February 2010 Archives

One would think that the SBVC basketball players know by now that Coach Quincy Brewer isn't messing around when he sets down the rules. Well one guy hasn't learned.

Sophomore forward Maurice McGee was benched for Saturday's playoff game against Los Angeles Pierce because he showed up late for pregame preparation. This isn't the first time McGee has been benched but it is a bit surprising he can't be counted on the day of a playoff game.

If Brewer can't get through to him, no one can because McGee is his nephew.

The Wolverines prevailed 77-64. It wasn't the prettiest of games. SBVC never got in synch on offense but played well on defense, holding the Brahmas to 36.4 shooting from the field and forcing 23 turnovers.

They got outrebounded 49-44 which virtually never happens because they have so many strong, athletic big men. McGee's absence was noteworthy there.

But Orlando Brazier came up big with 20 points and nine rebounds.Tre Brewer contributed 11 with reserve D'Shaun Holden adding 10.

SBVC, winner of 19 straight games, now will host Chula Vista Southwestern at 7 p.m. next Saturday.Southwestern upset Bakersfield at Bakersfield Friday so the Wolverines are going to need a better effort next time.

But if the coach has his full complement of players it shouldn't be a problem.

This is the third year the CCAA will be having a conference tournament to determine its automatic playoff qualifier. One would think by now the folks in that office would have the seeding process down. I guess that is asking too much.

The position CCAA officials put some of the teams in because they didn't have their act together is inexcusable. There always seems to be a tie somehwere between multiple teams, usually three or more. Maybe they should be prepared. No one seems to know what the tiebreaker is or how it is applied. That should be ironed out beforehand and all the teams should know the deal.

So the women's games all get finished on Friday and there is a four-way tie for seventh between Cal State San Bernardino, Cal State Dominguez HIlls, Cal State Stanislaus and Sonoma State - all at 9-13. Two are getting in and two are not.

 The first word comes down at 7:30 p.m, or so. The Coyotes are in., The first tiebreaker being their 4-2 record against the other three they are tied with. Two others are 3-3 and the other at 2-4.

Whoops! Not so fast. Word comes down about an hour later, they're not in. That tiebreaker was used to eliminate one team - Stanislaus. But now there's a three-way tie and after that tiebreaker the Coyotes are out. Supposedly that tiebreaker is record against teams in the tournament. The Coyotes were 1-11 and the other three teams 2-12. That's laughable because all the teams play the same number of games. So they can't even add.

And usually when tiebreakers come into play you work your way down. Decide the No. 7, then apply a tiebreaker for No. 8. Not eliminate one, then eliminate another. In that case the Coyotes win the first tiebreaker but don't get rewarded. How is that fair?

So Cal State athletic director Kevin Hatcher places a call to get lobby for his school. He said calls were then placed to the basketball liasons who happen to be reps from Chico State and Sonoma. They confirm that he is indeed right. One more call goes out to the CCAA President who is from UC San Diego. He agrees too.

So it's 10 p.m. and the Coyotes are back in . . . at least for the moment.

Dominguez and Sonoma State are in the hunt for the final berth and are even on every other criteria . . whatever that may be. That spot is decided on a coin flip. A coin flip! Dominguez is in.

I feel bad for all the schools involved that those who run the conference can't get it right! Even the teams not directly involved were victims. Cal Poly Pomona coach Scott Davis spent two hours after his game, preparing for Dominguez Hills because that is who he was first told he was playing. Then he finds out he'll be playing the Coyotes, only because he got a text from one of his players who got a text from a player she knows from San Bernardino.

Two years ago on the men's side there was a four-way tie for first and a four-way tie for fifth. They didn't get that right either. One would think they learned from that. Apparently not!

For what it's worth here is the rundown on Tuesdays' quarterfinal games  . . .

WOMEN

No. 8 Dominguez Hills at No. 1 UC San Diego

No. 7 San Bernardino at No. 2 Cal Poly Pomona, 5:30 p.m.

No. 6 San Francisco at No. 3 Chico State

No. 5 Monterey Bay at No. 4 Humboldt State

MEN

No. 8 Cal State L.A. at No. 1 Cal Poly Pomona, 7:30 p.m.

No. 7 Sonoma State at No. 2 Humboldt State

No. 6 San Francisco at No. 3 San Bernardino, 7 p.m.

No. 5 Chico State at No. 4 Dominguez Hills

Well it was one winner and one loser among the locals as the junior college playoffs started on Friday.

