Vazquez's 49 Points Helps Boost Huskies Past Canyons

by Cerwin D Haynes

(thumbnails by Henry Caceres)

With 46 seconds left in the game and a 17-point lead, East LA College Women's Basketball head coach Bruce Turner pulled three of his starters as the game was in hand.

Except he didn't realize that one of his starters, sophomore G/F Lupe Vazquez, was a point shy of the half-century mark at that point.

Vazquez put on an historic scoring clinic in the "E-rena" tonight, scoring 49 points as #13 ELAC (13-16, 4-4) beat #20 College of the Canyons (14-15, 7-7) 93-78  in the opening round of the 3C2A SoCal Regional Playoffs. ELAC will advance to Costa Mesa this Saturday to take on the #4-seed defending state champion Orange Coast College Pirates in the next round.

Vazquez, the Cantwell HS product who also plays for the El Salvador team, was locked in from the start. She scored 13 of East LA's 20 points in the first quarter and had 24 at halftime. She scored inside and out, mixing in long-range bombs with tough drives into the paint for a variety of lay-ins, floaters and short jumpers. As hot as she was, it was her teammates getting into the scoring act that allowed the Pack to open up a double-digit lead on the Cougars in the second quarter. Sophomore F Sasha Capers found the rhythm, shooting 5-6 from the field for 10 points in the quarter. Freshman reserve G Melanye Ramirez played the whole second period and put in work all over the floor: she shot 1-2 from three and also had three rebounds, three assists and two steals. ELAC outpaced Canyons 29-20 in the quarter and hit the lockers up 49-36 at half.

The third quarter saw Vazquez score 11 of East's 22 points in the period, and at one point, the Pack looked ready to blow the game open. Ramirez would go 1-2 at the free throw line to give the Huskies a 67-42 lead at the 2:57 mark. But to Canyons' credit, they didn't fold. They closed the quarter on a 12-4 push to chip away a bit at ELAC's lead, 71-54, going into the final period.

Canyons used the late third quarter surge to stay afloat in the fourth, ultimately coming with ten points, 80-70, on a pair of Aaliyah Garcia free throws with 4:33 left. Fortunately for the home Green, Vazquez wasn't done with her scoring - or playmaking for that matter. One of her five assists came on the next play: finding freshman F/C Asiah Harris in the post on a pinpoint lead pass that Harris converted for a layup. After a Canyons timeout, Garcia would miss on a jumper that Capers rebounded. Capers passed the ball upcourt to Vazquez, who caught Canyons sagging off the three-point line. She pulled up from distance... and splashed her seventh three-pointer of the game. The long-range bomb gave her 45 points, and the Huskies a 85-70 lead with 3:14 left.

With a double-digit lead with two to three minutes left, most coaches look to pull their starters once they know they've essentially secured the win. At the same time, it's not everyday any player at any level of basketball has a shot at 50 points. Canyons scored two straight layups in between a Huskies' turnover to close within 11, 85-74, with 2:05 left. It wasn't quite time yet for Coach Turner to rest his starters, so Vazquez stayed on the court. She scored four more points on free throws in between a Karis Saguchi layup, and with 49 seconds left, Coach Turner empyied his bench.

"I didn't realize she had 49 at that point," said Turner after the game. "I would've left her in".

Naturally, Coach Turner was more concerned about securing a playoff win than any one player's scoring stats. Nevertheless, the sophomore Salvadorean's performance will go down as one of the greatest athletic feats in the history of ELAC.

HUSKY BITS

• Vazquez finished with a final line of 49 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. She shot 16-27 from the field, 7-13 from downtown, and 10-12 from the line.
  • She was second on the team in rebounds and tied Ramirez for the team lead in assists.
• Speaking of Ramirez, she played a strong floor game off the bench: six points, six rebounds and two steals to go along with her five dimes in 21 minutes of action.
• Harris had another double-double, 11 points and 13 rebounds.
• ELAC shot 50% from the field for the game, and 47.1% from behind the arc. They assisted on 19 of their 35 made field goals.
• Canyons G Jade Sims tried to match Vazquez shot for shot. She had a team-high 34 points for the visitors from Valencia.

UP NEXT:

East LA will advance to the SoCal Regional Semifinals to face the #4-seed, the defending 3C2A State Champion Orange Coast College on Saturday, March 2. The Huskies are familiar with the Pirates, having faced OCC twice already this season. East is 0-2 against them, and although OCC will be heavily favored, the Huskies will hope the third time is the charm. Gametime scheduled for 7pm.