With a 2-2 finish in the 2010 Harold Oliveira Holiday Classic at Righetti High School, Lompoc girls basketball head coach Claudia Terrones was pleased.
“We come here every year and I don’t think I’ve won one game in seven years,” Terrones said. “So I’m glad this year we won two.”
On Tuesday, the Braves defeated El Camino of South San Francisco 63-42 in a complete team effort. Earlier in the day, Lompoc fell to Dos Pueblos 53-44, after falling behind 23-6 through the first quarter.
“We played two games yesterday and this was our fourth game in two days,” Terrones explained. “It’s hard to come back like that, but I told them they don’t play again for 10 days so they had to give it their all.
“I’m glad we were able to bounce back and win. Sometimes when you lose to a good team like DP it takes the wind out of your sails, but we wanted to bounce back and win — and we did.”
In the game against El Camino — coached by Oliveira’s daughter Erin — Lompoc received balanced scoring with eight scorers, three in double figures.
Celina Calderon led the way with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Shatiana Vernon and Tashara Pruett-Gibbons, using their height advantage under the basket, both registered 12 points and eight rebounds each. Casey Stumpo had one of her better performances adding eight points with eight rebounds and playing outstanding defense.
“The good thing about our team is that everyone plays,” Terrones said. “So when they go in, they know they have to give it their all or they’re going to come out.”
The Colts have one girl at 5-7 and no one taller, so Vernon (6-0) and Pruett-Gibbons (5-8) were able to post up under the basket, where all of their points came from.
“When our bigs use the glass and we get good penetration, then the give-and-go works,” Terrones continued. “They did a good job of keeping their hands up and wanting the ball.”
Lompoc also had a 44-24 advantage in rebounding.
The Braves, who in both of their tourney losses fell behind early, jumped out to a 21-9 first quarter lead. El Camino — led by Mia Maffei, who had 10 points in the second quarter — pulled back into the game with a strong run in the second, at one point pulling to within five points, but Lompoc finished the quarter strong and led 36-23 at the break.
Lompoc held El Camino to seven points in the third quarter to take a 48-30 lead.
“We made a few adjustments at halftime regarding our defense and we were able to come out and contain,” Terrones said.
Lompoc is off until Friday, Jan. 7 when they will resume Los Padres League play against Cabrillo. El Camino finished tournament play with a game this morning at 9 a.m. against Santa Barbara.
