Mt.SAC’s guard Morgan Mason led all scorers with 22 points, shooting nine for 18 from the field while also grabbing seven rebounds and four steals.

Mason wasn’t the only problem for Pierce, as they were out played in nearly every aspect of the game.

The Brahmas struggled from the very beginning, trailing Mt. SAC 17-38 at half time.

“I think they out hustled us from the start,” said Brooke Castle, sophomore forward for Pierce. “When it came down to it they were just running after every loose ball.”

Mt.SAC went on several scoring runs with little resistance from the Brahmas.

“Basketball is a game of runs, we just had more runs than them and were able to extend our lead,” said Brain Crichlow, Mt.SAC’s head coach. “Pierce is a great team. We were just able to make adjustments.”

Pierce was unfortunately unable to adjust themselves. They were out rebounded 26-50, which lead to Mt. SAC’s 19 second chance points.

“I feel like if we would have ran the plays, not only would it have [given] us a better percentage of a shot but it would of put us in a better position to rebound the ball,” said Castle.

The Brahmas struggled to keep possession of the ball on both offense and defense.

Mt.SAC’s collapsing half court defense kept Pierce on the edge.

“We would look up and they would be there [half court],” said Kameron Jones, Pierce’s starting center. “We knew coming into the game that they were a good defensive team because they haven’t lost any games this season.”

Mt. SAC forced the Brahmas to play outside of their normal game.

Though Pierce’s overall performance was subpar, Jones continued her impressive season by racking up 19 points and 7 rebounds.

“We knew she was an all state player,” said Crichlow. “Kameron was a great player offensively and defensively, she had 6 blocks.”

Jones is one of seven sophomores that could potentially be transferring on to bigger and better things.

“I’m getting a couple of offers and I am trying to figure out what’s the best for me,” said Jones. “I want to go to the WNBA.”

Pierce looks to be in good hands with the freshman guard duo, consisting of Zenith Hernandez and Nichelae Henderson who now have playoff experience for next season.

Ranked number 17 in their conference, Pierce ended their regular season on a 3 game winning streak with a record of 17 – 12.

The Brahmas started off the game slow taking seven minutes to score their first points, but their defense kept them in the game throughout the first half and only down six at halftime.

Pierce College head coach Edward Babayan thought point guard J.R. Williams was big most of the game, but was injured on a hard foul in the first 30 seconds of the second half which started on a 10-1 run for Palomar.

Williams would return to the game after a two minute break.

“J.R. made us go the whole year, he’s been the catalyst and without him we struggled a little bit and we were already struggling offensively and then you take our point guard out of it and it makes it pretty difficult,” Babayan said. “We struggled and I feel like we didn’t make the best decisions out there on the court.”

Palomar College Center and co MVP of the league Joe Vaz scored 21 and clogged the paint most of the night making it difficult for any Brahma to get to the basket and the other co MVP and point guard Dejuan Ervin was unstoppable scoring 21 points.

“We had a lot of ball movement, listened to our game plan, and we followed up and executed,” Ervin said. “I was looking for my shot and trying to be aggressive and getting my teammates involved and basically doing what I have been doing all year.”

Palomar College shooting guard Chauncy Sirles came off the bench and had three 3-pointers in the first half and another two from behind the arc in the second half.

“He was making tough shots and pulling from deep and he was a couple feet behind the line so it looks like he has that range,” Williams said.

Williams led the way for the Brahmas but it just wasn’t enough and that leads to the question most people will be asking “will he be back next year?”

“We don’t really have a backup point guard so I’m like the floor general in a sense and the offense is predicated on what I do with the ball,” Williams said. “Yea, I’ll be back next season.”

As the game was coming to an end coach Babayan was pulling out his starters and Williams was heard coming to the bench saying “let me finish this game out coach.”

This Pierce College men’s basketball team managed to do something that had not been done at Pierce in 39 years, and that was host a playoff game. The Brahmas end the season by making history for Pierce.

