Coyote Athletics : Women's Basketball : Headlines

Lady Coyotes split final two games of Nor Cal trip

By Cheeto Barrera, Sports Editor, The Daily Independent

“It was just a great game with two teams just even as can be.”

Cerro Coso wrapped up its Northern California tour on Wednesday, taking out Marin 70-42 after losing a thriller to Cabrillo the night before 68-67.

Head Coach Tom Heck said the Tuesday game against Cabrillo in Santa Cruz was perhaps one of the best women’s basketball games he’s ever seen.

“It was just a great game with two teams just even as can be,” Heck said. “They just had a little more depth than us. They were able to create more rebounds than us, which ultimately hurt us. But our kids played hard, we just had some bad luck at the end.”

After Cabrillo shot 52 percent from the field in the first half, the Lady Coyotes came together and took the lead.

The lead changed 12 times over the course of the second half, with neither team taking larger than a three point lead.

With 18 seconds to play and the game tied, LaShonda Jones stole the ball and threw it to Kara Graymountain who it a layup for a 67-65 lead.

Heck called timeout to set his defense with 13 seconds to play. He had his players play aggressively and attack the ball, as the Coyotes had a foul to give.

Brenda Cantrell knocked the ball loose, but it went to Cabrillo’s main shooter who hit a three pointer.

Cerro Coso had th last shot with 6 seconds left, and had an open shot from Sherena Gene with a 12-foot jumper. The shot bounced off the rim as time expired.

Mariah Bomberry led the Coyotes with 22 points. followed by Jones with 19 and Gene with 18.

The ladies followed up Tuesday’s effort, taking on a Marin team that has just this year resurrected the women’s program.

The result was a blow out where Tom had the luxury of calling off his top players early.

Though both teams had seven, Heck limited Bomberry to 15 points — all coming from beyond the 3-point line — and Gene to 18 points — all coming in the first half.

Cantrell had 10 points, joined by Greymountain hitting a career high 12. Charmaine Lowe also had a high of nine points.

Initially, Marin had a zone press that helped keep the game honest, and switched to a man coverage, allowing the Coyotes to take off.

Cerro Coso returns to home action on Friday, taking on the Junior Varsity squad from Ursuline University of Ohio. The two squads will square off twice — once on Friday and again on Saturday. Heck said he is looking into having the Saturday game be a scrimmage since he will be limited to five players for the series between his players’ injuries and prior obligations.

Thursday, December 20, 2007

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