COMMUNITY COLLEGE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL : Hancock Ends Playoff Run for Golden West

For a few minutes it looked as if Golden West could handle Hancock College in a semifinal of the State community college women’s basketball tournament Friday at Ventura College.

The Rustlers scored the first eight points and appeared to have things going in the right direction.

But foul trouble and an amazing run by Hancock led the Bulldogs to an 81-61 victory.

That ended Golden West’s 25-game winning streak. It also was the second time Hancock (28-3) had beaten the Rustlers this season. Hancock was the last team to beat Golden West--74-67 on Dec. 11.

“Anytime you beat a team twice in one season,” Golden West Co-Coach Dave Stricklin said. “It proves you are the better team.”

Hancock advances to play Lassen, 71-57 winner over Ventura, for the championship at 8 tonight.

After Golden West’s early run, Hancock rushed right back with a 9-0 run of its own.

Golden West then rallied to take a 22-17 lead after Frances Oda made two free throws with 9 minutes 34 seconds left.

But from there, Hancock closed out the half with a 23-3 run.

During the run, Golden West’s Cinnamon Basco spent much of the time on the bench with two fouls.

Golden West’s front-line defense was also weakened when forward Julie Jones lost a tooth in a battle for the ball. No foul was called.

Jones left with 14:04 in the half and didn’t return until there were four minutes left to play in the half.

Hancock led, 40-25, at the break and led by as many as 24 points. Golden West got as close as 16 at 59-43 on a basket by Basco with 11:20 left.

That capped a 10-0 run by Basco. The problem was that Hancock kept scoring in between.

Basco and Melanie Iwamasa scored 17 each for Golden West, making its seventh consecutive appearance in the State tournament. The Rustlers won titles in 1990 and 1991.

Frances Oda had 10 for Golden West.

Tania Brunton had 19, 15 in the second half for Hancock, which had six players in double figures.

Molly Surrett had 14 and Claudia Nunez 12 points for Hancock. In addition, Leka McCann, Dianna Simms and Stacie Vigil each contributed 10 points.

Hancock had advanced to the semifinals by beating Orange Coast, 82-76, in overtime.

Golden West had beat Fresno City, 68-55, also in the quarterfinals.

“We had a great season,” Stricklin said. “We just had one bad game. You hate for it to happen now.”