The Brahmas started off the game slow taking seven minutes to score their first points, but their defense kept them in the game throughout the first half and only down six at halftime.

Pierce College head coach Edward Babayan thought point guard J.R. Williams was big most of the game, but was injured in the first 30 seconds of the second half which started on a 10-1 run for Palomar.

“J.R. made us go the whole year, he’s been the catalyst and without him we struggled a little bit and we were already struggling offensively and then you take our point guard out of it and it makes it pretty difficult,” Babayan said.

This Pierce College men’s basketball team managed to do something that had not been done at Pierce in 39 years, and that was host a playoff game. The Brahmas end the season by making history for Pierce.

The Brahmas were led by sophomore center Kameron Jones who finished the night with a double-double with 15 rebounds and 17 points. Four of Pierce’s starters scored in double digits. Freshman forward Gasia Sarkis led the team with 17 rebounds

The Brahmas began their title hopes on the road, but succeeded despite a low scoring first half. Heading into half time the Brahmas were down 24-33.

Part of the Brahmas woes in the first half were due to their offensive. They ended the first half shooting 27% with seven turnovers. The Tigers out played the Brahmas in the first half and ended the half with 33 points.

During the second half Pierce picked up their game and improved their offense and defense. The Brahmas defense forced the Tigers to shoot 21% and caused nine turnovers.

Pierce were lead by Jones, who stepped up her game during the second half. She made 15 of her 17 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in the second half alone.

The Brahmas will now have to shift their attention to the undefeated number one seed Mt. San Antonio on Saturday March 2. The game will be on the road and will begin at 7 p.m.

They opened the season by winning five of their first six games, and all but one win was a blowout.

They had a great offense. They had the highest field goal percentage and average points per game in the conference, 48.3 percent and 69.6, respectively. They were second in rebounding averaging 25.6 rebounds per game.

The only problem was the Brahmas also led their division in turnovers at 20.2 per game.

Their lack of assists over the course of the season presented a need for a playmaker. and, most likely, it cost them a couple of games.

With no one on the team averaging three or more assists per game, the Brahmas averaged the least amount of assists in the conference.

The reliable force they call Kameron Jones played in every game while leading the Brahmas with 20.8 points and almost 12 rebounds per game.

Not only did Jones lead the team in four statistical categories, she also led the division in points, rebounds and field goal percentage per game.

Freshman guard Nichelae Henderson was the team’s second leading scorer and the team leader in assists. She played in all but eight games, and only registered single digits points in two of them.

The Brahmas usually took care of business at home, winning the majority of their games at Pierce College. But their achilles heel came out at in-conference games going only 4-6 in games on neutral courts.

Their losses all showed a dearth of assists, giving up three-pointers and either losing the rebound battle or turning the ball over too much. All these things can be corrected, which is what matters going forward.

This season, the Brahmas were a young team with only five players who are not freshmen. The experience they gained from last season will likely determine how far they get in the playoffs.

Now, the regular season is in their rearview mirror and they ended season on a high note. They won their last two games by a combined 56 points, closing out the regular season with record of 16-12.

The game did not disappoint attendees as the Brahmas crushed their opponent from beginning to end.

The lady Brahmas defense made it difficult for the Bulldogs to get any offense going as they held the Bulldogs to 11 points in the first half.

Pierce received big contributions from their center Kameron Jones and small forward Nichelae Henderson, both finished the night with 15 points apiece.

Starting point guard Brooke Kassel, who leads the team in three point shot percent, had the hot hand once again from three point range and finished the night with 14 points on 2-3 shooting from long range.

Heading into half time the Brahmas were leading the Bulldogs by 25 points with the score at 36-11.

The second half  was no different from the first. Pierce’s defense once again shutdown the Bulldogs offense and held them to 18 points.

At the end of the night the Brahmas lead the Bulldogs in all of the box score stats.

