Canyons Crowned Champions of Annual VC-Kiwanis Tourney, Herrick at 597

By Jesse Muñoz/COC Sports Information Director 

VENTURA — College of the Canyons concluded its weekend by winning the VC-Kiwanis Tournament of Champions hosted by Ventura College, with back-to-back victories over Mt. San Antonio and Long Beach City College.

Canyons (6-0) had two players earn All-Tournament team honors in sophomore Justice Walters and tourney MVP freshman LuLu Saloom. 

COC head coach Greg Herrick now sits at 597 career wins at the college. 

The Cougars were a 71-69 winner over Long Beach on Saturday in the tournament's championship game, an outing that Canyons controlled from the opening tip.

COC limited the Vikings (5-2) to just five points in the opening quarter and took a 40-31 lead into the second half.

Long Beach played a much tighter second half, but the Cougars behind 21 bench points from Walters and 18 from starter Monique Febles were too much to handle.

Walters, who led all scorers, added seven rebounds and three steals. Malia Semana ended the game with nine assists and 14 points to go with four steals on the defensive end. 

Canyons capitalized on 29 turnovers from the Vikings despite shooting just over 37 percent from the field.

On Friday, the Cougars picked up a tight 79-74 win over Mt. SAC after trailing by two points at halftime.

COC outscored the Mounties (6-2) by a 27-16 across the final 10 minutes as four players finished in double digits.

Salloom scored 24 points on an 8-of-13 shooting performance. She nearly achieved triple-double status with 11 rebounds and eight assists. 

Walters came off the bench to the tune of 16 points across 28 minutes. Febles added 16 points of her own, going 8-of-8 from the foul line with two blocks and three rebounds.

Diamyn Davis was 5-of-7 from the field to finish the game with 14 points and eight rebounds.

Canyons defeated Napa Valley 85-38 in the tournament's opening game to advance to the weekend winner's bracket.

Herrick and the Cougars will look to extend the streak in their next game at 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 2 vs. College of the Sequoias in the annual Gilcrest Tournament. The contest vs. COS will be the first of a three-game tournament run.

Stay up to date on all this season's action by following the College of the Canyons Athletic department on social media at @COCathletics on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.  

—Photo by La Cresha Clark/COC Women's Basketball