Pirates vanquish Vaqueros for State Finals return

COSTA MESA -- For the third time in as many years, the Orange Coast College women's basketball team has reached the final game of the season as the Pirates defeated Glendale College, 63-45, in the state semifinals of the 3C2A Women's Basketball State Championship on Saturday at Mt. San Antonio College.

With the win, the back-to-back defending state champion Pirates (27-5) will take on the hosts, the Mt. San Antonio College Mounties (28-4) for all the marbles on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. Coast will look to become the third team in 3C2A women's basketball history to capture three straight state titles, joining the Mounties (2006-08) and Ventura (2000-2002).

But this will be the ultimate test on Sunday for the Pirates ... not only conquering this final hurdle, but against one of the most athletic teams in the state ... on their home court.

"It'll take us handling the pressure that comes with knowing there is nobody outside of OCC who wants us to win," OCC head coach Sammy Doucette said. "It'll take us valuing every single possession like it's the last one we are going to get together, because it is."

Fresh off of an offensive firestorm on Friday against Folsom Lake (95-59), it was an entirely different story against the Vaqueros (26-5), one of the top defensive teams in the state. Every possession was a battle on both ends of the floor and the Pirates managed to get a few more quality looks and make them, while the Vaqueros were held to their third-lowest scoring output of the season.

"Defensively, things went according to plan," Doucette said. "Offensively, things did not. But, with so many moving pieces that have been slowly coming together, different people were able to step up and that was awesome to see. I'm super proud of them for grinding it out and getting it done."

Saturday's hero du jour was sophomore setter Alyssa Dreessen, who led the offense with 17 points, eight rebounds, three assists and four blocks, further showing her all-around skills are some of the best in the state. Hailey Estrada had another solid game with 16 points, seven rebounds and four assists, while Myia Collins provided eight rebounds and eight assists, getting opportunities to her Pirate teammates throughout the night.

"Alyssa was a stud tonight," Doucette said of Dreessen. "I'm proud of her for playing through little mistakes or missed free throws and still delivering. She's worked too hard to let a few bad possessions or fouls dictate her play."

For the Vaqueros, state runners-up to the Pirates a year ago, Sammy Velasquez led the way with 13 points, but the Glendale offense was held to just 26.6% shooting for the night (17-of-64) and the OCC defense forced 18 Vaquero turnovers. 

The pace of play was set by both teams in the first quarter as each point was a battle. Coast grabbed the early 12-3 advantage through the first seven minutes of the opening quarter before the Vaqueros battled back and trimmed the deficit to three at 14-11 after the first 10 minutes of play. 

It remained close midway through the second quarter with OCC holding a 23-19 advantage before Coast used a key 11-3 run to close out the half, putting the Pirates up 33-22. Kicking off the crucial rally was a 3-pointer made by reserve player Kiley Esajian, who, along with fellow role player, Xio Cardona, gave Coast crucial playing time in crucial situations of the State Final Four. 

"Our depth is super important," Doucette said. "So important that I felt Kiley and Xio played HUGE minutes. Not a lot of minutes, nut they were weapons and they locked in on what we were trying to do."

From there, Coast's defense went to work and refused to allow Glendale to get back into the contest. The Vaqueros trimmed a 14-point deficit down to eight with some made 3-pointers, but the Pirates pushed the back up to a more comfortable margin with a made 3-pointer from Estrada and a last-second bucket by Kayla Borgelt that gave Coast an 11-point advantage (48-37) heading into the final quarter.

The bad news to start the fourth quarter was the Pirate offense was held scoreless for the first four minutes. The good news: the Pirate defense held Glendale scoreless over that same span and that 11-point lead. From  remained with only six minutes remaining. From there, Coast outscored Glendale 15-8 and punched their ticket to the state championship.

For the Mounties, their ticket was punched two hours later after handing College of the Sequoias (31-1) their first loss of the season with a 57-50 win. Taliyah McFerson led the way with 19 points, while Deasia Mitchell added 14 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.

The Pirates and Mounties played earlier in the season, with Mt. SAC topping OCC, 61-53 back on Nov. 13, 2024. Coast carried a five-point halftime lead in that matchup before the Mounties turned the game around in the third, outscoring the Pirates, 18-4, to grab the lead for good.