Chaffey College: February 2008 Archives
By Michelle Gardner
Staff Writer
When the Chaffey College women’s basketball team takes the court Friday in the first round of the Southern California Regional playoffs, it will be facing a team that plays much the same style.
The No. 9 seeded Panthers (24-7) will play at No. 8 Cerritos (24-8) at 7 p.m. Not only are the teams similar, they have played before. If that game is any indication of things to come the playoff game should be tightly contested.
The Falcons won the first game at a tournament hosted by Orange Coast 71-61. That game went to overtime as the teams ended regulation tied at 57.
“They are very much like us,” third-year Chaffey coach Gary Plunkett said. “They like to run and we like to run.
Both of us play a motion offense where we like to spread the floor. It should be a great game. Our girls were excited about getting another chance at them.”
The winner of the game will advance to face No. 2 seed Orange Coast (29-3).
The Panthers finished tied for third in the Foothill Conference. They have only two sophomores, one of them starting forward Christina Warren (13.5 ppg, 5 rpg) who netted 23 points the first time the teams played.
Joining her in the starting lineup are four freshmen - guards Tamesha Jackson (13.2 ppg, 3.3 apg) and Keisha Mackall (11.9 ppg, 3.6 apg), forward Aundria Anderson (10 ppg, 7.3 rpg) and 6-foot-1 center Johnshunay Parson (4.6 ppg, 7.4 rpg).
Zipporah Brown (5.7 ppg, 6.2 rpg), another freshman, has been a steady performer off the bench.
Cerritos, the first place team out of the South Division of the South Coast Conference, has four players averaging double figures led by sophomore guard Maltresa Neely (13.3 ppg, 7.7 rpg). The Falcons are ranked sixth in Southern California and 12th in the state. Plunkett is also quite familiar with the Falcons coaching staff.
Assistant Steve Johnson went to Alta Loma High School and coached in youth leagues in Rancho Cucamonga. He was also an assistant at Dominguez Hills at the same time Plunkett was there.
Cerritos head coach Karen Welliver is in her 25th year and has won more than 500 games. Plunkett recruited many of her players when he was with Dominguez Hills.
“Knowing them so well will make it that much more fun,” he said. “I a looking forward to it.”
Defending state champion Mt. SAC (32-1) begins defense of its title on Saturday. Coach Laura Beeman’s Mounties will host Santa Ana (18-13), which defeated Cuesta 65-56 Wednesday night in a play-in game.
Mt. SAC has won 32 straight games since dropping its season opener to Orange Coast and is led by conference player of the year Jazlyn Davis (18.7 ppg, 5.7 rpg), a bounceback from USC.
Other key players include 6-2 sophomore center Carmen Deal (15.4 ppg, 9.1 rpg), sophomore guard Sahfiya Brown (8.7 ppg, 6.8 rpg) and freshman guard Blaire Edgardo (9.1 ppg).
Citrus (30-1) is the lone area representative still left on the men’s side. The top-seeded Owls open play against Imperial Valley (21-10) at 7 p.m. Saturday. The teams have not played this season.
Citrus is coming off its first Western States Conference title in 25 years and enters riding an 18-game win streak. Its last loss came to Antelope Valley in quarterfinal play at a tournament in Riverside in December.
By Michelle Gardner
Staff Writer
Mt. San Antonio College women’s basketball coach Laura Beeman had a feeling her team’s lone loss of the season might come back to haunt her, even though it came in the first game.
She was right.
The Mounties will head into the state playoffs as the No. 2 seed despite a 32-game win streak. Orange Empire champion Orange Coast (29-3), which defeated Mt. SAC 63-57 on Nov. 9, is the top seed.
There were different sets of criteria used. While three-time and defending state champion Mt. SAC boasted the best record and a higher winning percentage, Orange Coast had a higher strength of schedule both in and out of conference.
Orange Coast had 20 quality wins, Mt. SAC 19. A win by the Mounties in the head-to-head would have flipped that number.
“I said it to my assistant (Brian Crichlow) that night,” Beeman recalled. “I knew we weren’t going to seem them again so we wouldn’t have a chance to avenge that loss. It just goes to show every game does mean something.”
Beeman, rounding out her 13th year as coach, said that might not necessarily affect the Mounties in the Southern California Regional since they will still get two home games but it would come into play at the eight-team state tournament.
The Mounties open play on Saturday at home against the winner of Wednesday’s play-in game between No. 15 Santa Ana (17-13) and No. 18 Cuesta (21-9).
“This time you can’t take anyone lightly because it’s one and done if you lose, no second chances,” she said.
Chaffey also made it into the 18-team women’s field. The Foothill Conference got four teams in the draw. The others are champion San Bernardino Valley (26-5), runner-up Mt. San Jacinto (21-10) and Antelope Valley (18-13).
The Panthers tied Antelope for the No. 3 spot in the conference but lost the head-to-head with the Marauders, meaning they were relegated to the fourth seed out of the conference.
