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Merced
and Sierra in Split Decision
[ Poll,
Week of 12/08/03 ]
In this week's CCCWBCA polling,
Sierra College moved to the runner-up spot in the state rankings with Merced
College in fourth. Meanwhile, in North Region voting Merced came in at #2 while
Sierra finished third. Once again, Mt. San Antonio College tops the State Poll.
Ventura landed between Sierra and Merced for third. Contra Costa College dropped
to the final spot in the top 5.
The Tournament of the Week
was the 16-team Gilcrest Invitational at College of the Sequoias. Mt. San Antonio
won the prestigious title, although were played closer than most previous games
with a 10.3 average margin of victory. The closest game was for the championship
with Ventura, 79-71. Third place was nabbed by Antelope Valley College by upsetting
Cerritos College 65-62. The Marauders broke into the top 10 to replace Cerritos.
Merced was 5th after a second round loss to Mt. SAC. Los Angeles Valley College
had struggled before the tournament and were upset by De Anza College by two
in a defensive game, but rose to the challenge to sweep the consolation bracket.
Sierra College travelled
to Shasta College for a couple of neutral site matches. College of Marin lost
66-30 and College of the Redwoods couldn't fare any better the following afternoon.
Contra Costa hosted a tournament
with the guests unranked. City College of San Francisco impressed voters with
a 77-68 loss to the Comets in the first round and entered the State Poll in
a tie for 20th. Contra Costa had an easy march to the title, afterwards. College
of the Siskiyous evened their 4-game record with a 48-40 win over Diablo Valley
College for third. CCSF drove home with the consolation championship.
At the 20th Annual Cuesta
Invitational, #14 Orange Coast College faltered to Centralia College of Washington
in the semifinals, but dusted the host 65-50 for 3rd place. Centralia defeated
Chaffey College 76-47 for the NWAACC team's first-ever tournament title in 26
seasons. Napa Valley College survived a Bakersfield College comeback for the
consolation title.
Like Contra Costa, Cypress
was the only ranked team in winning its own tourney last weekend. Palomar offered
the biggest challenge on a 67-54 semifinal loss. American River was runner-up
after a near-loss to previously undefeated Porterville in its semifinal. Los
Angeles Harbor College edged Rio Hondo for consolation.
The big game at Hartnell
College's tournament was the semifinal between Butte College and Ohlone College.
Butte made the winning trey with six seconds on the clock and won 67-64. The
teams went on to win the championship and 3rd place games. Butte went up one
spot to #11 and pollsters showed that they had been underranking Ohlone by elevating
them four positions to #15.
Buth Region Games of the
Week resulted in upsets. In the North Region Game of the Week, Foothill College
tied to make their absence from the state rankings a short one with a 65-64
upset of Santa Rosa Junior College. It was not enough as voters chose to elevate
CCSF after their close game with Contra Costa. Santa Rosa now teeters on the
edge of the state poll in a tie for 20th.
Down South, Pasadena ran
away from Fullerton 86-71. Pasadena took Fullerton's #7 position in the State
Poll, dropping Fullerton to eighth.
Tournament of the Week:
Pasadena City College's Rose Classic has a potential championship game matchup
of #6 College of the Canyons and #7 Pasadena. #19 Irvine Valley College could
get in Canyons' way in the semifinals.
North Region Game of the
Week:
College of the Siskiyous and Yuba College will attempt to recapture region votes
Tuesday at Yuba, call for game time.
South Region Game of the
Week:
Barstow and Chaffey Colleges open Foothill Conference play Tuesday at 5:00 pm
on Chaffey's campus.
Greg Murphy gregm@altair.csustan.edu
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