PC men take care of Merced
The Porterville College Pirates men’s and women’s basketball teams came together to take on the Merced Blue Devils on Saturday. After a long fought series of games the Pirates walked walk away with a loss for the women 79-40 and a win for the men 86-68.
The men’s game had almost all the Pirates scoring a basket during the game. The game started off quickly with a Pirates possession bringing them close to the Blue Devils basket. The Pirates Mylo Santos was going up for the layup when he was fouled by the Blue Devils and had to take his free throw shots. Santos nailed both and brought the Pirates into the lead with their first points 2-0. Santos picked up the second basket for the Pirates as a breakaway play led to him dashing to the Blue Devils basket with no one to guard him. Following quickly was Jaylen Foy who’d get a nice layup, keeping the Pirates ahead 6-3.
With the first half almost over the Pirates were up 38-19, having thoroughly kept the Blue Devils at bay with a number of solid simple plays. The Pirates Cameron Walker and Assad Madassalia had baskets that were back to back. Walker made a fast rush with the help of Julio Phipps and Kiya Mcqueen. Phipps passed the ball to Walker as Mcqueen blocked the remaining Blue Devils and made way for Walker to make the layup.
The Pirates adjusted their lineup for the second half with Maurice Peyton,
Santos, Walker, Phipps, and Foy taking to the court. Walker had a solid play early in the second half when a pass from Mcqueen came rocketing over to him. Walker moved out from the Pirates side of the court and started looking for an angle on the Blue Devils basket. Walker was confronted by three defenders but, thinking quickly, Walker passed to Santos who took the ball to the other side of the court while Walker backed up to the three point line. As Santos gave his teammate some time he passed the ball to Phipps who then shot it back over to Walker. Walker got the pass and made his 3-point shot.
The Pirates Justin Sabater had the last three point shot of the game as he landed an uncontested shot. The Pirates finished up the game for the final margin thanks to Sabater as he was fouled by the Blue Devils with only 51 seconds to go. Sabater hit his free throw shot and the Pirates won with a score of 86-68.
MERCED 70, PC WOMEN 49
The women’s game started with strong play by the Blue Devils that seriously put the Pirates in a hole. A running layup from the Pirates Davina Lopez, brought the Pirates onto the board at 10-2. Lopez scored another basket when teammate Kaija Ambriz stole the ball from the Blue Devils and made a fast pass to Lopez.
Next up was the Pirates Cienna Enriquez who was deep in the Blue Devils key and looked to Jazlynne Medrano for the pass. Medrano moved around the Blue Devil defenders and made a sly pass to Enriquez as she was right under the Blue
Devils basket for two.
The Blue Devils offense was strong and kept pushing the Pirates back; but, Cienna Enriquez was the next Pirate to score. With a fast pass from Kaija Ambriz to start the Pirates off, the ball was brought down the court by Mariah Castanon. Castanon smoothly moved around the Blue Devils defenders but couldn’t find a good attack so she’d pass the ball over to Alexis Flores. Flores had just as hard a time looking for an opening as Castanon and had to pass the ball over to Enriquez. Enriquez secured the pass and the layup.
The second half of the game was better for the Pirates as they’d start putting up almost a solid 20 points per quarter. After halftime the Lady Pirates picked the game back up and had a solid play from Medrano. Castanon had the ball and took it down the court trying to avoid the Blue Devils defenders. She was caught off guard and had to throw the ball to Medrano. Medrano caught the ball with a jump and without letting a second go by she dashed forward and secured the layup.
The Lady Pirates’ last basket was thanks to a fast pass by Castanon to Medrano. Medrano was deep in the Blue Devils end and she looked out for a pass from Castanon. Castanon maneuvered by two Blue Devil defenders and shot a pass over to Medrano with a fiery quickness ending the score at 70-49.
The Pirates next home games are scheduled for Wednesday with the women at 5 p.m. and the men at 7 against the College of the Sequoias.