The San Bernardino Valley College women defeated Palomar 58-55 in most dramatic fashion as freshman Janelle Junior hit a three-pointer in the closing seconds for the final margin of victory.It was the only bucket of the game for Junior, who had been a pivotal player in SBVC's stretch run.

Tanee Denson-Griffen tallied 21 points and seven rebounds. She was the lone player in double figures although Kimberly Kipp had nine rebounds and seven blocks, while playing on a very bad knee. Paige Haynes had nine points.

No. 7 SBVC (25-5) now plays the winner of Ventura and Cypress, most likely to be Ventura.

The No. 11 Chaffey men were on the other side of a thriller but came up short, losing to No. 6 Saddleback 66-64. Anthony Cammon led the way with 21 points while Mo Hughley had 14 points and 10 rebounds. Second-leading scorer Matthew Wallace was held to seven poinbts.

Ironically, the SBVC women beat Palomar in the same round last year and the Chaffey men lost a buzzer-beater to the same team, although it was one round later.

The SBVC men are up tonight, hosting L.A. Pierce at 7 p.m. The pressure is squarely on the Wolverines, who are the top seed in the South,  

The junior college playoffs get underway this weekend with both San Bernardino Valley College teams and the Chaffey College men in action.

The Chaffey men will play at Saddleback at 7 p.m. on Friday. It's an interesting matchup because the Gauchos eliminated the Panthers from the playoffs last year 63-61 on a last second shot. It will probably one of the better games of the night across the state and features teams from the two premier conferences.

The San Bernardino Valley women are seeded No. 7 and will host No. 10 Palomar, also on Friday. SBVC beat the Comets in the playoffs last year and bested them on a neutral court in the first game this season for both teams.

The SBVC men will wait one more night. They will play at 7 p.m. on Saturday against Los Angeles Pierce. SBVC is the top seed in the South, deservedly so. The Brahmas beat Moorpark on Wednesday to earn a berth opposite SBVC, which has won 18 straight games.

Now that the dust has cleared, pairings for the SCIAC men's basketball tournament have been determined.

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (19-6, 11-3) is the top seed and will host Occidental on Friday at 7:30 p.m. The other game will feature Cal Lutheran (15-10, 9-5) at Pomona-Pitzer (13-12, 9-5).

Going into the last game of the season Redlands, Cal Lutheran and Pomona-Pitzer were all tied for third so two of the three were going to make it in. Redlands looked to be the shoe-in with a game against seventh-place La Verne but the Bulldogs lost. They lost their last four games of the season so they didn't deserve to get in.

Meanwhile Pomona-Pitzer beat Oxy 55-54 and Cal Lutheran upset Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 74-67.

The championship game will be on Saturday with the highest seeded team hosting.

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps basketball player Cameron Hanson is this week's SCIAC Female Athlete of the Week.

The senior center averaged a double-double as CMS went 2-0 to secure a spot in the SCIAC tournament after being three games down with four to play.

 In Thursday's must-win at Whittier, she had 12 points, nine rebounds, six steals and three blocks as CMS won 80-61.

 In Saturday's home finale against Pomona-Pitzer, she scored 10 points and added 13 rebounds, three blocks and three steals as CMS won 65-51. She shot 61% (7/13) from the field in the two games. In SCIAC play, she averages 8.4 points and 7.6 rebounds per game.

The pairings and seedings are out for the community college playoffs. It should be no surprise that San Bernardino Valley is No. 1 The Wolverines will have a bye and play on Saturday against the winner of Wednesday's game between Los Angeles Pierce and Moorpark.

SBVC (28-2) ran the table in the Foothill Conference and that's not easy to do. It has won 18 straight games with the last loss coming more than two months ago.

Chaffey drew the No. 11 seed and will be on the road Friday at No. 6 Saddleback. Don't count out Coach Jeff Klein's Panthers.

On the women's side SBVC got the No. 7 seed and drew a home game on Friday with Palomar. Coach Sue Crebbin's team played the Comets in the first game of the season on a neutral floor and won.

Here is the rundown . . .

