Canyons Goes 1-2 at Ventura-Kiwanis Tournament of Champions

After a promising start to the weekend that saw College of the Canyons defeat Laney College 76-34 to register its first win of the season, the Cougars finished their run at the Ventura College-Kiwanis Tournament of Champions with a 1-2 record after losing in the third place consolation game on Sunday. 

Canyons (1-4) had its way with Laney (0-3) to advance to the winner's bracket after Friday's opening round. COC held the Eagles to just 11 points in the first half, taking a 37-11 lead into the locker room and never looking back.

The Cougars had three players score in double figures with Kalana Inemer's 16 points and 12 rebounds leading the way. Maryrose Elias scored 13 points to go with four steals, and Morgan Bizzell had a game high 17 points off the bench on a 6-of-10 shooting night.

On Saturday, COC could not repeat that success against a touch Ventura College (4-1) team that used a 22-point third quarter performance to pull away from the Cougars at 71-56. 

Bizzell tied for the game high with 19 points and led the Cougars with seven rebounds. Inemer added 17 more and was followed by 10 points from sophomore Dayna Tanaka, but Canyons shot a combined 28.3 percent from the floor and committed 22 turnovers to limit its opportunities.

Still playing for a shot at the tourney's third place spot, a motivated Cougars squad took the floor vs. San Joaquin Delta College (3-3) on Sunday.

After a back-and-forth first half COC trailed by just two at the break. But the Cugars proved unable to sustain that pace, eventually falling 74-57.

Inemar led COC with 13 points and 13 rebounds for her second double-double of the weekend. Gissel Sanchez added 12 points from the bench on a 5-of-9 night.

Canyons will now head north to compete in the Contra Costa College Classic tourney being held Nov. 30 – Dec. 2 in San Pablo, Calif.

The Cougars are slated to tip off vs. Feather River College at 5 p.m. on Friday.

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. 

—Jesse Muñoz/COC Sports Information