Looking to fine tune different aspects of their game as they prepare for the Southern California Regional Playoffs, the Cerritos College women’s basketball team waited until the final 10 minutes of their South Coast Conference South Division game at Los Angeles Harbor College on Wednesday night to find their pace. The Falcons, champions of the division, won their ninth game in a row with a 66-47 score and will close out their regular season on Friday with a 5:30 p.m. game at Los Angeles Southwest College.
    
    Although they never trailed in the game, the Falcons did see the Seahawks stay close for the entire first half and into the first part of the second half. Cerritos struggled to execute their offense, while LA Harbor did enough to keep the game close. Leading only 27-23 at intermission, the Falcons came out in the second half and turned the ball over on their first five possessions, as the Seahawks got to within 29-28 with 16:44 remaining.

    But the team’s overall depth (LA Harbor played with just five players) and speed proved to be too much for the Seahawks, who saw the Falcons go on a 19-8 run to take a 48-36 lead with 9:09 left after sophomore forward Maltresa Neely (Downey HS) drained a three-pointer. Cerritos took advantage of consecutive missed Seahawk shots and converted them into Rachel Butler (Calvary Chapel HS) and Tiffany Wilson (Mayfair HS) baskets for a 16-point advantage with 6:09 remaining.

    On the night, sophomore Genesis Lewis (Paramount HS) led the team with 16 points and hauled down 10 rebounds, while Neely added 12 points, 10 caroms and five assists. Freshman forward Mercedes Taylor (Gahr HS) contributed 10 points and eight rebounds, with the duo of Butler and freshman guard Anna Soltis (Norwalk HS) coming off the bench to each score six points. Wilson had a solid overall game with eight points, seven rebounds and five assists. LA Harbor’s Melissa Milton led all scorers with 20 points.