By Greg Murphy
Butte College breaks into the top 5 with a #7 to #2 move in this week's
COA/CCCWBCA Women's Basketball State Poll. Ventura College mantains its
wide lead over the pack. Contra Costa, LA Valley and Mt. San Antonio
colleges round out the top 5.
The big tournaments of the last two weeks ended December and the biggest
was arguably the De Anza Classsic, one of the oldest and biggest women's
basketball tournaments in California. When the 4-day, 16-team tourney was
completed, the trophy was awarded to Butte in a 59-58 shave over Contra
Costa. Contra Costa and Butte appropriately share the top spot in this
week's North Region Poll. #15 Moorpark College defeated #7 Marin in the
3rd place game, yet Marin rose 2 spots in the state poll and Moorpark
slipped a rung. Moorpark also lost to #12 Canyons in a single-game
contest a week earlier. Canyons finished 5th, but maintained a higher
ranking than Moorpark.
The other 16-team tournament was at Grossmont College which is essentially
a California vs. the NJCAA and NWCCAA affair. #22 Santa Ana College
surprised the #1 NWCCAA-ranked Umpqua College of Oregon, but slipped in
the championship vs. Umpqua rival Clackamas College. #11 Los Angeles
Trade-Technical College was the only ranked COA school which entered.
They lost in the second round to Umpqua and swept the Consolation
Championship bracket to maintain their undefeated record (11-0) against
COA colleges this season. Saddleback College won the consolation
5th-place game over Grossmont, 56-54.
#14 San Jose City College upset #9 Lassen, 59-58, in the championship game
of San Jose's tourney, dropping the Cougars 5 spots in the state poll.
SJCC rose a spot. Sacramento City College took 3rd after a semifinal loss
to Lassen. Freshman Brezya Rhodes of SJCC and Clayton Valley High School
was named the Most Valuable Player.
Fullerton College Tournament found #8 San Joaquin Delta College staking a
claim to a top 4 playoff seeding with a 76-70 upset of Mt. San Antonio in
the semifinals and a 2-point squeaker over Fullerton for the championship.
Palomar College took the Consolation side with a 75-45 blowout upset of
the previous #25, Irvine Valley College and a 66-64 win over unranked
Santa Monica College on the final day.
A week prior had three 4-team round-robin tournaments. #17 Fullerton
College and Glendale Community College made the flight to Honolulu, Hawaii
for the Pearl Harbor Classic. Fullerton made the most of the islands with
a 3-0 sweep of the field. Glendale defeated the Hawaii All-Stars. #7
College of Marin survived a scare from #18 Siskiyous on the final day of
the Diablo Valley College Tournament, 66-65. Chabot was not as lucky with
a 55-53 loss to the host. Shasta College was the only squad to go
undefeated at the Shasta Turnover. The biggest challenge was offered by
College of the Sequoias, 53-50.
For the North Region Game of the Week, Merritt College could have regained
a region ranking with a win at Fresno City College, but lost in a
heartbreaker on December 18, 50-49. Cosumnes River College missed s atate
ranking with a near-win vs. Marin, 62-56.
Orange Coast College reversed the title game of their tournament with a
54-53 win over Cerritos College in last week's South Region Game of the
Week on December 19. Two days later, #5 Mt. San Antonio was upset by #20
San Diego Mesa College 62-60. Ventura's only match was a 78-55 win over
Santa Monica on the 22nd.
As Conference play begins in some areas of the state, the North Region
Game of the Week is #3 Contra Costa at #9 Lassen this Saturday at 2:00 pm.
Lassen could regain a top 5 ranking with a win. For the South Region, #11
LA Trade-Technical attempts to re-enter the top 10 with a drive to #6
Cerritos on Friday at 5:30 pm in a South Coast Conference Interdivision
game.
