Pirates bring home third place from Skyline Tournament

Freshman Brandon Thomas earned All-Tournament team honors as Porterville College won two of three games over the weekend to finish in third place at the Skyline College Tournament in San Bruno.

The Pirates picked up victories over Gavilan and West Valley colleges to improve their record to 4-5 overall. PC returns to action on Dec. 18 when the Pirates travel to Moorpark College for a 5 p.m. non-conference game.

Porterville 87, Gavilan 85 (OT)
The Pirates opened the tourney with an impressive 87-85 win in overtime against Gavilan on Friday. PC couldn't hold a 10-point halftime lead (40-30) but outscored Gavilan 11-9 in OT to pull out the victory.

Las Positas 107, Porterville 99
Thomas led all with 25 points but Porterville came up on the losing end of a high-scoring affair on Saturday against No. 10 state-ranked Las Positas. PC trailed by just two points at halftime (46-44) but couldn't rally for the lead.

Four Pirates scored in double figures as Carlos Angel added 18 points, Elijah Cardenas had 14, while Malik McCowan totaled 13 points and eight assists. Thomas led PC with eight rebounds.

Porterville 98, West Valley 93
PC closed out the tournament with a win on Sunday in the third-place game. Trailing 48-38, Porterville exploded for a 60-point, second-half to pull out the come-from-behind victory.