TAFT, CA – After a long holiday break, the Taft College Lady Cougars Basketball Team began practice on New Year's Eve preparing for the upcoming game against Compton College on January 4th. Preparation was worth it as two-a-days took place and conditioning was stressed. Taft defeated Compton 78-44 on the road.
Taft Head Coach Romeo Lagmay, Jr. expressed his comments, "Sometimes it's a gamble allowing a long vacation break during our season. Our season is played through fall, winter, and spring. As a coach, you wonder if your team will be out of shape, eat unhealthily, lose their IQ of the system, homesickness or just plainly become sedentary. That wasn't the case with our players, as all their practices and conditioning since returning has been great. That shows a lot about our program, and we are very fortunate for that."
The Cougars shot an amazing 95% from the foul line, forced 32 turnovers, collected 24 steals, and had 17 assists. Brandy Edwards led the game with 18 points, along with 4 steals, and a perfect 8-8 from the foul line. Siera Bradford scored 15 points, with 5 steals, 4 blocks and 4 assists. Alizah Lara scored 4 points, but led the team with 8 rebounds, and led the game with 7 steals. Celicia Enos pumped in 13 points.
The next game will be the opening round of the Central Valley Conference playing Reedley College at home on Wednesday, January 10 at 6:00 pm.
Taft College Basketball is now 11-4 in the season. They are also tied in first place in conference.