 10 assists, 14 steals and 11 blocked shots.
Also Saddleback freshman guard Teoncea Bennett (Milwaukee Heritage Christian High School) who had team-high totals in points scored, rebounds, assists and steals and ELAC sophomore guard Yasmine Tweedy (Chesterfield, VA Manchester HS) for her stellar defensive play.
“I was surprised,” said Tweedy. “It’s not always about who has scored the most points. Defense wins games…we all contribute.”
En route to the title game Canyons had wins against the host Huskies 81-78 in the semifinals and 71-57 against San Bernardino Valley in Round 1. Mission, who averaged 60 rebounds/28 assists per-tournament-game, defeated Bethesda JV 107-80 and Saddleback 90-60.
Other tournament wins included San Bernardino Valley 63-60 against Oxnard in the consolation semis, Bethesda JV 106-46 vs. LA Harbor College in the other consolation semifinals, ELAC 87-58 against Oxnard in the opening round and Saddleback 75-42 vs. Harbor also in Round 1.
“It was an exciting tournament with barn-burner title game,” said 9-year ELAC Head Coach Bruce Turner. “The Canyons win in the finals seconds over Mission is what championship games are about.”
story submitted by Tadzio Garcia