Saturday night action sets up basketball regional semifinals next weekend
Regional Brackets: NorCal l SoCal
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Defending state champion San Diego City College put its postseason engine in overdrive on Saturday night, beating 16th-seeded Long Beach City College, 116-98, to advance to the Southern California regional finals and within one game of a return to the California Community College Athletic Association Men's Basketball Championship tournament at Ventura.
The Knights were one of three SoCal teams to protect their seeds and advance, joining No. 2 San Bernardino Valley and No. 3 Citrus with home wins. No. 13/11 Santiago Canyon was the lone road team in the region to win on Saturday, slipping past No. 4 East Los Angeles, 94-89.
Up north, the top four seeds, headlined by top-ranked City City College of San Francisco (30-2), were all victorious, setting up next weekend's regional finals. Second-seeded Fresno City, No. 3 Yuba and No. 4 Santa Rosa will join CCSF.
Here is next week's schedule:
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
Regional Finals
March 3
| 7) Gavilan (24-4) at (2) Fresno City (26-4) |
| (6) College of the Sequoias (21-8) at (3) Yuba (23-5) |
| (9) Cabrillo (17-10) at (1) City College of San Francisco (30-2) |
| (5) Foothill (21-8) at (4) Santa Rosa (24-4) |
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
Regional Finals
March 3
| (9) Ventura (22-8) vs. (1) San Diego City (20-2) |
| (13/11) Santiago Canyon (21-9) at (5) Cerritos (25-5) |
| (10/12) Allan Hancock (22-9) vs. (2) San Bernardino Valley (27-4) |
| (6) Orange Coast (21-7) at (3) Citrus (27-4) |
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA REGIONAL RECAPS
(1) San Diego City College 116, (16) Long Beach City College 98
SAN DIEGO, Calif. The Knights are headed to the sweet sixteen for the second straight year after getting past Long Beach, 116-97, in the second round of the CCCAA tournament. Ethan Esposito scored a career-high 28 points to go along with a game-high 10 rebounds, while Wonder Smith poured in 27 points.
It was City's 23rd win in a row and its 17th straight home win. The Knights have also won six consecutive postseason games going back to last season when they won five to capture their first state championship.
(Courtesy San Diego City College Athletics)
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(2) San Bernardino Valley 87, (18) Antelope Valley 81 (OT)
SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. - Kevin McNeal made three free throws with two seconds remaining to force overtime, and the fourth-ranked San Bernardino Valley College men's basketball team used a 9-0 run in the extra period to beat Antelope Valley College 87-81 in the second round of the Southern California Regional Playoffs Saturday night at SBVC.
The Wolverines (27-4) trailed by as many as six in the second half, and were down three with five seconds left after Surako Follings Jr. made two free throws. The Wolverines rushed the ball down the court and McNeal threw up a desperation 3-pointer and drew the foul on D'Mauria Jones. McNeal's first free throw bounced around the rim before falling through. His last two went through to force overtime.
(Courtesy San Bernardino Valley Athletics)
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(4) Citrus 99, (14) San Diego Miramar 72
GLENDORA, Calif. - The Citrus College Men's Basketball team advanced to the 3rd round of the Southern California Regional Playoffs tonight in a lopsided contest vs visiting San Diego Miramar. Citrus would prevail 99-72. The Owls controlled the game for much of the night, setting the tempo from the get-go and slowing down the run and gun offense of the Jets.
Citrus took some time to warm up from the field, but once things started to click midway through the first half, the fans in attendance witnessed first hand what Citrus has excelled at all year, shooting the lights out from the three-point line. The Owls finished the night with 17 three's altogether, demoralizing the Jet defense with a swarm of deep jump shots. Eight Citrus players sank at least one three pointer in the contest.
(Courtesy Citrus College Athletics)
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(13/11) Santiago Canyon 94, (4) East Los Angeles 89
MONTEREY PARK, Calif. - Rodney Harrison hit seven three-pointers on his way to a game-high 35 points on Friday night, Antoine Jenkins canned five treys and scored 28 points to go with 10 points and first-year program Santiago Canyon moved a step closer to the state championship tournament with a 94-89 win at East Los Angeles.
Roderick Williams led ELAC with 24 points, one of five Huskies who scored in double figures. Williams complemented his two dozen points with 10 boards.
SCC shot 54 percent from beyond the arc, making 19 of 34, and had assists on 20 of its 27 baskets.
ELAC led by a point early in the game but that would mark the only time it held the advantage in the matchup. The Huskies used a 9-0 run to take a 12-4 lead and wouldn't look back. SCC led 46-39 at halftime and by as many as 17 in the second half.
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA REGIONAL RECAPS
(1) City College of San Francisco 84, (17) West Hills 63
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SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. - The City College of San Francisco men's basketball team advanced to the next round of the California Community College Athletic Association playoffs after defeating the West Hills College Falcons 84-63 on Saturday at CCSF. The Rams opened the game on a 25-8 run with 6:08 remaining in the first half. CCSF was led by guard Eddy Ionescu, who led all scorers with 14 first-half points including two made three-point shots. The Rams also got a strong contribution in the first half by forward Lewis Hayes who ended the first half with eight first-half points. The Rams closed the first half with a 38-22 lead. Read more *********************** (2) Fresno City 98, (15) Cañada 79 FRESNO, Calif. - Georgie Dancer tallied a team-high 19 points, Tyus Millhollin pitched in with 11 and Drew Cobb (16) and Jess Spivey came off the bench to add double-figure scoring of their own as second-seeded Fresno City College pulled away from an 8-point halftime lead and beat Cañada College on Saturday night, 98-79. Fresno made 10 treys in the game and shot 53 percent from the field overall. Eric Pierce and Tommy Nuno each grabbed seven rebounds for the Rams who also had just 10 turnovers. |
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(4) Santa Rosa 81, (13) Las Positas 58
SANTA ROSA, Calif. - Jordan Graves' 16-point, 10-rebound double-double helped spark host Santa Rosa Junior College on Saturday night as the Bearcubs took a big 36-18 halftime lead en route to an 81-58 over visiting Las Positas College.
Skylar Chavez led SRJC with 23 points, Sadik Sufi scored 18 points to go with six boards and reserve Trey Pugh made a trio of three-pointers and added 12 points. Santa Rosa shot 52 percent from the field and had 10 treys overall.
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(3) Yuba 75, (14) Ohlone 60
MARYSVILLE, Calif. - Another home playoff game? Check.
Another packed house? Check.
Another victory for the 49ers? You better believe it.
The Yuba College men’s basketball team opened the California Community College Athletic Association playoffs in front of a large home crowd on Saturday night, and they didn’t leave disappointed as the 49ers took over in the second half and cruised to an easy 75-60 victory over Ohlone College of Fremont.
The win stretched Yuba’s winning streak to 15 straight games and propels the 49ers into another home playoff game next Saturday against No. 6 College of the Sequoias, with the winner advancing to the state’s Elite 8.*