It may have taken three weeks but Cerritos finally got its shot to avenge the 10-point Feb. 3 loss at Long Beach City.

The team responded with a 21-point blowout of its own.

Sophomore guard Kennedi Cooper said.“It means a lot, we’ve been going at it with Long Beach for the longest, I mean they’re a rival school. So this win was really big for us.”

Coming into this game Cerritos knew it would have to win the rebounding battle in order to secure the win however, the team played without starting forward Miranda Valentin.

Forward Ashley Flores expressed, “Miranda is one of our main rebounders, the fact that we lost her tonight gave us the opportunity to work even harder on the boards and I think that’s what we did tonight and we out rebounded them.”

The Falcons won the rebounding battle 58-52. Flores led the way with 13 rebounds.

Unlike the first meeting the Falcons were the aggressor early and took it to the Vikings on both ends of the floor.

Head Coach Trisha Raniewicz stated, “Maybe it was sophomore night, last game of the season or just trying to respond from [the] Wednesday [Feb. 17] loss.”

The defense is what ultimately won the game for Cerritos.

It forced Long Beach City to shoot 13-for-74 which was good for 17 percent.

Furthermore, the Vikings were unable to knock down a three-pointer in 14 attempts.

“We’re really deep and we have the type of personnel that’s versatile,” Raniewicz said.

Sophomore reserve Janel Oliver provided the same spark that she has had all season long.

Midway through the third quarter with the game looking bleak for Long Beach City, Oliver was tripped by a Vikings defender.

“We’re all very competitive, they were losing so they got more competitive when they saw the score. But I don’t know she tried to test me, I tried to keep my cool and I did, I kept it,” Oliver said with a smile.

Raniewicz stands firm that she doesn’t believe any flopping was the case in terms of Long Beach City.

“I don’t think anyone in their last game of the season wants to [flop]. [LBCC] played hard all season I don’t think it was flopping at all,” Raniewicz said.

The team lost out on its opportunity to win a share of the conference title but this win still means a lot to the team according to Raniewicz.

“Momentum, it’s all of about momentum going into the playoffs. I just could not be prouder of this team,” Raniewicz said.

Guard/Forward Allyson O’Brien is one of the two freshmen on a team ruled by sophomores and she understood the significance of this win for its leaders.

“It was really cool, it was the last game every one was crying. It hurts but we just wanted to get the win for the sophomores,” she said.

She finished with a team-high 15 points.