Basketball Season Wrap Up
SAN MARCOS, CA (3/16/2020) – With basketball season wrapped up after an abrupt end to the California Community College Athletic Association's state tournament, it's time to recap the successful seasons for our men and women's basketball teams.
Women's Basketball
The women finished their season 27-3 and had their third state appearance in the last four seasons. They were scheduled to play No. 1 North Seed San Joaquin Delta College on Thursday, Mar. 12 before the tournament was cancelled due to COVID-19 fears. In the CCCAA SoCal Regionals, Palomar faced LA Trade-Tech College in the second round and won 80-70 in the Dome. They then went on the road to face No. 4 Glendale College and won 53-47 to reach the State Tournament. Despite the abrupt finish to the season, the women had a successful run for their 2019-20 campaign. Sophomore guard Julie Saelee had a record-breaking performance against Grossmont College on Feb. 10 when she made nine 3-pointers, shattering the previous record of seven. Multiple times this season, the women held opponents to single digit scoring in quarters. Against Copper Mountain College, the women held them to four points in the first and fourth quarters for a 99-34 win. Palomar's offense scored 44 points in the first quarter of that game. In addition to Saelee breaking the record against Grossmont, the Comets held the Griffins to one point at halftime and allowed them to score 19 points in the second half. The women averaged 78.4 points per game this season with a 38-field goal percentage and 30.9 3-pointer percentage. They crashed the boards hard for an average of 45 rebounds a game and they dished out 16.3 assists per game. The women finished in second place in the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference. They also had five Comets win All-PCAC awards: Sophomore forward Lilly Crabtree, sophomore guards Melena Bland and Nikki Mayoral all received 1st-Team All-PCAC, while sophomore guards Taylor Williams and Julie Saelee received 2nd-Team All-PCAC.
Men's Basketball
Something about the men's team this season was magical. Coming off an 8-19 season, they had their best finish in years at 20-9 and made the CCCAA SoCal Regionals where they lost to Citrus College in a heartbreaker. Following a loss to Cerritos College for their home opener, the men went on a 10-game win streak, including running out to a 4-0 start to PCAC play. In the first round of conference play, the men were down 24 points to MiraCosta College and came back to win 70-61. They were also down against San Diego Miramar College in the second round of play and came back to win 63-61. Read that story here. For their final home game this season, the men went out on top with an impressive 108-89 win over Imperial Valley College. In the 29 games they played this year, the Comets averaged 76.2 points per game with a 41.6 field goal percentage and a 36.5 3-point percentage. At the free throw line, they shot 71.8 percent and they averaged 37.3 rebounds a game. The men finished in third place in PCAC play. Three Comets earned All-PCAC awards: Freshman guard Zadok Wilson was the only Comet to receive 1st-Team All PCAC, while freshman guard Michael Brandon and sophomore guard Anthony Brewer received 2nd-Team All PCAC.
Congratulations to our two teams and we wish our sophomores nothing but the best moving forward!