The Week Ahead for Hancock Athletics: Basketball Hosts Cuesta Wednesday in Final Home Game; Baseball Opens Rain-Affected Homestand
The basketball teams wrap up their seasons this week with one home game Wednesday, Feb. 15, against Cuesta College, and one road game Saturday, Feb. 18, at Oxnard. The baseball team will host two games this week, one moved up one day in light of the rain forecasted for later in the week. The softball team's game against Canyons scheduled for Friday, Feb. 17, was rescheduled for March 30 due to the wet weather expected this week.
MEN'S BASKETBALL (3-5, 13-15)
This Week:
Wednesday, Feb. 15, vs. Cuesta *, 5 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 18, @ Oxnard *, 1 p.m.
The men's basketball team will look to end the season this week on a three-game winning streak and play spoiler. Hancock starts the week 3-5 in Western State Conference play and 13-15 overall. The Bulldogs will host Cuesta in their final home game of the season at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, February 15. It will mark the final home game for sophomores Marcellus Garrick (Westwood HS), Kevawn Lord (West Side HS), Shane Carney (Narbonne HS), Deon Whiteside (Bishop Gorman), and Dominic Jackson (Northwest Career and Technical Academy). The Bulldogs will end the season Saturday, Feb. 18, at Oxnard.
Last week, Hancock started with a 73-67 loss at home to Moorpark. Garrick earned his first career double-double with a career-high 26 points and 10 rebounds. He went 4-for-9 from 3-point range and 4-for-4 from the free-throw line. Lord added 15 points, while Whiteside had five points, 11 rebounds, and seven assists. The Bulldogs rebounded with a 96-85 victory at Santa Barbara City College. Hancock defeated the Vaqueros for the first time in three tries this season. Garrick tied his career high with 26 points by sinking four 3-pointers and hitting 6-of-7 free throws. Lord scored a career-best 24 points on an 8-for-13 effort from the field and 8-for-9 mark at the free-throw line. Whiteside had 10 points, six rebounds, six assists, and six steals, while freshman guard Nolan Willett (JSerra Catholic) had 11 points and five assists. Jackson came off the bench to add seven points and eight boards.
Last month, Hancock knocked off Cuesta on the road 55-54 to hand the Cougars their first conference loss of the season. Garrick led the Bulldogs with 20 points, and Erik Kinnebrew (Middlebrooks Academy) earned a double-double with 14 points, 16 rebounds, and seven assists.
The Bulldogs will try to sweep their season series with Oxnard. Hancock defeated the Condors 73-62 in Santa Maria last month behind 23 points from Garrick, 19 points and seven rebounds from Lord, and a 14-point, 13-rebound, 8-assist performance from Kinnebrew.
To start the final week of the regular season, Hancock is in a three-way tie with Moorpark and Santa Barbara for fourth place in the conference standings. Ventura is 6-2, one game ahead of 5-3 Cuesta, and two games ahead of 4-4 Oxnard. This week, Ventura will host Oxnard and play at Santa Barbara. Cuesta will end the season Saturday at home against Moorpark.
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL (3-5, 14-10)
This Week:
Wednesday, February 15, vs. Cuesta*, 7 p.m.
Saturday, February 18, @ Oxnard*, 3 p.m.
The Allan Hancock College women's basketball team will look to end the season on high notes. The Bulldogs, who were eliminated from the playoff picture last week, will host Cuesta on Wednesday, Feb. 15, at 7 p.m. in their final home game of the year. Hancock will end the season Saturday, Feb. 18, at Oxnard at 3 p.m.