Coach Gary Plunkett thought his team might get left out but its strength of schedule payed off. The Panthers are seeded No. 9 and will play at No. 8 Cerritos (24-8) on Friday.
“I went from thinking we had a good chance to thinking we probably wouldn’t get in,” he said. “So I am just thrilled we made it. I knew there was pretty much no chance of a home game.”
Area representation on the men’s side is even lighter but it will be a quality team left carrying the banner as Citrus (30-1) was awarded the top seed.
The Owls are riding an 18-game win streak, their last and only loss of the season coming to Antelope Valley 78-70 in the quarterfinals of the Wells Fargo Holiday Classic at Riverside Community College in December.
The overall record and perfect 12-0 in Western States Conference play set school records and the conference title is also a first.
Coach Rick Croy’s team has a first-round bye and will face the winner of Wednesday’s play-in between No. 16 El Camino (20-10) and No. 17 Imperial Valley (20-10) at 7 p.m. Saturday.
Chaffey (17-13) did not make the 20-team field. The Panthers finished fifth in the Foothill Conference and could not make the draw ahead of fourth-place San Bernardino Valley (13-15) which was done in by a 4-10 showing in nonconference play.
While the Panthers beat four 20-win teams, they also lost to two conference teams that finished a combined 20 games under .500. They also lost twice to SBVC which is missing the playoffs for the first time in 10 years.
“We were young and inconsistent. That’s the bottom line,” Coach Jeff Klein said.
By Michelle Gardner
Staff Writer
For the San Bernardino Valley College women’s basketball team there was both good news and bad news when state playoffs pairings were announced Monday.
The Foothill Conference champion Wolverines are getting a home game against the team they lost to last year.
The bad news is that should they advance, the defending state champion will most likely be the next foe.
“We’re playing well right now so I don’t think it matters much who we play,” coach Sue Crebbin said. “The teams that are still playing are all good so there won’t be an easy game. This team seems to get more up for the better teams anyway.”
The seventh-seeded Wolverines (26-5) will square off with No. 10 Fullerton (20-13), the third-place team out of the Orange Empire Conference, at Snyder Gymnasium at 7 p.m. on Friday.
Last year the Hornets eliminated SBVC 77-69 in the Wolverines’ initial second-round appearance in school history. That came days after Crebbin’s squad managed a win over Orange Coast for the its first postseason victory.
“We have everyone back and they haven’t forgotten,” Crebbin said. “I would think that is incentive enough. The girls are excited about getting to play them again.”
Defending state champion Mt. SAC (32-1) is seeded second in the Southern California Regional behind Orange Coast (29-3). The Mounties’ lone loss came to the Pirates the first game of the season.
Mt. SAC starts out by facing the winner of Wednesday’s play-in game between No. 15 Santa Ana (17-13) and No. 18 Cuesta (21-9). Then it would face the SBVC-Fullerton winner.
The Foothill Conference has four teams in the 18-team draw. The others are Mt. San Jacinto (21-10), Chaffey (24-7) and Antelope Valley (18-13).
The Chaffey Panthers tied Antelope for the No. 3 spot in the conference but lost the head-to-head with the Marauders, meaning they were relegated to the fourth seed out of the conference.
Coach Gary Plunkett thought his team might get left out but its strength of schedule payed off. The Panthers are seeded ninth and will play at No. 8 Cerritos (24-8) on Friday.
“I went from thinking we had a good chance to thinking we probably wouldn’t get in,” he said. “So I am just thrilled we made it. I knew there was pretty much no chance of a home game.”
On the men’s side the news was not as good for the local teams. The Wolverines (13-15) settled for fourth in the conference and were done in by a 4-10 showing in nonconference play. It is the first time in 10 years the school did not get into the playoffs.
SBVC’s failure to get in also meant the end for Chaffey (17-13) which finished fifth in the conference and could not get in without the Wolverines making it too.
The Foothill Conference has three teams in, all of whom tied for the conference championship. But Mt. San Jacinto went in as the top team from the conference and was rewarded with a No. 5 seed. Antelope Valley is seeded 10th in the 20-team field with College of the Desert No. 11.
Riverside (25-7), the No. 3 team out of the Orange Empire Conference, is the No. 9 seed and will travel to No. 8 Los Angeles City (24-8).
Citrus (30-1) is the top seed. The Owls have won 18 straight games and await the winner of a play-in game between El Camino and Imperial Valley.
Foothill Conference men’s standings
Mt. San Jacinto 9-4 25-6
Antelope Valley 9-4 23-10
Desert 9-4 20-9
San Bernardino VC 9-4 13-14
Chaffey 7-6 17-12
Rio Hondo 5-8 9-20
Victor Valley 3-10 11-20
Barstow 1-12 3-25
Today’s games
San Bernardino at Desert, 3 p.m.
Barstow at Antelope Valley, 7 p.m.
Rio Hondo at Mt. San Jacinto, 3 p.m.
