In life, whenever something does not go your way, you look for the silver lining. Though the Hornets lost 93-52 to the Pirates inside The Hornets’ Nest Wednesday night, the team’s effort and tenacity for 40 minutes was the silver lining in this game.
The engine that makes this team go is sophomore guard Jasmine Arnold. She sparked a 12-4 run for the Hornets coming out of halftime.
“She [Arnold] is just a ball of energy… I call her the spark plug,” said Fullerton head coach Dan Desmond. “She comes in fired [up], amped, and knows what to say. She’s been a big part of the program this year.”
In the first possession of the third quarter, sophomore forward Sarah Shaw dropped the ball off for Arnold as she turned the corner with lightning speed. Arnold’s scoop lay-up was pure gold, and it was a step in the right direction for the Hornets to start the second half.
Coach Desmond’s halftime message was simple and got across to Arnold and her teammates.
“It’s our Sophomore Night and we were putting too much pressure on ourselves. So have fun, be disciplined… and less fouls,” said Arnold with a chuckle.
After an Orange Coast (24-3, 13-0) basket, Arnold again was involved in the offense, this time getting the assist when she threw the ball up the court to sophomore guard Toni Ballestero, who hit the fade away seven foot jumper. Arnold added a steal, a free throw and another driving lay-up in less than five minutes of game time to start the second half.
Arnold finished with a team high of 11 points to go along with three rebounds and three steals. Shaw also had 11 points and five rebounds, along with freshman Xochitl Hood scoring all nine of her points in the first half.
Shaw’s best friend was the fake hand-off on the baseline, which she went to often. Shaw scored the majority of her points with this tactic, using OCC’s aggression against them.
“I know they like to cheat and get the steal, so I knew that was going to work in this game,” said Shaw.
Aside from the score, Arnold and Shaw showed out in their final home game in a multitude of ways. As members of Desmond’s first class at FC, along with Ballestero and sophomore guard Tia Jaquias, the second year coach was full of pride for his players.
“Couldn’t have asked for a better sophomore class. Having them come in as freshmen and sophomores helped me grow as a coach, help them grow as young women and basketball players… it’s been an absolute pleasure,” said Desmond. “They’ve made coaching really, really fun.”
One scary moment to be noted early on in this contest, was a non-contact injury to freshman starting guard Ashari Cassell’s left foot at the 8:12 mark of the first quarter. Cassell, the Pirates second leading scorer, did not return to the game.
Orange Coast College head coach Sammy Doucette confirmed Cassell is expected to be fine, and chose to hold her back from returning in this game. “She’ll be okay. I saw how the game was going, and decided it wasn’t worth it, but she’s okay,” said Doucette.
Despite her team being ranked first in Southern California and fourth in the state, Doucette still felt there was room for her team to improve, especially as they gear up to defend their CCCAA State Title.
“Although we won tonight, there’s still a lot of things we could do better. We still made mistakes [and] wrong decisions, so it’s just tightening those things up,” said Doucette.
Orange Coast sophomore guard and candidate for OEC Player of the Year Bridgette McIntyre led all scorers with 18 points, while sophomore forward Sabrina Lopez added 15 points and seven rebounds off the bench. Sophomore guard Jordan Arreola also chipped in 14 points in the win.
Fullerton College finishes their season in the sands of Huntington Beach against Golden West College (15-12, 5-8) on Friday, Feb. 23 at 7 p.m.
