Defense key to MJC women's victory over Delta

LIVERMORE -- It had been a long time since a Modesto Junior College women's basketball team beat Delta.

Coach Mike Girardi guessed mid-1990s, and certainly before he took over nine years ago. That made beating the Mustangs 57-44 for the Las Positas Tournament championship more special.

Jode Johnson an all-tournament team selection after turning four steals into buckets in the second half of the title game, finishing with 14 points. Madelyn Birchall was also named to the all-tournament team and Lexy Posz, who Girardi said came up with a number of big plays, was the MVP. She scored nine points in the championship.

Defense was the story of the game as Modesto (5-1) outscored Delta (3-1) 18-6 in the final 10 minutes. Johnson's defense in particular, when she turned two quick steals into layups, led to Modesto opening a double-digit lead with about five minutes to play.

"Those were huge," Girardi said. "It helped us go up by 12, and during that time we're stopping them at the other end.

"The whole game, we just played solid defense. Delta only scored 17 points in the second half. That was awesome. It was our best complete game, offense and defense."

Modesto led by just a point, 39-38, with 11 minutes, 12 seconds to play. Girardi said his players were aware of the rivals' history and remained focused throughout the night.

"We've come close a lot, final scores that were in the single digits," Girardi said. "Last year we lost by six at their place. Outscoring them 29-17 in the second half just showed our defense and rebounding was there."

Delta had been blowing teams away in the young season, the closest margin of victory being 31 points. Modesto will play at the Delta tournament and will see the Mustangs twice during the Big 8 Conference season. The Pirates hope to have Briona Fontenot, who is out with a concussion, back for those games. Girardi said Delta, who he routinely recruits against, was playing at full strength.

• MJC MEN — The Pirates lost to tournament host Mendocino 76-71 in their championship game. Brendan Evans led the Pirates with 16 points. Modesto was in foul trouble most of the game.

• CSUS WOMEN — Lauren Godde became the first Warrior to score 39 points in more than nine years but it wasn't enough in a 93=91 loss to Dominican.

Cross Country

• CSUS MEN, at Joplin, Mo. — Stanislaus senior Dawson Vorderbruegge finished in the top half of all competitors at the Division 2 NCAA Championships, 120th out of 245 in 31 minutes, 42 seconds. He improved his time from the West Regionals two weeks ago.

• CSUS WOMEN, at Joplin, Mo. — Courtney Anderson and Dallas Campbell both ran their fastest races of the season at the biggest stage as they led the Warriors to a 20th-place team finish. Anderson finished in 21:54.6 and Campbell 21:57.7.

• MJC WOMEN, at Fresno — Becky Hobby earned All-American status with a fifth-place time at the California Community College State Championships at Woodward Park. Hobby finished in 18:25 to lead the Pirates to a 10th-place team finish.

Coach Mary Shea said Hobby's performance was the best individual performance by an MJC female runner since Carrie Tacheira, who was fourth in 1992 at 18:04.

Volleyball

• CSLA 3, CSUS 0, at Los Angeles — Andrea Fett had 11 kills in her final match as a Warrior as Cal State Stanislaus (9-41, 6-16 CCAA) ended its season with a 25-16, 25-12, 25-20 loss at Cal State L.A.

Soccer

• MJC MEN — The host Pirates (11-5-5) fell to Gavilan 1-0 in their first-round NorCal playoff. Gavilan (12-6-4) scored in the 27th minute to make it stick. MJC goalkeeper Alonso Lara had four saves.

• MJC WOMEN, at Fresno — The No. 16 Pirates were edged by top seed Fresno City, 1-0, in the NorCal playoffs.

Wrestling

• MJC THIRD — Three Pirates won their weight classes at the Coast Conference Championships, where MJC (55 points) finished fourth behind winner Santa Rosa (68½). Erick Gomez defeated Skyline's Tommy Howard 4-1 at 184 pounds, Ryan Mackey beat John McLedove at 197 by techincal fall, 21-5, and heavyweight Travis Smith beat Bud Guinn of Santa Rosa 4-0.