Brittney Lewis had 22 pts, Ashley Adams had 12 and Joanna Matthews came off the bench for 10 as #4 Mt. San Antonio (20-5, 5-0) remained unbeaten in South Coast Conference, North Division play with a 70-61 win over host #8 LA Trade Tech (19-3, 2-3) in a showdown between two of the top womens teams in the state Friday night.
That the game would mean so much seemed most unlikely a very short time ago. After all, LA Trade Tech won just one game last year after reinstating the program after a hiatus of several years. And Mt. SAC was won four of the last six state championships.
But LATT started the season with 17 straight wins, and pushed Mt. SAC in this one as well, holding a lead at halftime and still leading until a 12-0 run put Mt. SAC in control with just under seven minutes to play.
Mt. SAC opened an 8-3 lead in the first few minutes, but LATT went on a 9-0 spurt to take a 12-8 lead. Mt. SAC went back in front, 13-12, but then LATT went on an 8-0 spurt to take a 20-13 lead with 7:27 left in the first half. The lead reached nine points at 25-16 with just over six minutes left in the half, and LATT again led by nine at 34-25.
But Mt. SAC scored five points in the final minute of the first half to make it 34-30 at the break, and scored the first five points of the second half to take a 35-34 lead after a basket by Cecy Cuevas 2:03 in to the second half.
Mt. SAC had a 38-37 lead when Trade Tech went on another 8-0 spurt to take a 45-38 lead after a steal & basket by Heather Sutherland. The lead reached eight points after a driving lay-up by Toni McLin made it 49-41, and LATT still held a seven-point lead at 51-44.
Then came the 12-0 Mt. SAC run, started by consecutive 3-pointers by Matthews and Tanisa Braxton. Then Lewis scored a traditional 3-point play to give Mt. SAC a 53-51 lead with 7:49 left. A baseline jumper by Lewis made it 55-51, and a single free throw by Matthews completed the run, making it 56-51 with 6:41 to play.
After that, Mt. SAC led the rest of the way. A bank-shot by McLin brought Trade Tech within three at 56-53, but then Matthews hit another three to make it 59-53. LATT got back within five points at 60-55 after two free throws by Niauni Brown, but then Braxton hit another jumper and Adams scored on a putback for Mt. SAC to make it 64-55 with 3:01 left, and Mt. SAC led by at least seven points the rest of the way.
Lewis finished with 22 pts, 5 rebs, 4 asts, 2 blocks and 2 steals in a strong all-around performance. Adams just missed a double-double with 12 pts and a game-high 9 rebs, and Matthews came off the bench for 10 pts, 5 rebs, 3 asts and 3 steals. Qorreach Joice and Joyce Koloa each had 7 pts.
For LATT, Brown led the way with 19 pts, 14 in the first half, and 3 asts. Sutherland had 12 pts, 6 rebs and 5 steals, and Jerronisha Green had 10 pts and 7 rebs. Malika Jones had 9 pts, 4 rebs and 5 blocked shots.
The win improves Mt. SAC's overall record to 20-5, and more importantly Mt. SAC is now 5-0 and atop the South Coast Conference's North Division. LATT falls to 19-3 overall and 2-3 in SCC-North play.
box score
Friday, February 5, 2010 - 5:30 pm
at LA Trade Tech
South Coast - North - Women
Mt. San Antonio 70:
11-Kaiameka Brown, PG - 0/5 fg, 1/2 ft, 2 reb, 1 ast, 3 pf, 1 pt
23-Cecy Cuevas, SG - 2/6 fg, 2 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl, 1 pf, 4 pts
24-Brittney Lewis, SF - 6/13 fg, 8/8 ft, 5 reb, 4 ast, 2 blk, 2 stl, 3 pf, 22 pts
33-Ashley Adams, PF - 5/10 fg, 2/3 ft, 9 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 3 pf, 12 pts
34-Kimiere Hawkins, C - 1/2 fg, 4 reb, 1 blk, 4 pf, 2 pts
3-Joanna Matthews, G - 3/11 fg, 2/4 ft, 5 reb, 3 ast, 3 stl, 1 pf, 10 pts
21-Tanisa Braxton, F - 2/5 fg, 7 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk, 2 stl, 1 pf, 5 pts
25-Qorreah Joice, C - 2/4 fg, 3/5 ft, 2 reb, 1 pf, 7 pts
52-Phyllis Jenson, C - 0 pts
32-Joyce Koloa, F - 2/4 fg, 3/4 ft, 3 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 1 pf, 7 pts
team rebounds: 7
Totals: 23/60 fg (.383), 19/26 ft (.731), 46 reb, 14 ast, 4 blk, 11 stl, 18 pf, 70 pts
3-pt fg (5): Lewis 2, Matthews 2, Braxton
Turnovers (24): Cuevas 6, Lewis 6, Braxton 4, Matthews 3, Brown, Adams, Hawkins, Koloa, team
LA Trade Tech 61:
11-Heather Sutherland, PG - 6/16 fg, 0/1 ft, 6 reb, 2 ast, 5 stl, 2 pf, 12 pts
24-Jerronisha Green, PF - 4/8 fg, 2/4 ft, 7 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk, 2 stl, 3 pf, 10 pts
30-Niauni Brown, SF - 6/16 fg, 4/6 ft, 3 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl, 2 pf, 19 pts
31-Aja Miller, SG - 0/1 fg, 2 ast, 1 stl, 4 pf, 0 pts
33-Malika Jones, C - 4/7 fg, 1/3 ft, 4 reb, 1 ast, 5 blk, 4 pf, 9 pts
32-Ariel Temple, G - 0/1 fg, 0/2 ft, 2 reb, 0 pts
25-Barbara Holiday, G - 3/6 fg, 0/1 ft, 1 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 3 pf, 7 pts
10-Toni McLin, C - 2/3 fg, 0/2 ft, 8 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 4 pf, 4 pts
team rebounds: 3
Totals: 25/58 fg (.431), 7/19 ft (.368), 34 reb, 12 ast, 6 blk, 12 stl, 22 pf, 61 pts
3-pt fg (4): Brown 3, Holiday
Turnovers (21): Brown 11, Sutherland 5, Green 3, Miller, Jones
Halftime Score: LA Trade Tech 34, Mt. San Antonio 30
Updated Records: Mt. San Antonio (#4-South, #3-Calif) 20-5 overall, 5-0 in SCC-N; LA Trade Tech (#8-South, #8-Calif) 19-3 overall, 3-2 in SCC-N
LA Trade Tech led by 9 at 34-25 and by 8 at 49-41, but Mt. SAC went on a 12-0 run to take a 56-51 lead with 6:41 left and led the rest of the way
