Orange Coast wins CCCAA Women's Basketball Championship - Tournament Review
SAN LUIS OBISPO - California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) has crowned Orange Coast College (Costa Mesa, Calif.) as champions of Women’s Basketball 2022-2023 season. This is the Pirates’ second title, 20 years after their first bow. State Finals were hosted by West Hills College Lemoore.
Orange Coast swept through regionals, defeating 16-seed Los Angeles Trade-Technical College by 16 and conference-mate Irvine Valley Colege (Irvine, Calif.) 73-58, the widest margin of victory in their three games this season. The Pirates opened State with the North’s 13-seed Sierra College (Rocklin, Calif.). The 73-56 score advanced the top south seed into the semifinals vs. Santa Rosa Junior College. It took overtime to decide, 80-75.
The championship was a battle of No. 1 seeds, Butte College (Oroville, Calif.) representing North Region. Orange Coast scored off the tip and pushed the lead to nine before Butte came back to trail by a point at halftime. Butte took the lead on the first possession of the third quarter. Behind by nine with five minutes remaining, the Roadrunner defense held the Pirates scoreless for 2:30 while scoring seven. Free throws broke the OCC ice and Butte could only muster a point, giving Orange Coast the championship by a 78-71 final.
Butte came off of a bye to breeze past No. 16 Merced College in a North Regional opener. No. 8 Folsom Lake College (Folsom, Calif.) put up a fight, but missed a trip to State by 11 points. Cypress College (No. 4 South) met the Roadrunners in the quarterfinals and lost 72-48. Palomar College (No. 2 South) was undefeated entering the semifinal match and was defeated leaving it, 60-59 on a potentiallytying missed free throw.
Palomar had two South Regional contests, 79-49 over Rio Hondo College (Whittier, Calif.) and 77-60 versus Glendale Community College. The Comets nearly doubled-up the No. 3-North seed in State quarters, 88-49 over College of the Sequoias (Visalia, Calif.)
No. 18-North Napa Valley College (Napa, Calif.) rolled into Santa Rosa hot from an upset win, but could not sustain in the 81-39 loss. Santa Rosa qualified for the No. 2 North seed for State with a 25-point victory over Laney College (Oakland, Calif.). Mt. San Antonio (Walnut, Calif.) was their opening challenge in State Quarters. The Bearcubs showed no signs of trouble in the 65-48 final tally.
No. 3 South seed Mt. San Antonio opened its South Regional bracket by hosting No. 19 Pasadena City College. The Mounties’ offense could not be contained in the 31-point win. Next was upset-minded No. 11 Riverside City College. A dozen points separated the squads at the buzzer.
Sequoias scored 73 points in its pair of North Regionals. No. 19 College of San Mateo was first, scoring 54. No. 6 City College of San Francisco was next, chalking 56.
Defending CCCAA champion Sierra was the only State qualifier to play in the first round. The 13-point win over Chabot College (20-seed, Hayward, Calif.) was surpassed by a point in Regional Semis against the 4-seed, Fresno City College. The title defense drive continued against Big 8 Conference rival San Joaquin Delta College (No. 5-North, Stockton, Calif.) in the Regional Final. Delta took both of the conference contests, but Sierra made it to State, 47-44.
Cypress College was the 5-seed in South Region. No. 12 Ventura College was up first and lost 79-67. Cypress could only match that 67 in the Final Round at No. 4 Moorpark College, but held the Raiders to 57.
Also held during Championship weekend was the Sophomore Showcase. The All-State and All-Tournament teams were named. For details on the contests and awards, including full game video, see CCCAA’s website.
(Greg Murphy, CCCWBCA)