PC men finish with winning season

When Mikey Hildalgo released his three-point shot from the corner and it sailed through the net, the winning season for the Porterville College men’s basketball team was secure.

Hildalgo’s three gave Porterville an 81-63 lead and removed any hope of a Merced comeback as the Pirates went on to win 85-63 on Saturday at PC. With the win, the Pirates finished the regular season at 14-13, clinching its first winning season since 2001.

It’s a virtual lock that PC will end up with that winning season, although theoretically, the Pirates could end up at 14-14 if they are chosen to go to the playoffs and lose their first postseason game.

West Hills, College of the Sequoias and PC all finished in a three-way tie at 7-5 in the Central Valley Conference. Eighteen Northern California teams will go to the state playoffs with the lowest four seeds facing each other in play-in games.

The conventional wisdom is that when the seedings are announced Monday, the CVC will have only two teams in the playoffs and that it will be West Hills who will receive a berth in one of the play-in games.

No matter, Saturday was still a sweet moment for Porterville. “It means all the hard work and all the commitment, all of the adversity that we faced is showing just what this is about

in terms of the return of the Porterville College men’s basketball team,” said Jennings about the winning season.

After Merced cut the lead to 43-35 to begin the second half, PC went on a 22-2 run to take its biggest lead at 28 points at 65-37. After Merced fought back to close to within 73-62, PC closed the game with a 12-1 run. Hidalgo hit two threes to spark the run with his second three giving Porterville an 81-63 lead.

Porterville jumped out to a 12-4 lead on the strength of threes by Hidalgo and Kameron Hoyt. After Merced closed to within 14-11, Jason Carmichael  made a steal and went on to score on a one-handed jam to give PC a 16-11 lead. Porterville led by as many as 14 points twice in the first half. After Merced closed to within 34-27, Jordan Wilkinson scored on a dunk to give PC a 36-27 lead and begin a run that led to the Pirates leading 43-29 late in the first half.

Hidalgo scored 19 points, Carmichael had 18 points, five assists and six steals, Hoyt had 15 points, Donald Lee had 10 points, Wilkinson had eight points, John Pavelzik had seven points and Johnathon Brown added six points for PC.

Game Note: The Porterville High freshmen boys basketball team, which finished the season at 19-0 and 16-0 in the East Yosemite League was honored at halftime.

PC WOMEN 80, COS 63
Porterville ended the season on a high note, outscoring College of the Seqouias 49-28 in the second half to overcome a 34-32 halftime deficit. “A very good way to end the season,” PC coach Dave Kavern said. “They kids never quit, they kept battling.”

The Pirates were red hot from three-point range, hitting their first four threes, hitting 7 of their first 10 and finishing the game 10-of-18. Regine Mecenario hit her first three threes, including her first two as Porterville jumped out to a 9-2 lead.

Mecenario had 22 points, six assists and five steals, Maribel Bravo scored 14 points, Carmen

Millan had 10 points, Janette Garado had nine points, Danielle Carrillo had eight points and Eva Gutierrez added seven points for PC.

For COS, Granite Hills graduate Emily Fechner had 10 points and 14 rebounds and Lindsay’s Raquel Finley led COS with 14 points.

SOFTBALL
PC 8-5, MODESTO 5-2
Sam Nalley, battling nagging injuries and illness to begin the season, looked more like herself as she pitched two complete games as PC swept a doubleheader, winning the opener 8-5 and the nightcap 5-2.

In the opener, Nalley made one mistake, allowing a three-run home run. She ended up allowing three earned runs while striking out nine. In the nightcap, Nalley didn’t allow any earned runs.

“She’s getting closer,” PC coach Vickie Dugan said. “She definitely hit her spots the first game. The real Sam Nalley is emerging.”

PC banged out 14 hits in the first game. Rebecca Hurtado had three hits, including a two-run home run that gave PC an 8-5 lead in the sixth inning. Also for Porterville. Felicia Flavel and

Isabel Cardenas both had two hits, including a double, Samantha Saldana and Taylor Ball each had two hits and Kimber Fielding added a hit.

In the nightcap, Ashley Keener had three hits, including a double, Hurtado doubled and

Cardenas added a hit for PC. The Pirates also struck out just once in the two games.

In other action on Saturday, the Porterville College baseball team (3-7) lost to Reedley 6-2 at the Reedley Tournament.