MEN

Wednesday's games
No. 17 Moorpark at No. 16 Los Angeles Pierce
No. 20 Miramar at No. 13 Antelope Valley
No. 19 Mira Costa at No. 14 Los Angeles Valley
No. 20 Santa Ana at No. 15 L.A. Trade Tech

Friday's games

No. 9 Southwestern at No. 8 Bakersfield
No. 12 Cerritos at No. 5 Mt. SAC
No. 11 Chaffey at No. 6 Saddleback
No. 10 Mt. San Jacinto at No. 7 Cuesta

Saturday's games
Moorpark-L.A. Pierce winner at San Bernardino Valley
Santa Ana-LA Trade tech winner at No. 2 Citrus
Mira Costa-L.A. Valley winner at No. 3 Riverside
Miramar-Antelope winner at No. 4 Irvine Valley

WOMEN

Wednesday's games
 No. 17 Los Angeles Southwest at No. 16 Santa Barbara
No. 18 Cypress at No. 15 Santa Monica

Friday's games
No. 9 Antelope Valley at No. 8 Grossmont
No. 10 Palomar at No. 7 San Bernardino Valley
No. 14 Mt. San Jacinto at No. 3 Mt. SAC
No. 13 Irvine Valley at No. 4 Pasadena

Saturday's games
LA Southwest-Santa Barbabra winner at No. 1 Fullerton
Cypress-Santa Monica winner at No. 2 Ventura
No. 11 Canyons at No. 6 Los Angeles Trade Tech

In the last two years the CCAA men's basketball tournament didn't mean much to the local teams. Both Cal Poly Pomona and Cal State San Bernardino had pretty much already secured a berth in the regional tournament so their finish wasn't going to make much of a difference alhtough Cal State won it last year for good measure!

That won't be the case this year. There are four games left and four teams are in the hunt for a conference title. In fact, they separated by a total of one game. But all four aren't likely to make the West Regional.

The four would include Cal State, Cal Poly, Humboldt State and Cal State Dominguez Hills.

Dominguez is probably the best team of the four. It started the season 0-7, then got four player eligible. It has gotten better with each game and seem to have the most balance. The Toros beat the Coyotes 86-84 in overtime Friday, then celebrated as if they had won an NBA championship.

The Toros did not lead at any point in regulation. The Coyotes didn't play poorly. The Toros just knocked down all the big shots, many of which were well defended. The Coyotes just misfired on a couple of crucial plays where they could have put the game away.

The Coyotes are at Cal State los Angeles tonight and face a must-win scenario.

Meanwhile the Broncos easily disposed of Cal State Los Angeles, 68-54. The Broncos play at Dominguez on Saturday and that hasn't been a good matchup for them the last couple of years.

Humboldt State beat Cal State Stanislaus - just barely. Stanislaus had a whopping 31-11 lead at the half. Then the Lumberjacks started knocking down 3's. They won 51-49, blocking three Stanislaus shots on a last possession.

Stanislaus is at Chico State tonight. The Wildcats are tough but the Lumberjacks already got their wakeup call. I don't see them losing this one.

So the local teams have their work cut out for them. And this year's CCAA semifinals and finals are at Humboldt State, like their job isn't tough enough.

Both need wins tonight. Then they play their last two games next weekend at home. We'll see how it all plays out.

A pair of easy victories were not enough to keep the San Bernardino Valley College men's basketball team in the No. 1 spot in the state poll. For the second time this season the Wolverines lost their No. 1 status without losing.

This time it is Ohlone (20-4), out of northern California, that has jumped ahead of the Wolverines (26-2), who have won 16 straight games with the last loss coming on Dec. 18 to Irvine Valley.

But Ohlone totaled 231 points, just one more than SBVC. Rounding out the top 10 are Citrus (188), San Francisco (186), San Jose City (167), Cosumnes River (167), Mt. SAC (165), Saddleback (160), Riverside (156) and Sequoias (156).

Chaffey (17-8), which lost in overtime to Rio Hondo on Friday, fell four spots to No. 17.

No doubt the Wolverines will be back in first next week, This poll has been inconsistent all season.

On the women's side SBVC (22-5) fell from eighth to ninth despite winning both games last week in comfortable fashion.

The University of Redlands baseball team began SCIAC play the past weekend by taking two out of three games against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, the last coming in walkoff fashion.

Senior catcher Jefre Johnson has led the offense thus far, hitting .429 (9-for-21). He has four doubles, a triple and a home run.

Junior outfielder Nate Carlson already has collected 11 RBI, three of those coming on a home run in the ninth that was the difference against CMS in the series finale on Saturday.

Next up for the Bulldogs (4-1, 2-1) is a three-game set against traditional power University of La Verne (2-3, 0-0). Redlands will host the single game at 2:30 p.m. on Friday with the twinbill at La Verne on Saturday getting underway at 11 a.m.

This is the time of year when teams want to be peaking. The playoffs are a couple of weeks away and even if you're not going to win a conference title, you want to have all your players on the same page and focused.

The Chaffey College men's basketball team let one get away Friday night when it suffered a stunning 100-95 overtime loss to Rio Hondo, which came into the game in sixth in the Foothill Conference and an 8-15 overall record.

