Virgin Islander Tamara Phillip named as MVP helped the Vaqueras to another Region 1 Championship on Friday with a Double of 20 points and 20 rebounds.

The Vaqueras now set their sights on NJCAA Tournamanent, where they will aim for a 5th title.

The third-ranked Vaqueras overcame mediocre shooting with solid defense to defeat Arizona Western 68-59 Friday night at the George Young Activity Center. Next up is the NJCAA tournament in Salina, Kansas, where CAC will try to earn the programme’s fifth national title.

Virgin Islander Tamara Phillip provided 20 points and 20 rebounds - 11 on the offensive end - for the Vaqueras and was named MVP of the championship game.

“Tammy did so much for us tonight,” said Coach Denise Cardenas. “She was awesome.”

Although the Vaqueras (29-1) didn’t string together any big runs in defeating No. 18 Western (26-5) for the third time this season and the fourth straight year in the Region 1 final, they were never in any serious trouble despite their shooting woes.

The Vaqueras actually were decent from long range in the first half, when they made four three-pointers on 11 attempts. But they went 0 for 6 in the second. After going 8 for 29 from the field overall in the first half, Central made 15 of 42 shots in the second to finish at 32 percent.

Katrina Salinas made three of CAC’s three-pointers and scored 15 points, and Brea Townsend had 13 points and eight rebounds.

Western’s Jolie Olingende, the player of the year in the Arizona Community College Athletic Conference, was limited by a sore back that caused her to miss AWC’s previous two games. She had 10 points and five rebounds after averaging 15.5 and 10.8, respectively, during the regular season.

Central led 26-18 at halftime despite going six-plus minutes between field goals during one stretch. After the Matadors took their only lead of the night at 8-7 on Longomo’s fast-break layup, Salinas buried a three-pointer to put the Vaqueras ahead to stay at 10-8 with 14:42 remaining in the first half.

Another three-pointer by Salinas with 3:32 left gave CAC its largest lead of the half at 24-14. That was the Vaqueras’ first basket since Shanice Butler’s with 9:48 remaining.

Phillip’s steal and layup gave Central a 12-point cushion at 42-30 with 13:19 left, and the Matadors didn’t come closer than eight points the rest of the way.

Phillip hit three consecutive baskets before Katrina Ottesen’s two free throws capped an 8-2 run that put the Vaqueras up by 18 at 59-41 with 3:43 to play.