Hancock will look to rebound after dropping two conference games last week, and losing starting guard Syenna Ramirez (St. Joseph HS) to a season-ending injury. Last week, Hancock fell 52-50 at home to Moorpark. Ramirez injured her ankle in the second quarter and did not return to the game. Freshman Taylor Lee-Hammer (Pagosa Springs HS) led the Bulldogs with 16 points. Freshman center Grace Rosa (Paso Robles HS) added 14 points and eight rebounds. Hancock had a chance to tie it with two free throws in the closing seconds but could not capitalize. The Bulldogs later fell 64-41 at Santa Barbara City College. Freshman Karly Beyers (Pioneer Valley HS) led the Bulldogs with 15 points and nine rebounds. Rosa added 10 points, nine rebounds and five blocks. Lee-Hammer added 10 points and four assists.
Hancock is 2-0 this season against Cuesta, defeating the Cougars 63-43 last December and 53-44 last month. Ramirez led the Bulldogs with 15 points last month, while Rosa added 10 points and 12 rebounds. In the December battle, Rosa led the way with 18 points, while Lee-Hammer added 17 more. The Cougars are 1-7 in league and 12-14 overall.
Oxnard starts the week 2-6 in league, one game ahead of Cuesta in the standings, and 7-18 overall. Beyers hit four 3-pointers to finish with 16 points, Ramirez added 13, and Lee-Hammer scored 12 in Hancock's 71-30 win over Oxnard last month. Rosa just missed a double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds. Freshman Naomi Leopardi (Big Sandy HS) finished with eight points and 11 rebounds.
The women's game against Cuesta will mark the final home game for three Hancock sophomores: Ramirez, guard Ne'Chelle Martinez (AJ Dimond HS) and forward Destinee Garcia (Golden West HS).
BASEBALL (2-5)
This Week:
Tuesday, Feb. 14, vs. College of the Sequoias, 2 p.m.
Wednesday, Feb. 15, vs. College of the Canyons, 2 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 18, @ L.A. Pierce, 1 p.m.
The Hancock baseball team will look to beat Mother Nature and impending rains to end a recent dry spell. The Bulldogs start the week 2-5 overall and looking for their first win in six games. Hancock will host College of the Sequoias Tuesday, February 14, and College of the Sequoias on Wednesday, February 15. Both games will start at 2 p.m. at John Osborne Field. The Sequoias game was moved up one day in anticipation of rain forecasted for Thursday. Hancock will also play at L.A. Pierce on Saturday, Feb. 18, with a 1 p.m. start time.
Last week, Hancock built a 5-0 lead at undefeated Reedley before falling 6-5 to the Tigers. Freshman third baseman Josh Harmonay (Faith Lutheran HS) went 3-for-3 with one RBI. Shortstop Quinntin Perez (St. Joseph HS) had two hits. Sophomore first baseman Ryan Peinado (St. Joseph HS) and catcher Nash Ackerman (Arroyo Grande HS) each drove in two runs during a five-run inning. Walker Armstrong (St. Joseph HS) took the loss to fall to 1-1 after he allowed six runs, only two of which were earned, in 6 1/3 innings of work.
Hancock opened the season with two wins over L.A. Pierce defeating the Brahmas 9-3 and 5-2. Cordell Bowie (Del Sol Academy) and Peinado had 2 RBI each in the opener to support Armstrong, who allowed one run in five innings. Will Dowell (Righetti HS) earned the win with six strikeouts over five shutout innings in the second game.
Seven games into the 2017 season, Perez leads the team with a .381 batting average. Harmonay is hitting .320, and freshman outfielder Brendan Gomez (Santa Ynez HS) is hitting .333. Peinado leads the team with 7 RBI.
This Week:
Friday, Feb. 17, vs. Canyons, 2 p.m.
The Hancock softball team was scheduled to return home to host College of the Canyons on Friday, February 17. However, the game was rescheduled for 3 p.m. on Thursday, March 30, at Hancock due to the rain forecasted for later this week. Hancock is coming off a 2-1 record during a two-day tournament at Mt. San Jacinto College. The Bulldogs are 6-1 overall.
