COD (1-8) fought hand-in-hand with two tough competitors as they fell to Long Beach City and Rio Hondo in the Irvine Valley Tournament.

In the opening round of the Irvine Valley Tournament, Desert was caught in a bind early against the Long Beach City Vikings (8-3), but ended with a more promising finish as the Roadrunners fell, 64-42.

Sophomore starting guard Jada Toland (Indio Shadow Hills) led the team in steals (3) and assists (3). She also had her best game of the year so far, scoring 17 points, shooting 7 of 10 from the field and a three-pointer, showing great tenacity through adversity. Freshman starting forward Kaitlyn Cox (La Quinta H.S.) led the team in rebounds (11) and added 7 points going 3 of 8 from the field with a block, an assist and a steal. Freshman forward Marisa Givens (Palm Desert H.S.) was the leading scorer off the bench for the Roadrunners, with 3 points shooting 1 of 2 with an assist and a rebound.

On the consolation side of the bracket, there was a Roadrunners-Roadrunners match-up between the Desert Roadrunners and the Rio Hondo Roadrunners where it came down to a three-point attempt as time expired, Desert falling 68-65.

The leading scorers for Desert, were starting sophomore forward Mercades Young (Moreno Valley Vista Del Lago), Cox and Toland. Young put up 16 points on 5 of 15 shooting from the field and went 4 of 9 from beyond the arc. Cox had an impressive double-double, with 11 boards, scoring 15 points. She added two blocks, two steals and an assist on the day, shooting 7 of 13 from the field. Toland contributed 10 points, went 4 of 12 from the field, leading the team in assists with seven and steals with three. Freshman forward Julie Rodriguez (Indio Shadow Hills) went 2 of 5 from the field, nailing two from beyond the arc, adding 6 points off of the bench.

Photo by Britney Vargas and Story by Ashtyn Lyneis (COD Sports Information)
Information, Photos & Story provided by COD Sports Information.