Bates leads Jaguars to championship

By Nick Pellegrino
Updated: February 22, 2019

2019 COMMUNITY COLLEGE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

By Nick Pellegrino
East County Sports staff writer

KEARNY MESA (2-23-2019) – Satera Bates, the 2016-17 East County Player of the Year out of Mount Miguel High, tallied a game-best 19 points (Friday (Feb. 22), leading Southwestern College to a 74-67 decision over host San Diego Mesa to conclude the regular season.

The triumph clinches the first outright Pacific Coast Athletic Conference championship for the Jaguars this century.

Bates registered 10 of her points in the first quarter, igniting Southwestern to a comfortable 25-9 lead.

Meanwhile SWC forward Maya Robinson completed a double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds, helping the Jags mount an 18-point cushion before coasting to the title.

For Mesa (5-19 overall, 1-7 PCAC), forward Lavinia Moa| posted a career-high 21 points on 9-for-14 shooting, topping her previous best of 18 against Fullerton in late December.

Southwestern (16-10, 6-2 PCAC), based on this week’s California state and Southland rankings, figures to play a first-round regional playoff game on the road. Among the possibilities to host the contest are West L.A. (Culver City), Rio Hondo (Whittier), College of the Canyons (Valencia) and Cerritos (Norwalk, the closet school among the quartet).

Unless Bates goes off for 32 points or more, the Jaguars would need to post a mild upset victory to give Bates an opportunity to gain another game, giving Bates one final opportunity to reach the 1,000-point barrier. The sophomore currently sits at 968 career points.

Imperial Valley 71, San Diego City 58 (OT): At Downtown San Diego, reserve guard Jasmine Ponce registered half of her 16 points in overtime, leading the Lady Arabs past the Knights in Friday’s (Feb. 21) Pacific Coast Athletic Conference contest at Harry West Gym.

Ponce was perfect in the extra session, nailing both of her 3-point shots and a pair of foul shots to give IVC an 11-8 advantage after the ballclubs were deadlocked at 60-all after regulation.

Imperial Valley took a quick 66-61 lead in overtime, only to watch City score five straight to move with a point with 39 seconds remaining. However, Ponce took a pass from Keren Hogue and nail a back-breaking triple cinch the triumph.

City did answer with a late layin with 11 seconds to go but needed to quickly foul whoever held the ball. Unfortunately for the Knights, it was Ponce, who calmly sealed the win at the foul line.

Imperial Valley forward Destiny Salgado, Bates’ chief rival for South Division player of the year, led the Lady Arabs with a double-double of 21 points and 14 rebounds.

Hogue also registered a double-double with 19 points and 13 assists, along with 5 steals and 4 assists. In addition, Giovanna Estrada scored 15 for IVC (14-13 overall, 5-4 PCAC), to finish in second place, the school’s top finish since capturing four consecutive PCAC crowns from 2003-04 to 2006-07.

Giovanna Estrada (15 points) hit a foul shot with 1:50 left to forge a 58-50 lead.

City answered with a 10-0 run to take the lead, featuring a pair of outside jumpers for 5 points by Alissa Wolfblack, then a go-ahead triple by Elliott Nixon with 47 seconds to go. However, Hogue hit a jumper with 32 seconds left in regulation to force the overtime.

For San Diego City (12-15, 4-4 PCAC to tie Grossmont for third place), Nixon posted a game-best 23 points, along with 9 boards. Wolfblack added 14 points, while matching teammate Kiley Pope with 8 boards each.

No. 9 Mt. San Jacinto 92, Desert 44: At San Jacinto, the 9th-ranked Eagles (23-6 overall, 7-0 PCAC) completed their first undefeated run to the North Division title after swamping visiting College of the Desert in Friday’s (Feb. 22) regular season finale.

Along with the school’s fourth Pacific Coast Athletic Conference crown over six seasons since joining the circuit in 2013-14 following the demise of the Foothill Conference, Mt. San Jacinto is now 57-8 (.877) in PCAC play.
No game details were reported.

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