The Raiders mounted a furious comeback but fell short, 61-60, to Southeast Community College in the opening game of the Region 9 tournament on Wednesday.
CCC was down 54-39 with 6:30 to play in the fourth quarter. The Raiders then rattled off a 19-4 run over the next six minutes to pull to within one point, 59-58, with 12.5 seconds to go. Three seconds later, Southeast's Matalynn Campbell was fouled and she sank a pair of free throws to increase the Bobcats' lead to 61-58. On the other end, CCC missed two layups before Alyssa Reardon scored a bucket to make the score 61-60, but time ran out.
"I thought we started the game good and got some transition buckets," said CCC head coach Kasi Stoltz. "We battled back in the fourth quarter and executed our offense, but we missed to many open threes and layups which hurt us in the end."
Nikie Nelson posted her 16th double-double on the season with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Aubry Saleapaga scored a dozen points and Sylvia Valentino scored 10 points off the bench.
With the loss, the Raiders close the 2023-24 season with an overall mark of 5-25.
"I am super proud of this team this year," said Stoltz. "The record might not show it, but they showed up each day ready to go and had great attitudes. The sophomore class will definitely be missed and I'm disappointed that this group didn't make it to the region championship because they put the work in. I loved coaching this team and couldn't have asked for a better group."