Pirates open MiraCosta tourney with win over San Diego Mesa

Porterville College freshman Johana Reyes scored a team-high 16 points to help lead the Pirates to their first win of the season, a 55-45 victory over San Diego Mesa College on Monday in an opening-round game of the Spartan Coast Classic at MiraCosta College.

PC had lost its first eight games to open the season, but will look to build momentum towards its Central Valley Conference schedule that begins in January.

The Pirates held a narrow 26-23 lead at halftime and outscored San Diego Mesa 29-22 over the final two quarters to pull out the win.

Reyes doubled her previous season high scoring game of 8 points and added 6 steals, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists.

Sophomores Sierra Perez and Kathy Rodriguez both added 11 points while freshman Juliet Garcia grabbed a team-best 9 rebounds to go with 4 points.

Porterville, now 1-8 overall, returns to tournament action on Tuesday (Dec. 18) when the Pirates face San Diego City College at 2 p.m.