Mesa’s Gharram turning back clock; Jaguars win first
- Updated: November 30, 2018
2018 COMMUNITY COLLEGE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
By Nick Pellegrino
Special to East County Sports
RANCHO CUCAMONGA (11-30-2018) – The Southwestern Jaguars produced a fistful of “firsts” against Oxnard on Thursday.
The Jaguar defense limited the Condors to just four points (2-for-21 shooting) in the first period in a first-round romp for their first victory of the season, 83-65, at Chaffey College’s Panther Pride Tournament in Rancho Cucamonga.
Eastlake High product Maya Robinson came off the bench to register a team-best 15 points, and 10 rebounds, while starting guard Danielle Simmons added 11 points
Southwestern (1-3) dominated the glass with a 62-38 rebounding advantage over Oxnard (1-5), which stayed within nine points for a half, then Southwestern blew them out by a 49-28 margin in the second half as guard Kaleese Petties registered eight assists.
Bakersfield 85, San Diego Mesa 63: At the Santa Ana Tournament, the Olympians got off to yet another slow start, scoring just seven points in the opening quarter to allow the Renegades to mount a 15-point lead in Thursday’s (Nov. 29) first-round contest at historic Cook Gymnasium.
The seven points barely bettered the season low of six against Antelope Valley.
Bakersfield forward Dasia Wandick drained 13-of-17 shots for her team-high 26 points, her second-highest total of the season. Wandick’s best scoring mark was 30 against Santa Ana, the team Bakersfield (3-5) next meets in the semifinals.
Mesa center Yusra Gharram tallied a game-best and season-high 30 points, giving her 70 points in her last three outings. She also grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked three shots.
Gharram, a 6-foot-3 product of Mission Bay High, once led the Buccaneers to the CIF state Division III basketball championship as a sophomore in 2012, eventually falling to Laguna Hills. She graduated in 2014, then the current freshman did not play for four seasons.
The Olympians (3-3) have now dropped two straight, including a decision to Glendale (Ariz.), allowing the Gauchos to avenge a loss to Mesa from some 39 years ago.
In the first tournament ever played by Mesa in February 1979 (the program didn’t play in a tournament when state-sponsored competition began in 1978), the spring-season Olys beat the winter-season Gauchos in the semifinals of the Southwestern Tournament. A day later, Mesa then downed Mesa (Ariz.) in the championship game of the Apache Classic.
American River 67, San Diego City 58: The first-round score at the Phillips 66 Tournament at Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo went to American River over the Knights.
