An inspired group effort led by the dynamic duo of center-guard Dariel Johnson and point guard Cosette Balmy helped the Pasadena City College women's basketball team sweep all three of their games at the LA Harbor Round Robin Tournament Dec. 13-15. The pair were picked to the All-Harbor Tournament team.
The two played at the top of their game when state #11-ranked PCC closed out the tourney with a mild upset over #5 Diablo Valley, 76-55, the defending CCCAA State Champions. Balmy just missed a triple-double as she scored 21 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and dished out nine assists. Johnson compiled a rare 20-20 double-double in points and rebounds (she accomplished that feat once last season). It was the fifth time in her career that DJ reached 20 or more boards in a game as she pulled down an impressive 19 rebounds a game in the tournament.
The Lancers (10-1 overall) remained in a tight battle, leading 21-20, then 40-32 at halftime. In the third quarter, PCC opened things up by outscoring DVC, 24-10, as it never looked back.
Shooting guard Merina Latu launched a pair of 3s that were part of the third-quarter run. Latu, who was 4-for-5 from around the 3-point arc, finished with her season high of 16 points plus four assists.
"The way we lost to Irvine Valley (66-52 on Dec. 4) is something I'm trying to prevent from happening again," said PCC head coach Joe Peron, who is up to 531 career wins in now his 24th season. "We sat back later in that game and didn't take the game to them. We took way too many 3s and it backfired. Against Diablo Valley, we kept running and trying to keep the pressure on both sides of the floor for 40 minutes. Playing up tempo helped us offensively. It was kind of surprising that we were able to win by that large a margin because DVC is easily one of the top few programs from up North."
PCC opened the tourney with an 87-68 victory over Southwestern. Johnson was dominating in the post with 18 points, 19 rebounds, six steals, five assists and four blocks. Balmy reached a double-double with 11 points and 10 assists while also totaling seven steals and six rebounds. Frosh forward Pamela Gonzalez had her best game of the season off the bench, scoring 14 points and grabbing eight boards. Latu contributed 14 points and seven assists and freshman starting forward Kristal Espinoza had 10 points. Starting forward Zaira Velasquez made seven points and four rebounds. It was a 21-8 second quarter that proved to be the difference as the Lancers took a 41-24 halftime lead.
In the second game, it was a 3-point frenzy for freshman guard Lizette Espinoza, the younger sister of assistant coach Judith Espinoza (Kristal no relation), in an 81-37 rout over Chaffey. Lizette poured in a game-high 23 points by knocking down seven 3-point bombs. Espinoza is just the 12th player in PCC history to make as many as seven 3s and the first to do so in three years. Balmy again flirted with a potential triple-double but fell short on 12 points, 10 assists and eight steals (and five rebounds). It was Johnson, though, who often spotted Espinoza for wide-open long range shots. DJ finished with only seven points, but added 18 rebounds, seven assists, five blocks and three steals.
PCC jumped out to a 32-4 lead to open the game before the Panthers knew what hit them. Kristal Espinoza chipped in 12 points, Latu nine, and sophomore forward Alexandra Arreola tallied eight points and four rebounds. In the three games, the Lancers bench, including Lizette Espinoza, Arreola, Gonzalez, Mya Rivera and Angela Garcia combined to score 83 points.
"It's hard to run without depth and we have some this season, so that's allowing us to not see much drop off when we pull a few starters," Peron said. "We forced our opponents to play our style and it wore them down while we could build on our leads."
On Friday, Dec. 20, the Lancers return to action in a non-conference game v. College of the Canyons. The 5 p.m. contest will be played at Masters University.