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Blue Devils’ Advocate Sports Page 12<br />
Blue Devils Have<br />
Nothing Left to Lose<br />
Janet Maravilla/Advocate<br />
Girls‘ Hopes Fall Short<br />
By Brian McMaster<br />
Advocate Staff Writer<br />
<strong>Merced</strong> <strong>College</strong> Women‘s Basketball closed their<br />
season with a gut-wrenchingly close game (58-60) in<br />
the first round of the Northern California Playoffs<br />
against the Sacramento City Panthers, leaving them<br />
with a 13-15 record. This loss was especially surprising<br />
after their rousing success against the Panthers<br />
earlier in the season, 70-51. With the score tied in the<br />
final seconds of the game, <strong>Merced</strong>‘s defense shattered<br />
as Athena Padilla, a guard for Sac City, dribbled her<br />
way across the court to land the tie breaker with less<br />
than a second remaining. One last shot of hope by<br />
MJC‘s Tonesha Jackson, a full-court throw attempt<br />
which can only be described as the Hail Mary of<br />
basketball, fell too short of the basket to be considered<br />
close, but she definitely deserves a badge of<br />
honor for the attempt. The Devils have been competing<br />
well against some of the top teams in the state,<br />
and if they can pull their defense together next season<br />
they should be able to start winning CVC titles again.<br />
By Brian McMaster<br />
Advocate Staff Writer<br />
While the <strong>Merced</strong> <strong>College</strong> Men‘s Basketball team<br />
have been in no way exceptional this season, they<br />
do deserve an honorable mention for holding their<br />
heads high in the face of staggering losses.<br />
The Devils‘ final game of the season against<br />
Reedley was no surprise from their previous<br />
matches, losing the game 97-54. An overall lack of<br />
enthusiasm in the game seems to be the team‘s<br />
biggest problem, which is no surprise since the only<br />
game <strong>Merced</strong> has managed to win was against the<br />
Monterey Bay Junior Varsity team.<br />
With records for total lowest wins and highest<br />
amount of losses in school history, the Devils (1-23)<br />
can only go up from here next season.<br />
Tobaris Laster of <strong>Merced</strong> <strong>College</strong> drives to the<br />
basket in spite of two Reedley defenders.<br />
Advocate Staff Photo<br />
<strong>Merced</strong>‘s Alma Armendariz, left, passes around a<br />
Taft defender to teammate Amanda Davis, right.
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