Eagles fall short in state tourney
Lose to Ventura after winning thriller at home against Delta
Scott Strain
Issue date: 3/18/10 Last update: 3/18/10 at 1:59 AM PST
Section: Sports
The Laney College women's basketball team's improbable success story was extended by 20 minutes at the California Community College Athletic Association Women's Basketball State Championship.
But the fairy-tale ending wasn't to be.
Tournament experience trumped tournament inexperience on March 11 as the Eagles lost to Ventura College, 70-62, in the first round at Cal Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks.
If there is any consolation to Laney fans, it is that Ventura went on to win the tournament with a 59-47 victory over Fullerton College on March 14.
So ends the Laney season, which saw the Eagles finish with a 25-6 record, win a co-championship (with Solano College) in the Bay Valley Conference and garner two pulsating home-court victories in the North Region playoffs to advance to the State Championship in only their second year of existence.
The loss to Ventura also snapped Laney's 20-game winning streak.
The Eagles went into the State Tournament as the third seed from the North Region. Ventura was the second seed (after Fullerton) in the South Region and with a distance of approximately 26 miles between the school and the host site, it was pretty close to a home game for the Pirates.
But that didn't deter Laney, which used a pressing defense to force 17 turnovers in the first half to take a 32-26 halftime lead. Ventura had averaged 11 turnovers a game before coming unhinged against the Eagles.
The Eagles led by as many as 11 points on three different occasions before Ventura cut the lead to six points before the break.
Shonetta Crain-Williams (26 points, 12 rebounds) had 14 points in the first half. The sophomore from El Cerrito High gave Ventura fits all game long.
"She's a great player," Ventura coach Ned Mircentic said of Williams. "I think we could have done a little better job of taking the ball out of her hands. I kept thinking she might slow down a little bit, but she never did."
Chardonay Shula's 3-pointer with 2:16 left in the first half gave Laney its largest lead at 32-21.
But Ventura made the adjustments on defense and turned the ball over just six times in the second half. An 18-7 run gave the Pirates a 52-51 lead with seven minutes to play.
Ventura increased the lead to 62-55 before the Eagles rallied, getting to within two points at 62-60 when Crain-Williams hit a free throw with 2:14 left in the game.
Laney went 26-for 74 from the floor (35.1 percent) and that was the difference.
But the Eagles could get no closer.
"We shoot 40 percent and we win by 10-15 points," Laney coach Ron Williams said. "We didn't make the shots."
Laney 56, San Joaquin Delta 54: Before a raucous crowd on a Saturday night at home, the Eagles edged the Mustangs on March 6 in a North Region final game to advance to the state championships.
Tied 23-23 at the half, Laney took its largest lead at 49-44 with 5:52 left in the game when Raushanah Bashir scored on a layup.
The Mustangs came back and cut lead to 50-49 with 4:09 left and then 53-51 with 1:09 remaining and then tied the game at 54-54 when Melody Ladrido hit a 3-pointer with 32 seconds left.
The Mustangs were forced to foul and Bashir, with 23.2 seconds left and Danielle Larkin (1.0 second) hit free throws for the victory.
Crain-Williams scored 13 points and Larkin and Ashley Rollins each finished with eight.
The Commission on Athletics and Ventura County Star reporter Joe Curley contributed to this story.
But the fairy-tale ending wasn't to be.
Tournament experience trumped tournament inexperience on March 11 as the Eagles lost to Ventura College, 70-62, in the first round at Cal Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks.
If there is any consolation to Laney fans, it is that Ventura went on to win the tournament with a 59-47 victory over Fullerton College on March 14.
So ends the Laney season, which saw the Eagles finish with a 25-6 record, win a co-championship (with Solano College) in the Bay Valley Conference and garner two pulsating home-court victories in the North Region playoffs to advance to the State Championship in only their second year of existence.
The loss to Ventura also snapped Laney's 20-game winning streak.
The Eagles went into the State Tournament as the third seed from the North Region. Ventura was the second seed (after Fullerton) in the South Region and with a distance of approximately 26 miles between the school and the host site, it was pretty close to a home game for the Pirates.
But that didn't deter Laney, which used a pressing defense to force 17 turnovers in the first half to take a 32-26 halftime lead. Ventura had averaged 11 turnovers a game before coming unhinged against the Eagles.
The Eagles led by as many as 11 points on three different occasions before Ventura cut the lead to six points before the break.
Shonetta Crain-Williams (26 points, 12 rebounds) had 14 points in the first half. The sophomore from El Cerrito High gave Ventura fits all game long.
"She's a great player," Ventura coach Ned Mircentic said of Williams. "I think we could have done a little better job of taking the ball out of her hands. I kept thinking she might slow down a little bit, but she never did."
Chardonay Shula's 3-pointer with 2:16 left in the first half gave Laney its largest lead at 32-21.
But Ventura made the adjustments on defense and turned the ball over just six times in the second half. An 18-7 run gave the Pirates a 52-51 lead with seven minutes to play.
Ventura increased the lead to 62-55 before the Eagles rallied, getting to within two points at 62-60 when Crain-Williams hit a free throw with 2:14 left in the game.
Laney went 26-for 74 from the floor (35.1 percent) and that was the difference.
But the Eagles could get no closer.
"We shoot 40 percent and we win by 10-15 points," Laney coach Ron Williams said. "We didn't make the shots."
Laney 56, San Joaquin Delta 54: Before a raucous crowd on a Saturday night at home, the Eagles edged the Mustangs on March 6 in a North Region final game to advance to the state championships.
Tied 23-23 at the half, Laney took its largest lead at 49-44 with 5:52 left in the game when Raushanah Bashir scored on a layup.
The Mustangs came back and cut lead to 50-49 with 4:09 left and then 53-51 with 1:09 remaining and then tied the game at 54-54 when Melody Ladrido hit a 3-pointer with 32 seconds left.
The Mustangs were forced to foul and Bashir, with 23.2 seconds left and Danielle Larkin (1.0 second) hit free throws for the victory.
Crain-Williams scored 13 points and Larkin and Ashley Rollins each finished with eight.
The Commission on Athletics and Ventura County Star reporter Joe Curley contributed to this story.
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