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San Bernardino Valley College football coach Pat Meech knows his school lacks the resources to compete weekly against the more traditional powers in Southern California. Now he doesn't have to do so.
The junior college season will kick off this week and the entire conference structure and playoff format has been reworked. The Foothill Conference no longer exists. Adios Mission Conference. Sayonara Western State Conference.
The sport will now be governed under the umbrella of the Southern California Football Association.
Teams are separated into two divisions - the National and American. The National is subdivided into three seven-team conferences (Northern, Central, Southern) while the American has two eight-team conferences (Mountain, Pacific).
The National Division, the power conference, includes perennial title contenders such as Mt. SAC, Bakersfield and former Foothill Conference juggernaut Grossmont. Chaffey, Riverside and Citrus are among the other entrants.
SBVC and Victor Valley factor into the weaker American Divsion. But Meech doesn't mind being lumped into the also-ran category.
"Am I afraid of those schools? No. I would like to play them," he said. "But it would be crazy to think we can go head-to-head with those teams week after week after week."
Veteran Chaffey coach Carl Beach, who was on the committee that developed the new alignment, isn't quite sure his team is ready to battle the big boys, citing resources and enrollment but admits past success is the reason his school has been put in with the stronger teams.
"It's more about what we have done in the past. I'm not so sure we belong there but we'll see," he said.
The alignments will be reviewed every two years with some teams moving up or down depending on competitive balance.
A similar format has been used in the Northern part of the state for several years and received a favorable review.
When it comes to picking a field for the playoffs, eight teams will be chosen. Each of the three National Division conference will be given two spots for a total of six teams.
The American Division would qualify the winner of each conference for the final two spots, provided those teams finish with winning records. If a conference winner is not above .500, a wild-card would be chosen based on state power ranking.
There will be three additional bowl games for teams not making the playoffs to be awarded based on state ranking.
The original plan called for four teams to make the playoffs with all of those coming from the power division. The lesser schools balked at that idea so the current format was a compromise.
Beach said the committee wanted to get the new system in place. This one primarily divided teams based on their competitive history.
When the alignment is addressed again in two years he said more emphasis will be placed on enrollment, particularly a school's ability to draw out-of-state athletes. Resources and facilities will also be issues.
"I think it's fair," Meech added. "It will be good for us to play teams more like us."
Teams in the American Division will have seven conference games, then fill out their schedule with three games against the National Division, giving them a chance to boost their power ranking and see if they are competitive against those teams.
SBVC's nonconference foes will be Riverside, College of the Desert and Saddleback. The Wolverines have played Riverside 68 times, the first coming in 1926 but haven't faced the Tigers since 2002.
Victor Valley's opponents will be Riverside, Palomar and Mt. SAC.
Rams coach Dave Hoover was alright with the division of the teams but isn't happy with his brutal nonconference schedule.
"Not only are we probably playing the three best teams, we're playing the three most physical teams," he said. "It was a nice idea having the big dogs play the big dogs. It all makes sense. But their nonconference games should be against the teams in their divison in the other conferences."
Chaffey and the other teams in the National Division have six conference games and four non-conference contests.
The Panthers will square off against Mt. San Jacinto, Southwestern, Antelope Valley and Grossmont - all significantly longer trips than treking 20 minutes to SBVC.
While SBVC is excited about renewing its rivalry with Riverside, it is mystified why Chaffey wasn't included on the non-conference schedule since rivalries were also supposed to be kept in tact. That also baffles Beach.
Coaches were allowed to submit a list of three teams they wanted to keep games with and both SBVC and Chaffey listed the other as their top choice.
"It doesn't make sense. We have to pass them by to go to all out other games," Beach said.
Hoover asked to keep Antelope Valley, Desert and Chaffey and got none of those.
NATIONAL DIVISION
Northern Conference: Allan Hancock, Bakersfield, College of the Canyons, Glendale, Moopark, Pasadena City, Ventura
Central Conference: Cerritos,Chaffey, Citrus, College of the Desert, El Camino, Mt. SAC, Riverside
Southern Conference: Fullerton, Grossmont, Long Beach City, Orange Coast, Palomar, Saddleback, Santa Ana
AMERICAN DIVISION
Mountain Conference: Compton, Golden West, L.A. Harbor, Mt. San Jacinto, San Bernardino Valley,San Diego Mesa, Southwestern, Victor Valley
Pacific Conference: Antelope Valley, East Los Angeles, L.A. Pierce, L.A. Southwest, L.A. Valley,Santa Barbara, Santa Monica, West Los Angeles
Staff Writer
RANCHO CUCAMONGA - One wouldn't blame Marcus Austin if he were a
little bitter. The former Etiwanda High School standout was 47-1 as a
senior and about to finish off a wrestling match that would have
qualified him for the prestigious state championship meet.
Then the unthinkable - his left knee buckled. He knew it was bad.
``The first time I tried to stand up, I couldn't. It just wasn't
happening,'' he recalled.
Not only was Austin's dream of a state championship gone. So was
the possibility of an athletic scholarship. Now all he had to look
forward to was surgery and several grueling months of physical
therapy. Instead of sulking about it, he took it in stride.
``Stuff happens,'' he said. ``You can't worry about it. You have
to move on. It doesn't mean you can't be successful in whatever else
you do.''
So Austin, a 6-foot-1, 285-pounder, is appreciative of another
chance to compete. Sixteen months later he is back on the playing
field as a freshman defensive tackle at Chaffey College which opens
the 2008 campaign at 6 p.m. Saturday against Mt. San Jacinto at
Grigsby Field.
