Cold-shooting Vaqueros fall to Antelope Valley, 57-37

It was a tough shooting night for SBCC on Friday and Antelope Valley took advantage to post a 57-37 win in the opening round of the Antelope Valley Holiday Tournament in Lancaster.

Antelope Valley (4-6) broke the game open with an 18-5 second-quarter advantage that produced a 30-15 halftime lead.

The Vaqueros (7-7) held an opponent in the 50s for the fourth straight game but couldn't overcome season lows in points, field-goal percentage (25.8) and 3-pointers (0-21).

Shantanel Bivens led the Marauders with 21 points and 11 rebounds. AVC made 35.5 percent from the field and 6-19 from 3-point country.

"We played great defense against a big, athletic team but we just couldn't shoot," said Vaquero coach Sandrine Krul, whose team beat AVC 76-65 on  Nov. 21 to win the consolation crown at the Glendale Tournament. "You have to be ready to play every single night. Our bench players gave us a good boost tonight."

Kesler Johnson, a 6-0 freshman guard from Sacramento, came off the bench to lead the Vaqueros with a season-high 20 points (on 10-15 shooting) and 10 rebounds (6 offensive). Johnson scored her 20 points in just 22 minutes.

Jocelin Petatan added nine rebounds and four assists as the Vaqueros won the board battle 48-42 with 24 offensive rebounds. Destinee King, who came in as the No. 1 scorer in the WSC North at 17.2 per game, was held to six points.

Only seven players scored for the Vaqueros and two starters went scoreless. The SBCC bench outscored the Marauder bench 25-9. AVC's starters enjoyed a 48-12 advantage.

The Vaqueros will take on Barstow on Saturday in the consolation semifinals at 3 p.m.