Irvine Valley's women's basketball team started off its own tournament with an important victory.
The Lasers, ranked No. 5 in the latest state rankings, defeated No. 4-ranked El Camino, 55-47, at home on Thursday night.
The win improved Irvine Valley's record to 7-1 overall, while El Camino fell to 6-2.
Irvine Valley moved on to a championship semifinal of the tournament and will play Chaffey on Friday at 7 p.m.
In a tough defensive battle, Irvine Valley never trailed against El Camino. The score was just tied twice early on.
Irvine Valley was up by as many as 12 points midway through the first half before going into the halftime break ahead, 26-22.
The Lasers out-scored El Camino, 29-25, in the second half.
IVC shot 31.6 percent (18 of 57) from the field in the game to El Camino's 30.8 percent (16 of 52).
A big difference as has been the case so far in the early season for the Lasers was the play inside of sophomore center Breanna Turner.
Turner finished with 11 points, 19 rebounds, three assists and two steals. She is now averaging 12.8 rebounds a game.
Irvine Valley out-rebounded El Camino, 51-35, in the game, including 17-7 on the offensive glass.
Freshman guard Tara Casey was solid shooting the ball from the outside in the first half to help get IVC out to an early lead.
She had 15 points in the opening 20 minutes and finished with a game-high 19 points. She made three three-pointers and was 6 of 6 from the free throw line.
Sophomore forward Conerie Brennan and freshman guard Erika Mercado each added seven points. Brennan also had four rebounds and three steals.
And freshman guard Jordan Coleman chipped in five points, nine rebounds, two assists and three steals.
El Camino was led by Shontalene Trudeau with 15 points, Tyler Quinn with 12 points and Alexis Delich with eight points and nine rebounds in the defeat.
El Camino fell into the consolation bracket and will take on El Camino-Compton on Friday at 3 p.m.
Irvine Valley Women's Tournament
First-day results (Dec. 11)
Long Beach City def. Rio Hondo, 66-36
Pasadena City def. Orange Coast, 54-53
Irvine Valley def. El Camino, 55-47
Chaffey def. El Camino-Compton, 49-42
Second-day schedule (Dec. 12)
Consolation game - Rio Hondo vs. Orange Coast at 1 p.m.
Consolation game - El Camino vs. El Camino-Compton at 3 p.m.
Championship semifinal - Long Beach City vs. Pasadena City at 5 p.m.
Championship semifinal - Irvine Valley vs. Chaffey at 7 p.m.
