Irvine Valley sophomore women's golfer Marisa Bhanubandh fired an even par 74 to pass freshman teammate Araceli Esquivel and Saddleback's Mackenzie Purcell to win the scoring championship at the Orange Empire Conference finals, which finished up on Wednesday.
Bhanubandh finished with a two-day total of 156 to edge Purcell by four strokes.
The two-day tournament started on Monday at Alta Vista and wrapped up on Wednesday at Los Serranos.
Irvine Valley, which went into the tournament in first place in the conference, finished fourth overall at finals with a 36-hole score of 712. The Lasers tied with Orange Coast, but were edged by the Pirates on a tie-breaker when the fifth player's score was counted.
Irvine Valley ended up in second place in the final conference standings.
Saddleback shot a score of 676 to win its first conference title since 2006. Mt. San Antonio finished second at finals with a score of 688. Fullerton was fifth at 746.
The Lasers will still move on to the Southern California Regional playoffs next Monday.
By winning the scoring title, Bhanubandh finished as the player of the year for the conference. She came from five strokes back to win the title. Bhanubandh shot 82 in the first round at Alta Vista.
Esquivel had the scoring title lead heading into the two-day event, but shot 82 on Monday at Alta Vista and 85 on Wednesday on the Los Serranos North Course for a total of 167.
Esquivel still ended up as a first team all-conference player.
Sophomore Alexis McLachlan shot 96 on the first day and 92 in her second round for a 188 and freshman Akie Sannomiya shot 99 in the first round and 102 on the second day of the tournament for a 201.
Freshman Esther Kim had Irvine Valley's throw-out score of 234 (109 and 125).
