NORWALK – The Grossmont College Griffin women's basketball team lead for 35 minutes against Cerritos on Wednesday night (Nov. 16) at Cerritos. However, the Falcons of Cerritos always, year in and year out, show a never give up attitude. That attitude ended up prevailing by a 55-50 score.
"Very proud of the team tonight," Grossmont's head coach Karen Caires said. "We fought hard, led the whole game until the fourth quarter. Our team showed a lotta grit tonight."
The two Griffin (0-1) Sophomores led the way with Paula Magtoto (So., National City) having a game-high 14 points on six of 11 shooting, while Jaleah Raymond (So., San Diego) had 12 points in 33 minutes of action.
Cerritos (3-2) was lead by Brianna Flores and Bridgette McIntyre who each had 13 points.
Grossmont came out hot as they jumped out to a 4-1 lead just two and a half minutes into the game. The points were a pair of free throws from Raymond and a layup by Magtoto. Paige Evans (Fr., Santee) hit a three-pointer off an Alyssa Noland (Fr., Pine Valley) pass. The Evans three was followed by a three-pointer by Chiara Nava (Fr., El Centro) that came from a Noland pass to make it 10-1 Grossmont. The Griffins went five of 14 from beyond the arc.
The first quarter ended with the Griffins up 21-9. Evans would add another three-pointer to give her the scoring lead for the game at the end of ten minutes.
The second quarter wasn't quite as good for the Griffins as they committed nine turnovers in the quarter. For the game Grossmont turned the ball over 36 times.
The second half the Falcons found their footing unfortunately. Cerritos chipped away at the Griffin eight-point lead, but GC still had a six-point lead at the end of three quarters.
Even as late as with five minutes to go in the game Grossmont was leading 46-43. But Grossmont would go on a scoring drought for a four-minute span where the Falcons would go on a 11-2 run to take the lead.
"With 36 turnovers we need to get to work at ball control" Caires said after the game. "We're looking forward to our next game."
That game is Dec. 2 as part of the Cypress Tournament. Grossmont's opponent has not been announced as of yet, as Cypress has not released the bracket for their tournament.