COD Women’s Basketball fights hard in Winter Classic

COD (2-10) hosted their annual Winter Classic Women's Basketball Tournament featuring the likes of LA Southwest, Mt. San Jacinto, Fullerton, LA Trade Tech, Victor Valley, Pasadena City and Oxnard.

The Roadrunners opened up the Winter Classic hosting the Oxnard Condors (2-9), where Desert fell behind early, down 8 points at the end of the first quarter, the home side fought back, getting to within one point at the break, 29-28. The third quarter became a mirror image of the first quarter, as the Roadrunners fell back by a score of 43-37 going into the fourth, but Desert would not be deterred, they tied the game at 55-55 right before the buzzer sounded to send the game into overtime.  Unfortunately, the overtime period was not kind to the Roadrunners, and they fell 66-59.

Sophomore starting forward Lexie Jackson (La Quinta H.S.) grabbed her fourth double-double for the season, with 20 points on 8 of 19 shooting, going 3 for 9 from beyond three-point range and grabbing 16 total rebounds, 12 of which were defensive boards. Freshman guard Mercades Young (Moreno Valley Vista Del Lago) added 12 points on 4 of 11 shooting and sophomore forward Jerrica Perez (Indio Shadow Hills) contributed nine boards, going 3 for 4 from the free throw line and leading the team in steals with four on the evening.

On the consolation side of the bracket, the Roadrunners faced off with an old Foothill Conference foe, the Victorville Victor Valley Rams (3-10). The Rams would jump out to a 21-6 lead after one quarter and by halftime, Desert found themselves in a bind, down 37-21. In the third quarter, Desert would cut that deficit in half, going into the final quarter only down, 48-40. Unfortunately, the fourth quarter was not kind to the home side and the Roadrunners fell, 67-53.

Freshman starting guard Jada Toland (Indio Shadow Hills) led the starters with 10 points on a perfect 5 for 5 shooting afternoon. Perez and Jackson both came off the bench to contribute 11 points. Perez was a deadly 6 for 7 from the free throw line and Jackson would grab her fifth double-double of the season adding 16 boards and going 4 for 6 from the charity stripe. Perez grabbed eight total rebounds and led the team in steals with two and Jackson led the team in blocks with three. Freshman guard Shannon Beard (Cathedral City H.S.) added two more blocks on the afternoon.

Information, Photos & Story provided by COD Sports Information.