Mt. SAC: 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.