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Contra
Costa Tops CCCWBCA Preseason Poll
<View
the Preseason Poll>
Contra Costa College Comets
(San Pablo, CA) were the runner-up in the 2003 COA Championships, but enter
the 2003-04 season as the Number One team in the CCCWBCA Preseason Poll. Balloting
was close as Saddleback College (Mission Viejo, CA) followed by a mere point.
Ventura College was another point behind Sadddleback for Third and had the most
Number One votes. A wide gap separated the triumvirate from Merced College and
defending champion, Orange Coast College (Costa Mesa, CA).
The season will apex in
the COA Women's Basketball State Championship on March 12-13, 2004. Jenny Craig
Pavilion at University of San Diego will be the host facility for the second
consecutive year. The annual Sophomore Showcase will be held in conjunction
on the morning of March 12, site TBD.
Contra Costa's program was
founded by Coach Paul DeBolt in 1986 and he is still at the helm. He built the
Comets to achieve two runner-ups in COA Finals in the last 3 seasons. This is
the first State Poll that North Region's Contra Costa has ever led. It comes
with respect from South Region voters as they submitted the majority of the
ballots. With four games being cut from COA schedules this season, Contra Costa
idles for two weeks until November 21 when they enter the Team Sports Classic
at Butte College.
Second-year coach Fentriss
Winn led Saddleback to a sweep of Orange Empire Conference last season. A stumble
to Mt. San Antonio College (#6; Walnut, CA; Laura Beeman) in final round of
regionals kept them from State Finals. They could meet again this weekend in
the last day of the Mt. San Antonio College Tip-off Tournament.
Ventura has been the most
successful program in the last eleven seasons, making State Finals ten times
and winning five championships under Coach Ned Mircetic. A string of three consecutive
titles was snapped last season. Ventura led the previous four preseason polls
and was a theoretical ballot away from a three-way tie today. The Pirates sail
into the season November 7, joining Saddleback at Mt. SAC. Coach Mircetic had
his 400th win at Ventura last season.
This is year seven of the
Coach Allen Huddleston era at Merced. His first taste of a title was enjoyed
last season as Merced made the quarterfinal round of the championship tournament.
This season the quarterfinal has been moved to the regionals, but Merced looks
primed to make the final four. They step on the court November 7 at the Cuesta
College Tip-off Classic.
Orange Coast won their first
COA Championship last March with three upsets in the final eight tournament
including a narrow win over three-time defending champion Ventura. It is Coach
Mike Thornton's first COA championship in his fourteen OCC seasons. Their title
defense gets an early test in the Mt. SAC Tournamant as four of the top six
teams in the poll are entered.
Despite massive budget cuts
and a season shortened by four games, 99-percent of COA basketball programs
have survived and are ready to hit the hardwood.
Tournament of the Week:
It has to be the 2003 Mt. San Antonio Tip-off Tournament with six of the eight
teams being in the preseason top ten. The championship game is November 9 at
3:00 PM. #2 Saddleback and #8 Canyons are on one side while #5 Orange Coast,
#6 Mt. San Antonio and #9 L.A. Valley take the other. The champion would be
a contender to lead the next CCCWBCA poll.
Games of the Week
North Region: The Reno tournament has changed to 2 days of six games. The best
of these look to be #7 Sierra vs. #12 North San Jose, November 9 at 4:00 PM.
South Region: #10 South Compton opens the season with a South Coast Conference
Interdivision game at L.A. Southwest November 8 at 5:30 PM.
Greg Murphy gregm@altair.csustan.edu
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