Chaffey at Victor Valley, 3 p.m.
With 13 points, Tamesha Jackson led four Panthers in double figures in a 61-49 win over Mt. San Jacinto on Wednesday. With the win the Panthers remained third in the conference with one game left.
Christina Warren and Zipporah Brown each had 12 points for Chaffey (23-7, 11-4 Foothill Conference) and Aundria Anderson had 10.
Sophomore Michelle Simmons led Mt. San Jacinto (20-10, 12-3) with 18 points.
Chaffey plays host to Victor Valley at 1 p.m. Saturday in its regular-season finale.
The win by Chaffey gives the conference title to San Bernardino Valley College which did not play Wednesday. The Wolverines had a one-game lead over Mt. San Jacinto entering play.
The Chaffey Panthers posted their biggest win of the season, upending Foothill Conference leader Antelope Valley 72-69 in overtime Wednesday night
The Panthers (17-10, 7-4) had a chance to win the game in regulation but a 3-pointer by freshman Jordan Block rimmed out at the buzzer.
Block finished with 22 points, and 10 rebounds and two steals while Brandon Clemons tallied 14 with six rebounds. Jeffrey Sawyer was also in double figures with 12.
Both teams shot 50.8 percent from the field but Chaffey had an edge at the line, making 12 of 21 tries to 7-of-10 for the Marauders (23-8, 9-2).
The win moves the Panthers into a tie with San Bernardino Valley College for third place.
By Michelle Gardner
Staf fwriter
The Chaffey women’s basketball team appears fully recovered from a 71-57 shellacking at the hands of San Bernardino Valley College last week. The Panthers (21-6, 9-3) bounced back with a 73-66 win over College of the Desert on Saturday and remain tied for third with Foothill Conference play winding down.
Chaffey has four games remaining - road games at Antelope Valley (15-12, 9-3) and Rio Hondo (15-11, 5-6) and home games against Mt. San Jacinto (19-9, 11-2) and Victor Valley (1-22, 0-11). The Panthers are two games behind frontrunner SBVC and tied with Antelope Valley a game and half behind second-place Mt. San Jacinto.
The Panthers beat three of those four foes in the first round of conference play, the loss coming to Mt. San Jacinto 68-57.
“SBVC is the top team, no question about that,” coach Gary Plunkett said. “After that it is very close. All four of us are going to make the playoffs it is a question of who finishes where. We could be as high as second or we could be fourth. This is a crucial stretch of games.”
The team was going through some adversity in the last two weeks that resulted in the dismissal from the team of one player. It carried over into last week’s game but Plunkett thinks his team is back on track.
“That was probably just the kind of game we needed to get us refocused,” Plunkett said. “We came back Saturday and played a very solid game. We were back to playing Panther basketball.”
The loss to SBVC knocked the Panthers out of the top 20 state poll but they are still ranked No. 12 in the South.
The good news for Plunkett is that the squad includes just two sophomores - guards Christina Warren (13.7 ppg, 5 rpg) and Jessica Thorpe (4.1 ppg).
The team has several talented freshmen, most notably guards Keisha Mackall (12.2 pg, 3.8 apg) and Tamesha Jackson (12.9 ppg, 3.8 apg), forwards Aundria Anderson (10.1 ppg, 7.7 rpg) and Zipporah Brown (5.5 ppg, 6.3 rpg).
“We’re kind of where SBVC was last year,” Plunkett said. “Last year they had freshmen and all those girls are back and you can see how much better they are with that experience. We’re building that this year.”
RYAN LARSON
Chaffey College
Swimming
The lowdown: The sophomore earned eight All-American honors last season for the Panthers. He placed second in the state in the 400 IM (4:06.4) and fourth in both the 200 IM (1:54.9) and the 200 back (1:56.3). Those times earned him national rankings of fourth in the 400 IM, sixth in the 200 IM and seventh in the 200 back. He was also 11th in the 100 back which came on the first leg of a relay. He also earned All-American honors as part of the 400 and 800 free relays and the 200 and 400 medley relays in which he swam the butterfly leg.
Age: 19
Hometown: Alta Loma
High school: Alta Loma High School, 2006
Major: Undecided
Most memorable sports moment: Winning the 400 freestyle relay at the CIF Championships my senior year.
Most embarrassing sports moment: The first race I ever swam I was too scared to dive into the pool and my coach ended up pushing me in.
Person most influential in your athletic success: My parents
Last good book you read: Harry Potter
Favorite movie: Transformers
Celebrity you most want to meet: None, they’re all stuck up. They should want to meet me.
What’s in your CD player/iPod: A mix
Favorite vacation spot: The beach
Favorite food: All types
Best advice anyone has given you: Just keep swimming.
Pre-game ritual or superstition: I try to sit by myself
Other hobbies: Skateboarding
What do you want to be doing in five years?: Be finishing school or starting my career.
Compiled by Michelle Gardner
