Philip George, Spring 2009 Assistant Sports Editor
Unable to repeat as champions of the seventh annual Brahma Thanksgiving Shoot-Out, Pierce College instead brought home the third place trophy by beating East Los Angeles College, 97-67, Sunday afternoon in the South Gym.
Rio Hondo College captured this year’s championship, defeating Citrus College in overtime, 99-91, capping off the weekend-long tournament.
Round 1 – Pierce College vs. Cuyamaca College
Tournament play began Friday night for Pierce with a tandem of freshman guards, Tessondra Williams and Mikala Pride, leading the way for the Brahmas in their first round drubbing of Cuyamaca College, 101-60. Williams lit up the scoreboard with 33 points-her highest total as a Brahma-while Pride contributed 21 of her own.
“My shot was falling so I kept shooting,” Pride said of her performance. “Everybody just did what they had to do. We worked as a team and came out with the win.”
Despite the high-scoring affair, however, there was no shortage of drama in the Brahmas’ blowout win, as Williams and sophomore center Tiara Richardson were the topics of controversy throughout the night.
Assistant coach Ralph Wesson offered an explanation for Williams’ breakout performance.
“She was trying to prove a point to the coaches, so it was more frustration,” he said.
Richardson was inactive for most of the game, making only a brief appearance in the second half, but failing to score even a single point. Wesson pointed to “blurred vision” as the cause of her absence, but Richardson felt the move was made for disciplinary reasons.
“I showed up late to the game and (the coaches were trying) to teach me a lesson by not playing me,” she said.
Semifinal Round – Pierce College vs. Citrus College
Richardson was in the starting lineup for the Brahmas’ semifinal game against Citrus on Saturday and posted 16 points, but Pierce failed to overcome a deficit as large as 20 points in the second half, eventually falling to the Citrus College Owls, 65-68.
With 0.7 seconds remaining on the game clock, the Brahmas trailing by three points, Pride heaved up a prayer off the in-bounds pass, but as the ball fell to the hardwood, so did Pierce’s chances of a repeat title.
“They executed on the things that we didn’t take advantage of,” said sophomore guard Tierra Battle. “The things that we lacked, they executed on.”
On a positive note for the Brahmas, neither Richardson nor Williams-who scored nine in the losing effort-displayed any ill effects stemming from their altercations the night prior.
“I think that got cleaned up a little bit tonight,” said head coach Jim Couch. “It’s hard to change a leopard’s spots in one day, but we’re working on it. Kids are extremists. Last night, the issue was that people were shooting too much. Tonight they didn’t shoot enough. We’ve got to find a happy medium.”
East Los Angeles College, defeated by Rio Hondo in the tournament’s other semifinal round, served as the Brahmas’ final opponent in Sunday’s battle for third place.
Third Place Game – Pierce College vs. East Los Angeles College
Although a sunny day just outside the gymnasium walls, inside, the Brahmas rained three-pointers on the Huskies, racking up 10 of them-nine in the first half-en route to a 97-67 victory.
Della Rouse and Kim Rodriguez received the bulk of the playing time at the guard position, and both delivered-Rouse contributing 21 points and Rodriguez posting 17 in the first half before sustaining an ankle injury in the second half, ending her afternoon.
“I went up for a rebound and just came down on the girl’s foot the wrong way, but I’ll be back,” said Rodriguez, listed day-to-day. “I’m just going to tape it up and go.”
While Rouse and Rodriguez were playing, however, Williams was on the bench, making an appearance two minutes into the second half but exiting shortly thereafter. Her day ended with three points scored.
“We were trying to rest some legs,” Wesson said. “That’s why some girls didn’t get a lot of minutes. It was also a bit of a punishment thing.”
As the Brahmas exited the playing surface for the final time in the tournament, Rio Hondo and Citrus suited up for the championship game.
Championship Game – Rio Hondo College vs. Citrus College
Both the Road Runners and Owls came out firing in an offense-dominated first half, Rio Hondo emerging from the shootout with a 42-41 lead as the teams entered the locker rooms.
Now with 20 minutes separating them from the championship, the Road Runners staked themselves to a commanding double-digit lead, only to see Citrus tie up the ballgame, 77-77, on a Terri Washington jumper, sending the game into overtime.
Rio Hondo struck first when Amanda Ragains began overtime play with a three-pointer, and put the game on ice when Ragains sank a free throw with 25 seconds remaining, putting the Road Runners up by three scores, a deficit the Owls could not come back from.
“I was just focusing on knocking down my free-throws to seal the game,” Ragains said. “I was pretty excited, but I knew I had to stay under control because I had to play defense.”
Freshman guard Cynthia Duarte was awarded all-tournament honors for Rio Hondo, fellow freshman guard Lesley Vodicska named the tournament’s most valuable player.
“We’re doing really well working as a team,” Vodicska said. “I’m just trying to help everybody else.”
Back to the Brahmas – they finished tournament play with a 5-3 season record as they look toward the Cuesta Tournament, which will take place Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Cuesta College.
Tessondra Williams (left), Pierce College guard, performs a lay up over a Cuyamaca College guard durring the Thanksgiving tournament in the South Gym on Friday. Pierce won, 101-60. ()