No one did it alone. No one stood out. The Cerritos College women’s basketball team did exactly what they needed to do to win, play as a team.
Just when the days for the struggling Falcons seemed dark, sunlight shined through beating El Camino and Long Beach City.
With an all-around team effort, the Falcons did exactly that by defeating El Camino College, 54-51, in overtime.
The Falcons went into Wednesday night’s game attempting to end a young losing streak of two and avoid dropping to 0-2 in SCC play.
No player for the Falcons scored in double digits. Forward Mercedes Taylor and Guard Raven Tripp had a team-high nine points a piece with three other players scoring eight points each.
The Falcons cruised through the first half, dominating perimeter shooting and forcing the Warriors into low percentage shots.
The Falcons ended the first half on a 15-6 run and took what seemed to be a commanding lead of 23-14.
But the momentum never carried over into the second half for the Falcons. The Warriors had new life and went on a 20-7 run to take a 34-30 lead.
“We were letting them get second chances,” Guard Rachel Butler said.
Taylor’s late basket put the Falcons ahead, 45-41 however the Warriors were able to tie and send the game into overtime.
Tripp had the opportunity to win the game with six seconds left in regulation after given two free-throw attempts due to an aggressive drive to the hoop.
Tripp missed both free-throws.
In overtime, Guard Cherish Sanchez came off the bench to give the Falcons a quick start and a four point lead that was never contested by the Warriors the rest of the period.
“We could have played better. We should’ve killed them,” Taylor said.
On Friday, things only got brighter for the Falcons after overcoming a small deficit at halftime and coming away with a 60-47 victory versus rival LBCC.
“We shut (LBCC) down defensively,” head coach Karen Welliver said.
The Falcons biggest lead of the game was 21 and held the Vikings to only 30 percent shooting.
In the first half, the Falcons struggled offensively scoring a mere 14 points but turned it around the second half converting 45 percent of its field goals.