The Brahmas hard work payed off and Coach Jim Couch couldn’t be more pleased.

“My expectation was to win and play my sophomores,” Women’s basketball coach Jim Couch said “and we did. We won on about 30 or more and that was pleasing.”

When asked about the Brahmas future Coach Couch said that hopefully the team will make the playoffs, but they will not know until Monday if the team makes it or not.

Starting guard Nedda Cardozo was also pleased with the team’s victory.

“It feels really good. This is our last home game, hopefully we are going to play some more together in the playoffs and do the same kind of game as we did today,” said Cardozo.

Although the Bulldogs did play some defense and caused the Brahmas to end the night with more turnovers their effort wasn’t enough. The Bulldogs were out scored in both halves.

“The opposing team played as we expected. They were more focused on their defense but we knew how to beat it, it was just basic defense, ” said Cardozo. “We just had to keep on running our planes and making our shots.”

The Brahmas may have won their last game of the season, but their future is still uncertain.

Cardozo hopes the Brahmas will make the playoffs.

“I am planning to play in the playoffs. Hopefully we do but we just have to wait and see how everyone else did tonight. And then they will tell us what we will do next,” said Cardozo.

Coach Couch and the team will know by Monday if their season continues or not.

Having a long 39 year drought the Brahmas won the Western State Conference Championship and are heading to the playoffs after defeating Hancock College 75-73 making decisive free throws down the stretch.

Hancock had a chance to win the game with 21.7 seconds left on the clock and a one point lead until a controversial over the back foul was called on Hancock sending Pierce forward Codye Hatcher to the free throw line.

“They (Hancock College) were a good team and they came out competed and played hard,”Assistan coach Jason Cunningham said. “Funny thing about it is coach was standing up in front of me and I couldn’t see through him so I can’t really tell you what happened down there, I’m just happy we got the ball.”

Brahma point guard J.R. Williams started off the first half struggling but managed to pick it up towards the end of the half making layups and a three pointer.  Pierce forward Terrel Funches agreed Williams was big for them.

“He was huge he made a lot of adjustments like taking the ball to the basket, getting key guys open for the shots, penetrating to the basket getting fouled and shooting free throws and was a big help for us winning the game, yea he was huge,” said Funches. “At halftime we cut down on them and stopped them from getting rebounds.”

The controversial call on Hancock shooting guard Demetrius Thomas gave him his fifth personal foul meaning he had to sit out the remainder of the game. Thomas was torching the Brahmas from the three point line hitting his last three shots from outside.

“I think the referee made the right call he used his elbows to clear space which is an offensive foul, we got the foul made two free throws and went up by one point. It was the right call,” said Funches.

Pierce starting wingman Donte Williams played every minute of the game and was aggressive throughout the game. He was a big factor in the Brahmas second half by scoring a huge corner three to bring the Brahmas by one with a minute left.

“They were playing harder and we didn’t play hard enough and kept scoring back and forth, but in the second half we stepped the defense up,” Williams said. “I pretty much picked my spot and my teammates knew where I’d be and all year I been shooting the three’s and it was pretty much just knowing each other and picking a spot.”

Pierce wingman Myles Mungcal understands the playoffs are next for the team and expects great things from this team.

“We expect nothing less than a State Championship,” Mungcal said.

The Brahmas celebrated with glass bottles of juice in the locker room and will now head into the playoffs with aspirations of winning the State Championship.

The Brahmas dominated SBCC Saturday night with a 12-point lead and ended the game with a score of 74-62.

The standout player of the game against SBCC who scored nearly twice the points of any player on the opposing team was forward, Gasia Sarkis who lead the game with 21 points and 14 rebounds.

“Our leading scorer was Gasia Sarkis, she scored 21-points, but we could not have won the game without Zenith Hernandez,” Women’s Basketball Coach Jim Couch said.