Austin, 19, says he took his cue from Dan Doughty, an assistant
wrestling coach at Etiwanda who suffered a less severe knee injury
during the district finals in Washington his senior year. He is part
of the reason Austin says he would like to pursue coaching or
teaching when his competitive days are over.
``I look at him and he is a good coach and he is successful in life
and has a great family,'' Austin said. ``There is life after sports.
That's why you have to have something to fall back on. Just in case.''
``His actually was a lot worse than mine. It was reeally bad,''
Doughty said. ``He had another knee injury two years before that and
came back. He has always been one of the most positive and upbeat
kids with a can-do attitude. So I had no doubt that he could come
back again.''
Austin spent his first football season on the freshman team but
was a three-year varsity starter after that. He was encouraged to
wrestle to keep in shape by Larry Cuthbert, the Eagles defensive
coordinator and the school's head wrestling coach. He starred for
four years in that sport in the heavyweight division.
That he excels in sports should be no surprise. Father Derrick
played football growing up in Alabama while mother Patty played on
the boys water polo team at Walnut High School and went on to compete
in track at Mt. SAC, excelling in the heptathlon.
Marcus considered other local schools including Mt. SAC but felt
most comfortable at Chaffey because of the coaching staff. He
attended all the home games last season, even though he couldn't play
but was healthy enough to take part in all the spring drills. He was
a little apprehensive at first but that didn't hold him back long.
``When you're worried about getting hurt, that's usually when you
get hurt,'' he said. ``You can't let that hold you back.''
The ironies of Austin's wrestling injury are many. The athlete
he was wrestling in that match happened to be David Williams of
Miller, who ended up finishing fourth in the state. He now lines up
next to Austin on the defensive front.
Beach was at that Masters meet at Carter High School. He was one
of many coaches hoping to land Austin who was also being courted by
several four-year schools. But the injury secured Beach's chances of
keeping the two-sport standout close to home.
``Coming off an injury like that, no one was going to touch
him,'' Beach said. ``He is going to have to go out this season and
show he is completely healthy. If he does that, he'll have another
shot because he has potential.''
Beach has been most impressed with Austin's goal-oriented attitude.
``He has a good head on his shoulders,'' Beach said. ``He's not
one of those kids putting all his eggs in one basket. He has done a
good job developing other life skills.''
Fresno City College topped all other junior college athletic programs and has been named winner of the National Alliance of Two-Year Colleges Athletic Administrator's Cup for the 2007-2008 school year.
Fresno totaled 164 points as the top four schools were within seven points. It was followed by Cerritos (160), Sierra (159) and Mt. SAC (157).
Riverside Community College was sixth (139.5).
Other local schools finished in the middle portion of the 103 school rankings.
Chaffey was 41st with 40 points, getting all its points in the pool. The Panthers got 15.5 points in women's water polo, 14.5 in men's swimming and 10 in women's swimming.
San Bernardino Valley College was 47th (28.5), with 20 coming for its state championship in men's cross country and the other 8.5 coming in women's soccer which finished as the Foothill Conference runner-up.
straight state title. Now the 5-foot-11 forward is on to bigger
things, signing with Division I Long Beach State, Mounties coach
Laura Beeman confirmed.
Brown, a graduate of Etiwanda High School, averaged 8.4 points and
6.8 rebounds in helping the Mounties to a 37-1 record the past
season, that lone loss coming in the season opener.
Her season high of 19 points came against Los Angeles City. She also
reached double figures in 13 other games and had a season best of 18
rebounds against Taft.
Brown, who earned first-team All-South Coast Conference honors, is
the third Mt. SAC player to declare for a Division I school following
Jazlyn Davis (Arizona State) and Kendra Calvin (Cal).
Beeman added that guard Zsa Zsa Lawson will attend Division II
Brigham Young-Hawaii.
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
Mt. SAC women’s basketball coach Laura Beeman admits her team’s 72-61 victory over Ventura on Nov. 25 had special meaning. It wasn’t because it came in the championship game of the Ventura Tournament of Champions. It marked the 300th career victory for Beeman, in her 13th year directing the team.
School adminstrators surprised the veteran coach with a bouquet of flowers and a cake at the team’s next practice. The original plan was to honor her at the next home game but that was three weeks off.
Beeman shrugged off the individual accomplishment and passed along praise to her coaching staff. Top assistant Brian Crichlow has been with her for nine years.
“It really is a group accomplishment,” she said. “As the head coach you’re on the chopping block if you’re not winning and you get all the praise if you do things right. But I see us developing players and building a strong program as a coaching staff.”
The Mounties, ranked first in the state, should make a strong bid for their third consecutive state title and fourth in five years. They are off to a 12-1 start, the lone loss coming to Orange Coast 63-57 in the season opener, the school’s first loss at home in more than two years.
Beeman chalks up that loss primarily to the fact that it was the Mounties first game with 11 newcomers on her 15-player roster. She doesn’t worry much about a loss.
“We’re about graduating our players and getting them to the next level,” she said. “And we want to have a winning program. You graduate your players and win a state title and no one is going to remember how many games you lost.”
The team is led by sophomore guard Jazlyn Davis (16.2 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 3.4 apg), 6-foot-2 sophomore forward Carmen Deal (15.4 ppg, 11 rpg 2.4 bpg) and freshman guard Blaire Egardo (15 ppg, 4 rpg).