Last weekend, Hancock defeated San Bernardino 6-4 behind a 3 RBI from freshman left fielder Isabella Partida (St. Joseph HS), and two hits from shortstop Larrissa Ostrander (Santa Clara HS) and Leticia Hoobery (Pioneer Valley HS). Bailey Killough (Arroyo Grande HS) earned the win by allowing one unearned run over six innings. Later in the day, Hancock managed just four hits in a 3-2 loss to Imperial Valley. Shannon Peterson (Santa Clara HS) took the loss after allowing three runs in six innings. Peterson and Partida had one hit and one RBI each. The Bulldogs came back the following day to knock off Grossmont 4-1. Maggie Dasis (Righetti HS) scored twice and had an inside-the-park home run. Partida, Killough and Myranda Morales (Pioneer Valley HS) had one RBI each. Morales went 3-3. Killough earned the win to improve to 4-0 after she allowed one unearned run and scattered six hits over seven innings.
Seven games into the year, Morales is hitting .529 with 6 RBI. Dasis is hitting .455 with 10 runs scored, four stolen bases and 8 RBI. Ostrander is hitting .423 with 8 RBI, while Partida is hitting .368 with 7 RBI. Killough is 4-0 in the circle with a 0.00 ERA. She has allowed 11 hits and five walks in 23 innings with 17 strikeouts. The freshman is also hitting .389 at the plate.
Canyons is off a to 3-0 start after outscoring its opponents by a combined score of 38-11. Canyons has a team batting average of .447. Heidi Ludy, Melanie Abzun, and Alexis Avila have 6 RBI apiece. Four players with at least seven at-bats are hitting .500 or better.
The Bulldogs will open Western State Conference play next Thursday, Feb. 23, with a doubleheader at Bakersfield.
TRACK AND FIELD
This Week:
Friday, Feb. 17, Western State Conference Relays @ West L.A., 12 p.m.
The Hancock men's and women's track and field teams will head to West Los Angeles College on Friday, February 17 for the Western State Conference Relays.
The Bulldogs opened the season last week at the Battle of the Regions hosted by Bakersfield College. Sophomore Brent Dionisio (Pioneer Valley HS) won the men's high jump by clearing six feet, two inches. He also won the long jump with a mark of 20-8.5. Sophomore distance runner Steven Youngblood (Pioneer Valley HS) finished third in the men's steeplechase and fifth in the 3,000 meter run. Freshman Zak Morson (Cabrillo HS) finished seventh in the 100 meter dash with a time of 11.54 seconds, while Jose Rodriguez (Cabrillo HS) came in sixth at 11.25 seconds. Morson also finished fifth in the long jump and ninth in the javelin throw. Freshman Ben Wulfestieg (Cabrillo HS) finished fourth in the shot put and fifth in the javelin throw.
On the women's side, sophomore Taylor Nevitt (Nipomo HS) finished fourth in the shot put with a top toss of 33 feet, one inch. She also came in third in the discus throw with a top mark of 100-8, and seventh in the javelin throw. Sophomore Rachel Naugle (Graceway Private) finished seventh in the 1,500 meter run with a time of 5:15, and sixth in the 800 at 2:36.
WOMEN'S SWIMMING
This Week: No Meets
The Hancock women's swimming and diving team will get a week away from competition after an impressive start to the 2017 season. Last week, sophomore Dria Kwong (Orcutt Academy) won the Western State Conference Pentathlon. Kwong, who won three individual conference titles and was a three-time All-American, finished atop the leaderboard that included nearly 60 other swimmers. Her combined time in five events was 5:19.16, almost 10 seconds faster than the second place finisher. Kwong posted the field's fastest times in the 100 butterfly and 100 individual medley. She posted the second best times in the 100 backstroke and 100 breaststroke. Sophomore Maddie Diaz (Pioneer Valley HS) finished eighth overall with a time of 5:50.29. Her top finish in an event was fifth place in the 100 breaststroke. Freshman Meagan Stevens (Cabrillo HS) finished 15th overall, Makena Blanco (Lompoc HS) placed 27th, and sophomore Rebecca Gonzalez (Nipomo HS) came in 30th overall.