Comets heat up to top surprising Alumni team 96-61

SAN MARCOS (11-17-2017) -- It took almost the whole first quarter to get untracked. But, for the Palomar women's basketball team, the wait was worth it.

Held to 3 points deep into the first quarter, the Comets outran and outshot a game, surprisingly tough Palomar Alumni squad the rest of the way on Friday night in The Dome. The result was a 96-61 win behind Andrea Laurant's 21 points in the feature first-round game of the Palomar Comet Classic Tournament Presented by the Fegan Family.

Laurant, a 5-foot-10 sophomore guard from Poway High School, was joined in double figures by Morgan Heise (12 points, 4-for-7 from behind the 3-point arc, 5 rebounds, 3 steals) and Clarise Taite (12 points). The Comets came back from their icy start to go in front 19-15 after the opening period.

In a red-hot second quarter, they outscored the Alums 31-8 and led 50-23 at the half.

Other key contributors for Palomar included Sophia Neubauer (8 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists), Vinessa Perryman (7 points), Tianne Shaw (4 assists) and Quinesha Vanhook (6 points) as coach Leigh Marshall's squad advanced to Saturday's 7 p.m. semifinal match-up with West Los Angeles, a 68-55 first-round winner over Riverside City College.

The other semifinal game will pit Grossmont, a 75-60 winner over Santa Monica, against Long Beach City College, which defeated Reedley 63-54.

The Alumni team of Melissa Allen, Ashley Witherspoon, Tessa Balcom, current Palomar assistant coach Bianca Littleton, Melanie Lombardi, Mo Fegan, Lynnzy Troxell and Jessica Scott was called into action when Mission College of San Jose pulled out of the tournament at the last minute due to player suspensions following a fight in a game.

Saturday's consolation semifinals will feature Santa Monica vs. Reedley at 1 p.m. and Riverside vs. the Palomar Alumni at 3 p.m. The championship game is slated for 3 p.m. Sunday, following the consolation championship game at 11 a.m. and the third-place game at 1 p.m.