Zenith Hernandez was another standout player in Saturday’s game who ended the game with 20 points and 3 assists, more than twice the amount of most of the starting players on the opposing team.

The players as well as Couch were in high spirits Tuesday during their first practice after Saturday’s game because it was the first win after a three game losing streak for the team.

“This season we’ve had our up’s and downs but we’re doing alright,” Guard Nichelae Henderson said.

The Brahmas have a fair record this season with 8 wins and 6 losses, so they geared up during practice for their next opponent Alan Hancock College next week to earn a seat in the Western Conference Playoffs.

Currently the top three ranking colleges for women’s basketball are Mt. San Antonio College, Ventura College, and Fresno City College, according to the California Community College Women’s Basketball Coach Association’s Final State Poll.

Ventura College, who won the 2013 district conference, is in the same league as Pierce College, so they are the team that Pierce must beat to have a shot at the state championship.

Coach Couch has high hopes for the Brahmas, and believes that as long at the ladies practice the art of following through during the last games they will bring home a title for Pierce College.

“We must complete the game and finish”, Couch said, “Our goal is to play Ventura again and beat them; I think we have a good chance…we have to complete the game.”

The Brahmas are set to play their last game of the season before playoffs on Feb. 23, 2013 at 7 P.M.

The Brahmas beat Moorpark 91-76 with a huge early contribution from Donte Williams, who scored 21 points in the first half , and J.R Williams, who lead the team with his assists.

The Brahmas also received another key contribution to the team with Pierce’s head coach Edward Babayan returning from his one game suspension.

“I can’t just choose one player but Donte Williams set the tone in the first half with 21 points,” Babayan said. “J.R. Williams, our point guard, also created opportunities for the others.”

The team had a good offensive flow throughout the game, during which all the players  played aggressive on both sides of the court. The Brahmas have only reached the 90 point mark four other times this season.

“We really scored the ball well today being able to reach 90 points,” Babayan said. “The guys understand we have a chance to do something special this year.”

The two number one seeds, Ventura College and Alan Hancock College, both lost today, giving the Brahmas a chance to win the Western State Conference championship. The Brahmas will face Alan Hancock College next Wednesday.

Pierce forward Myles Mungcal admitted that the team did not start off the game well defensively but that they picked it up in the second half.

“We played bad defense but Donte Williams had 21 points in the first half, and we all shot well and that helped us keep the lead,” Mungcal said. “Things are going good right now and we have a chance to win the conference championship.”

The Brahmas have two games left in the season and the Western State Conference championship is not all they are looking at with the season coming to an end.

“We want to win the state championship,” Mungcal said.

The Brahmas have their last road game of the season against Santa Barbara College Saturday evening.

The Brahmas won the tournament title after defeating Sierra College 90-84 on Saturday in the final game of the three-day tournament.

“They were big and strong and athletic like us, so we didn’t have that clear advantage that we had in some of the other games,” said head coach Edward Babayan, regarding Sierra’s team.

Prior to the final game, Pierce had eliminated Barstow College and Miramar College with final scores of 74-52 and 78-58, respectively.

“I was proud of them. There was a very adverse and difficult environment, and they really pulled together and worked really hard,” Babayan said.

Pierce freshman point guard J.R. Williams was chosen as the most valuable player (MVP) of the tournament, while sophomore power forward Codye Hatcher was awarded a spot on the all-tournament first team.

“We felt, as coaches, that pretty much everybody that got in contributed to help us at some point or another,” Babayan said. “It was a really good team effort.”

Babayan highlighted the team’s defense, energy and athletic abilities as key attributes, and also praised the players’ ability to work together despite being a relatively new team.

“The tournament was probably what I thought it would be,” he said. “I just think we were able to really come together a lot faster than I thought we would be able to. So I was very pleased with the fact that they really pulled together as a team so they could win.”

The Brahmas will host Glendale College in their next game on Saturday, Nov. 17 at 5 p.m in South Gym.