Taft Basketball Loses and Wins in Wild West Shootout

TAFT, CA – During the Wild West Shootout at West Los Angeles College, the Lady Cougars of Taft College were still standing when the smoke cleared. This past weekend, Taft started off with two losses. On Friday, they lost a close battle to West LA 74-80, then the next day to Ventura 45-68. However, on the last day, Taft defeated unbeaten Irvine Valley College 73-66 during the shootout.

Taft Head Women's Basketball Coach Romeo Lagmay, Jr. expressed his complexities, "We were going into this crossover classic where we were pretty much thinking we'd win the first two games and lose the third. It was completely the opposite! We lost the games we should have won and won the game we should have lost. We're currently out two injured players who are impact players rebounding and scoring, but somehow, we managed to gel and get the job done in the end. The scary part is that any member of this team can emerge as a serious threat. Our opponents just won't know who it will be."

Three freshmen made their marks during the West LA matchup. Freshman guard Mikayla Villalobos of West High School in Bakersfield led the game with 24 points shooting 6-16 three-pointers and going 4-5 from the foul line. Point guard Ella Waufle dropped 14 points, while making two 3-point shots, and collecting 3 rebounds. Guard/forward Madyn Kassatly came off the bench to score 15 points and grabbed 6 rebounds. Sophomore Amaya Payne grabbed a team high of 11 rebounds. Unfortunately, West LA scored 30 points from Taft's 27 turnovers. West LA also scored 18 points from the foul line.

The next day got worse when winless Ventura College took advantage of Taft's leading scorer Villalobos leaving the game in the second quarter with 14 points with a knee injury. The Cougars were 7 points trailing when the injury occurred, and Villalobos was shooting 4 of 5 three-point made shots. No other Cougar but Kassatly scored in double figures with 11 points off the bench and having a double double with 10 rebounds.

The Cougars were outrebounded by Ventura 40-35 and committed 23 turnovers.

On Sunday, the last day, Taft came out guns blazing leading the Lasers of Irvine Valley College by as much as 17 points in the first half. Irvine Valley swept their first two opponents with ease, but realized facing the hunger of the Cougars was a different type of ball club. Eight of nine Taft players scored with Waufle having a career high of 21 points, shooting 4 of 5 from beyond the arc. Waufle also collected 4 rebounds. Former high school teammate Kassatly joined Waufle in the starting lineup with 14 points and 4 rebounds. Freshman post player Alesha Gordon of Oakland, CA scored a career high13 points and shy of her first double double with 8 rebounds. Sophomore Mary Pahukoa performed well defensively, while dishing out a game high 3 assists.

Taft shot 50% from the 3-point line and 55% from the field.

The Cougars are 3-2 on the season and will play on the road again when they face Cerritos College this Wednesday, November 13 at 5:00 pm.