Before the game Chaffey coach Jeff Klein warned that Rio was not a pushover, a handful of quality players and they had beaten a formidable Antelope Valley team. He was right.  The Roadrunners played like a tean with nothing to lose and were with the Panthers all the way. 

The surprising part was not that Chaffey lost, it was the manner in which it lost composure in the overtime. One player in particular  who wasn't even in the game.

It had been 84-all at the end of regulation and Rio was up 86-84 when Chaffey big man Mo Hughley, who had fouled out in the closing second of regulation, was called for a technical foul. It seems he was at the end of the bench pouting a little too loudly.

Rio's Maurice Cole proceeded to make the two free throws for a four-point lead.

That lead would swell to 96-86. And in that stretch Hughley was confronted by the referee again, and this time asked to leave the bench.

Klein said he didn't think Hughley said anything that offensive but that the referee's problem goes back to issues the past few games. Maybe he was paying more attention to the big man than he needed to,m given the situation.

If that is the case, than Hugley should have shut up after the first technical foul. Did he really need the embarrassment of being asked to leave the bench?

It will be interesting to see if Klein chooses to play Hughley in the next game,.Sometimes a lesson needs to be learned. What if that were to happen in a playoff game?

Maybe it was just a pair of free throws and the Panthers did end up down by 10. But the incident seemed to rattle the players on the court as well.

The Panthers have a very good team and are more than capable of making a strong playoff run. We'll see how this one plays out.

The Panthers will be at Antelope Valley on Wednesday and close out the season with a home game next Friday against Mt. San  Jacinto. Those are both quality opponents. If the Panthers win them they will finish second in the Foothill to SBVC - a noteworthy accomplishment.

Sophomore Tyler Harp of the University of Redlands men's swimming & diving team garnered Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Male Athlete of the Week honors for the week of Feb. 1-7, as announced today by the conference office.
 
Harp captured two individual events and added a memorable anchor leg on the meet-winning relay in a thrilling 124-119 victory over Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges Saturday in Claremont to help the men's team remain undefeated in SCIAC competition.

 He cleared the NCAA "B" qualifying standard in the 200 freestyle, blitzing the field with a winning time of 1:41.76. Harp then went on to take the 200 butterfly (1:57.80) later on in the contest. In the meet's final event, the 400 freestyle relay, he helped the Bulldogs' "A" squad finish first (3:08.54), anchoring with a 45.65.
 
This marks Harp's second SCIAC Male Athlete of the Week recognition. He also gained the honor on Feb. 19, 2009 following his Male Athlete of the Year performance at the 2009 SCIAC Swimming & Diving Championships.
 
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps' Emma Jones, a member of the Athenas' swimming & diving team, gained Female Athlete of the Week laurels. She won two individual races and competed on the event-winning 400 freestyle relay in a 139-104 triumph over Redlands.
 
Redlands (6-2, 6-1 SCIAC; 7-1, 7-0 SCIAC) hosts the SCIAC Dive Prelims this Saturday and Sunday at the Thompson Aquatic Center. The meet is scheduled to commence at 11 a.m. on both days.
 
The SCIAC Athletes of the Week are voted on weekly by the conference's eight sports information directors.

From the "Where are They Now" department . .  .

Former Cajon High School basketball standout Tony Danridge is playing for the Albuquerque Thunderbirds of the NBA's D-League.

Danridge, who played collegiately at the University of New Mexico, is averaging 9.1 points and 2.5 rebounds in a reserve role, although he did managed 15 points and five rebounds in a 108-93 win over the Rio Grande Valley Vipers last week.

The D-League is a minor league of sorts for the NBA. The players don't make that much money but it is a chance to play and be seen.

Four San Bernardino Valley College football players have made decisions on four-year colleges.

Defensive back Dexter Fowler (Silverado HS), a second-team All-Mountain Conference selection, is headed to Division II Southwest Missouri State. He recorded 19 solo tackles and 18 assisted ones with two interceptions, eight pass breakups and one recovered fumble.

Wide receiver Eric Charles (San Gorgonio) and defensive lineman Kemaine Thurston (Arroyo Valley) are both going to Southwest Oklahoma State. Thurston tallied 44 solo tackles and 35 assisted with 1.5 sacks and two recovered fumbles.

Wide receiver Aaron Barlow, who was injured much of last season, is headed to Division II California-Pennsylvania.

The Foothill Conference is perhaps the deepest in the state when it comes to men's basketball. So it is saying something for a team to run the table. But that's just what the San Bernardino Valley College men are now likely to do.

