Rough weekend for Pirates at Merced Tournament

It was a weekend to forget for the Porterville College women's basketball team. The Pirates played three games and came home with three losses, dropping games to Diablo Valley (101-29), Glendale Community College (69-38), and Mission College (83-55).

Freshman Jessica Mabey averaged 10.7 points over the three games to lead the Pirates in scoring, including a 15-point, 15-rebound effort against Mission on Saturday.

PC couldn't protect the ball and committed 55 turnovers in the loss to Diablo Valley in the tourney opener on Thursday. DVC led 26-10 after the first quarter and was up 60-17 at halftime.

Mabey scored a team-high 9 points in the loss while Alennie Castellanos came off the bench to score 5 points. Trinity Ramirez added 3 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 steals.

Porterville actually led 7-6 after an ugly first quarter against Glendale. But the Vaqueros responded by outscoring the Pirates 23-8 in the second to pull ahead for good.

PC outrebounded Glendale by a 40-19 margin but made just 13 of 53 shots in the contest. Hailey Johnson led the Pirates on the boards with 13 rebounds while Mabey nearly had a double-double with 8 points and 11 rebounds.

The Pirates again led the battle on the boards against Mission, outrebounding their opponents 55-37. But PC couldn't keep up with Mission's hot shooting as the Saints shot 40 percent for the game maki9ng 32 of 80 shots. Porterville trailed 46-28 at halftime.

Mabey's 15 points and 15 rebounds led the Pirates. Breyanna Hernandez poured in 10 points, Johnson added 9 points and 5 rebounds, and Ramirez posted 7 points and 9 rebounds.

Porterville, now 1-5 overall, returns to action on Thursday (Nov. 14) when it opens the three-day San Diego City College Tournament against Imperial Valley College.