Fight Till the End

San Jacinto, CA - The Citrus College Women's Basketball team had a tough task at hand when they travelled to SoCal #2 Mt. San Jacinto College on Saturday evening to take on the Eagles in the 2nd round of the 2016 CCCAA SoCal Playoffs. The Owls knew it would take a larger than life effort to take on a squad who had lost just one game all year long. Citrus gave it their best effort, but in the end Mt. San Jacinto overwhelmed Citrus who fought until the very end. 

 San Jacinto came right out in the first quarter and hit the Owls right in the mouth, scoring the game's first eight points. Despite the early set back Citrus didn't panic, and eventually got things on track when freshman Joy Adlao opened up the scoring for Citrus via a triple. Mt. San Jacinto would answer right back with a jumper, but sophomore Janae Chamois came right back down the floor and laid the ball up and in off the backboard to keep Citrus with some positive momentum. 

Chamois and Adlao would account for the next five points, pulling to within four points of the Eagles after a conventional three-point play by Chamois made it 10-14. The Owls hit another lull after that though, as the Eagles scored the next five points before sophomore Allison Zalin broke a nearly three minute scoring drought with a layup off a pass from Chamois. Mt. San Jacinto would come back and score the next four points, but a jumper from sophomore Natalie Gutierrez would prevent Mt. San Jacinto from running away with the game early as they ended the first up 23-14.

The second quarter would play out with both teams trading blows. The Owls' best run at the Eagles would come midway through when Adlao drilled another three to make it 27-33 with 4:55 left in the half. The Eagles would close out the half on a 13-3 run with the only Citrus points coming from another Adlao shot from downtown that saw the Owls go into halftime trailing 44-30. 

Mt. San Jacinto would come out the half and open up the third quarter by scoring on their first two possessions. After the opening salvo by the Eagles, Citrus settled in and rattled off a 9-0 run that turned an 18 point deficit into just a 9 point one after a pair of free-throws made from Gutierrez made it 39-48 with 5:55 to go play. Again though, Mt. San Jacinto closed out a quarter strong, finishing the final five minutes plus by outscoring the Owls 16-8 to go into the final frame up by 17. 

1:13 into the fourth quarter, Mt. San Jacinto would look like they had put the Owls away for good after they extended their lead to a game high 20 points. Citrus would fight and claw their way back into the game though, getting it all the way down to a doable 10 points with 1:51 to go after none other than Adlao hit her fifth trey of the game that made it 64-74. Unfortunately for Citrus, they couldn't get enough stops and just ran out of time against the Eagles who won by 12. 

In the loss, Citrus was paced by Adlao's team high 18 points. Chamois meanwhile wrapped up a stellar two year Owl career with 15 points, seven assists, four steals, and four rebounds. Zalin was the only other Owl close to double-figures with nine points, a team high eight boards, and four blocks. 

With the loss, one of Citrus' best seasons in the program's history comes to an end with a 18-11 record.