The Wolverines (24-2, 10-0) passed their last real test of the regular season, beating Chaffey 85-82. It looked like it was going to be easy as the Wolverines shot a sizzling 65.1 percent in the first half. They led by 19 in the second. But this IS the Foothill Conference and it IS a local rival. So it couldn't be that easy.

Chaffey got back into contention at the 6-minute mark with some big shots and by generating some turnovers.  

But the Wolverines have made shots all year - different player, different game. They have so many weapons it has to be hard to defend. This time it was Orlando Brazier with some big plays on both ends of the floor.

Three of the four remaining teams on SBVC's schedule are under .500 and the other is .500. These are games for coach Quincy Brewer to make his final tuneups. SBVC is three games up so they're pretty much assured of a title repeat.

This team has so much talent and so much depth, the only thing that can stop it would be itself. If egos get in the way or players forget the team concept. 

The Cal Poly Pomona men's basketball team found a way - AGAIN!

The Broncos ventured into Cal State San Bernardino's Coussoulis Arena and emerged with a 63-59 win. The Coyotes didn't help themselves by clanking free throws down the stretch. But give the Broncos credit for making the plays they needed to when it mattered.

It was another case of a team, seemingly overmatched, beating what looks like a better team. That is all coach Greg Kamansky who has no peers when it comes to making something out of nothing.

Who would have thought the Broncos would be in the mix after they dropped three straight at home. Now they have done the unthinkable - win five straight on the road in a tough conference.

Now Cal State and Humboldt State are tied for first with the Broncos one game out and eight games left. Both the Broncos and Coyotes will be at home on Friday and Saturday.

The San Bernardino Valley College men's basketball team is back in the No, 1 spot of the state poll for the third time this season. But this time they are tied for the top spot with Riverside,

SBVC (22-2) has won 10 straight games but faces a challenging week. It will host No. 14 Mt. San Jacinto (17-6) on Wednesday and No. 13 Chaffey (15-6) on Friday. Both games should be thrillers. The first time SBVC played Mt. San Jacinto it won 104-100. That's a lot of points and a lot of action.

And the first time it played Chaffey, it was 98-96 . . . Also in overtime. It doesn't get any better than that.

Here's the poll . . .

1 . San Bernardino 22-2

     Riverside 19-4

3.  Ohlone 17-4

4. San Jose City 19-4

5. Citrus 21-2

6. Fresno 19-5

    Mt. SAC 20-4

8. Saddleback 20-4

9. Foothill 16-6

10. Chabot 16-5

11. Irvine Valley 20-3

12. Cosumnes River 16-5

13. Chaffey 15-6

14. Mt. San Jacinto 17-6

15. Sequoias 18-6

16. San Francisco 19-3

17. Yuba 19-4

18. Cuesta 20-5

19. Bakersfield 18-5

20. American River 14-7

The Cal Poly Pomona and Cal State San Bernardino men's basketball teams renew their rivalry Tuesday night at Cal State's Coussoulis Arena with the Coyotes needing a win to stay in first place and the Broncos needing one to stay in striking distance.

The big question will be whether or not the Broncos can contain the Coyotes post players - Bryan LeDuc, Devon Davis and Greg Williams, When the teams played earlier this season it was a matter of men against boys as LeDuc and Davis manhandled the Broncos. Le Duc was the biggest beast with 25 points and 17 rebounds.

Where the Coyotes are strongest, the Broncos appear vulnerable. And that was before Cal Poly's Tobias Jahn went down with a bulging disk that has kept him out of the last five games.

Sophomore Dwayne Fells has made great strides for the Broncos but he probably isn't ready to handle the load on his own. The Broncos also have a redshirt freshman in Kevin Ryan but he wasn't even in the mix until Jahn got hurt.

Jahn is the biggest mystery. He started progressing in the middle of last season and was a formidable presence by the time the Broncos got to the national championship game. He seemed to regress this season even before he got hurt.

Even if he can play, he probably won't be in the best playing shape.

There is no Larry Gordon this year so the Broncos need to Jahn to at least contribute.

San Bernardino leads the all-time series 21-19 and is 28-2 in its last 30 home games.

We'll see how the drama unfolds!

The new gymnasium at Chaffey College will be unveiled on Wednesday as the Panthers host Victor Valley College in a men's and women's basketball doubleheader that will tip off at 5 p.m.

School officials had hoped to have the new facility available last month but it didn't quite happen. The old facility is being closed down for renovation but when it is open will give the school more flexability in scheduling, not just for its competing teams, but physical education classes as well. 

Athletic director Carl Beach said formal dedication festivities will be held in conjunction with the Feb. 19 game against Mt. San Jacinto.