Pirates capture first state crown

Steve Virgen

Nancy Hatsushi. Alisa Carrillo. Liz Mendoza. Lauren Murray. Lindsey

Gallasso. Mike Thornton. Those names will be significant in Orange

Coast College women’s basketball history.

Thornton, the OCC quintet and the rest of the Pirates took one

last breath in their storybook postseason run and exhaled with a

momentous performance that led to their sweetest victory.

The Pirates won their first state championship in women’s

basketball by powering past Contra Costa, 69-61, in the title game of

the California Community Colleges Commission on Athletics State

Basketball Championships at the University of San Diego’s the Jenny

Craig Pavilion Saturday.

OCC, the No. 3 seed from the South, took down the North’s No. 2

seed, Merced, as well as the South’s No. 1, Ventura (the three-time

defending state champion), before defeating the Comets, the North’s

top seed.

“It’s the greatest moment in Orange Coast women’s basketball,”

Thornton said, moments after cutting down the net. “We talked about

putting a state championship banner on the wall because there isn’t

one there ... We knew we were going to do that someday. That someday

is now. This is huge.”

The Pirates (30-7) led throughout, as Hatsushi and Carrillo came

up with big basket after big basket any time Contra Costa came close.

“This is just a great feeling and I can’t even explain it,” said

Hatsushi, the tournament MVP who delivered a team-high 20 points on

6-of-8 shooting, including five three-pointers. “This is what we

always wanted. It’s nothing I ever experienced.”

Hatsushi scored 11 points in the second half, including a

three-pointer with 3:40 left that gave the Pirates a 58-51 lead. She

then recorded a steal at the other end and ran down the shot clock on

OCC’s offensive set.

She was fouled while driving for a layup and hit both free throws

for a 60-51 lead with 2:47 left. The foul shots capped a 7-0 run that

started when the Comets cut the deficit to 53-51 with 4:55 left.

Contra Costa almost caught the Pirates again, coming within 61-58,

after Jasmine Demery completed a three-point play with 55 seconds

left.

But Mendoza drained two critical free throws with 28 seconds left

for a 63-58 edge, forcing the Comets to try to win on two

possessions.

From there, OCC made six free throws while Contra Costa managed

just one three-pointer.

It was a bit of redemption for Mendoza, who missed the front end

of an important one-and-one free-throw opportunity last season. With

18 seconds left in the game that would have advanced the Pirates to

the state tournament, Mendoza missed the free throw that left OCC

still leading, 68-67, last year. Los Angeles Valley College

subsequently scored with three seconds left to win the game.

“It was all about this year,” said Mendoza, among six sophomores

who were on that team. “I really didn’t think about (last year). I

didn’t think I was playing so well. I just went to the line like I

had nothing to lose.”

Carrillo, the only freshman in the Pirates’ starting lineup, also

gained some vindication Sunday. She scored just three points Saturday

night, when OCC knocked off Ventura for the second time this season.

But, on Sunday, Carrillo was an inside force. She scored 19 points

on 8-of-14 shooting, forcing double teams and gaining open space for

OCC’s shooters. She picked up her fourth foul with 11:44 left and did

not return until 6:14 remained, when the Pirates led, 51-49.

Carrillo, who earned all-tournament honors, scored four points

before fouling out with 55 seconds left and OCC ahead, 61-57.

“This was the last chance that I would be able to play with these

wonderful girls,” Carrillo said of her motivation. “I just wanted to

put everything on the floor. This was partially for my benefit, but

it was mostly for (the sophomores). This was their last year. I

wanted to do my part to make it as special for them.”

The Pirates played with inspiration from the outset. They built a

21-8 lead in the first 12:30, as the Comets (34-5) struggled from the

field. But Contra Costa, led by Jackie Brown (23 points), came back

with a 12-3 run, cutting the deficit to 24-20 with 4:25 left in the

half. The teams battled to halftime, when OCC held a 33-30 edge.

The Pirates opened the second half with a 13-4 run in a 5:35 span

to build a 46-34 lead. Carrillo scored seven points in the spurt.

Hatsushi added a three-pointer, and, shortly after, procured a steal

and was fouled while making a fast-break layup, prompting a Contra

Costa timeout amid loud cheers from the OCC fans.

“Nancy is Nancy,” Thornton said. “You know what? She wasn’t even

on the first or second all-state team. She was on the Southern Region

team and not the state. That’s a joke.

“She’s the best point guard I’ve had in terms of intelligence and

being efficient. When we take her out of the lineup, we’re just not

the same team. I think that’s the best game she played for us.”

Hatsushi, who nailed her first four three-pointers and finished 5

of 6 from beyond the arc, went to high school across the street from

OCC at Costa Mesa. She was a star for the Mustangs and a constant

reminder of how valuable hustle is in the game of basketball.

She took that same mentality to OCC. As did Carrillo from nearby

Saddleback High, Galasso from El Modena and Murray from Huntington

Beach. And the list goes on of OCC players who hail from Orange

County high schools. That, along with the chemistry on the squad,

proved to be special for the Pirates’ season.

“That’s what’s really neat,” said Fred Hokanson, OCC’s Athletic

Director. “They’re all local kids.”

Thornton said people told him it would be difficult to win a state

title with so many local products. But he said the Pirates proved

that theory wrong.

“Mike works so hard, this is really neat to see,” Hokanson said,

while watching the OCC team receive its championship plaque. “This

just goes to show you how tough our program really is. We’ve won the

Orange Empire Conference supremacy award for 20 of the past 24 years.

This is some of the reason, because we have some adjunct coaches like

Mike who put in full-time work.”

Thornton put in the extra work because he knew this team could be

special.

Even though the Pirates did not win the OEC championship, he

continued to remind his players they were on the verge of making

history.

“I told them from the start that this could be a special team,”

Thornton said. “We’ve won more games than we ever won at OCC. The

sophomores have won more games in a two-year span than any other

sophomore group. But, this is more special because of the type of

kids they are.”

*--*

Championship

OCC 69, Contra Costa 61

Orange Coast -- Mendoza 8, Carrillo 19, Murray 4, Hatsushi 20, Galasso 8, Quiroz 7, Shaw 3

3-pt goals -- Hatsushi 5, Medoza 1, Galasso 1, Shaw 1

Fouled out -- Carrillo

Technicals -- none

Contra Costa -- Carter 5, Morgan 0, Dominguez 0, J. Brown 23, Gaines 1, Demery 9, Hanis 8, Braggs 6, N. Brown 5, Abercrombia 4

3-pt goals -- Hanis 2, Carter 1, J.Brown 1

Fouled out -- none

Technicals -- none

Halftime -- 33-30, OCC

*--*