Sequoias, San Bernardino make move in CCCMBCA Poll

Previous rankings: Nov. 23 l Dec. 7 l Dec. 21 l Jan. 11 l Jan. 31

RIVERSIDE - The top three teams — San Francisco, Fullerton and Las Positas (although, Las Positas barely held on to the No. 3 slot) — remained.

After that it got real — real crazy.

West LA, behind its 10-game win streak, moved into No. 4. Santiago Canyon managed to remain at No. 5 thanks to two 100-point offensive efforts against Golden West. A hot San Diego City team moved to No. 6. Meanwhile, Sequoias and San Bernardino, perhaps thanks to a tougher challenge for their respective conference titles, jumped East Los Angeles and West Valley – to nap No. 7 and No. 8 rankings, respectively. East Los Angeles slipped to No. 9 and West Valley remained No. 10.

Ventura also climbed, coming in at No. 11. A struggling Columbia squad slide to No. 12. Riverside moved from No. 15 to No. 13; Citrus slippled to No. 14 with San Mateo secured No. 15. Contra Costa landed at No. 16. Meanwhile, LA Southwest, after turning away conference preseason favorite Cerritos in double overtime, jumped from No. 25 to No. 17. The loss dropped Cerritos back out of the poll and into third place in conference. Irvine Valley at No. 18, Cerro Coso at No. 19 and San Jose City at No. 20 rounded out the top 20. Also, Copper Mountain, previously unranked, broke in at No. 22, just behind Folsom Lake, leaders in the Big Eight Conference race.

With 19 days remaining in the regular season, conference races are taking center stage. A few conference titles could be decided this week.

Bay Valley Conference: A week it ago it appeared to be Yuba’s title to win. However, consecutive losses by Yuba last week turned the conference race into a nail bitter, with three teams — No. 13 Contra Costa, No. 24 Yuba and No. 30 Merritt — all tied for first at 7-2. Los Medanos is fourth at 5-2, although the Mustangs have played two less games than the top three teams. Key games this week: Contra Costa at Los Medanos (today, February 7); Contra Costa at Merritt (Wednesday); Contra Costa home to Yuba (Friday); and Merritt at Los Medanos on Friday.

Big Eight Conference: Just when everyone thought Santa Rosa was going to run away with the title, the Bear Cubs lost their way — losing three of four games. And, while Santa Rosa was going cold; Folsom Lake, winners of nine of its last 10 games, was getting hot at the right time. Because there is still a lot of key basketball games to play it is tough to give one team an edge. Santa Rosa has five games remaining; Folsom Lake, meanwhile has nine, and San Joaquin Delta, which is just a game behind second-place Santa Rosa, has eight left. Even Diablo Valley, with eight games remaining and sitting at 5-5, isn’t out of it. Key games this week: Santa Rosa at Folsom Lake (Tuesday) and then they will turn around and do it again — Folsom Lake at Santa Rosa (Saturday). Santa Rosa at Diablo Valley (Wednesday — big game for DVC).

Central Valley Conference: Columbia has done everything to keep this conference in the headlines — and not in a good way. The struggles of the Claim Jumpers, losers of three of their last seven games, left the door open for Sequoias. And, the Giants, winners of six-straight games, kicked it down. At 8-1, Sequoias has a commanding lead on 5-2 Fresno, 6-3 Columbia and 5-4 Porterville. At the same time, Fresno is just halfway through its conference schedule, while Sequoias, Columbia and Porterville have played nine games. Key games this week: Fresno at Sequoias (tonight and then Sequoias at Fresno next Monday); Columbia at Sequoias (Saturday); Porterville at Fresno (Wednesday).

Coast-North Conference: It will probably be next week before San Francisco wraps up yet another conference title. But with games against 3-19 Canada, 11-12 Skyline and 14-7 Chabot and then Las Positas, it appears this is a Rqam-stamped guarantee. Even a Las Positas loss will put this title to bed. The best race here is for second place. Chabot trails Las Positas by a game and San Mateo is 1½ games back. Key games this week: Chabot at Las Positas (tonight); Las Positas at Chabot (Wednesday); San Mateo at Los Positas (Friday; and then Las Positas at San Mateo Monday).

Coast-South Conference: West Valley holds a two-game lead on San Jose with five games to play. San Jose gets one last shot at West Valley next week at home. Regardless, the Jaguars are going to need to some help this week to make the “showdown” meaningful. Two wins by the Vikings this week will ensure at least a share of the conference title. Key games this week: Cabrillo at San Jose (Wednesday); West Valley at 11-12 Gavilan (Wednesday) and fourth-place Monterey at West Valley (Friday).

Golden Valley Conference: Shasta begins the week with a one-game lead over Redwoods and 1½ on Butte. Shasta, winners of eight of its last nine contests, has four games remaining — including two against second-place Redwoods. Key games this week: Shasta at Redwoods (Wednesday; Shasta at Redwoods is next Wednesday); and Butte at Redwoods (Saturday).

Inland Empire Athletic Conference: This conference race got interesting! Even fourth-place Mt. San Jacinto remains mathematically in the race. Cerro Coso and Copper Mountain are one game back of the Wolverines with seven games to play. There is a lot of basketball to be played in this conference, with a number of key games in the coming days for team's even looking for a post-season bid. Key games this week: San Bernardino at Copper Mountain (tonight); San Bernardino at Cerro Coso (Wednesday).

Orange Empire Conference: Always can count on the Orange Empire Conference for a great conference race. No. 2 Fullerton continues to lead the conference, followed by No. 5 Santiago Canyon, No. 13 Riverside, No. 18 Irvine Valley, and No. 30’s Cypress and Saddleback. Fullerton holds a one-game lead on Santiago Canyon. Riverside has played 11 games, compared to eight for Fullerton and Santiago and nine for Irvine Valley and Saddleback. Five of Fullerton’s remaining eight games are against ranked opponents, including two against Santiago Canyon. Santiago Canyon faces a similar scenario — six games against ranked opponents over the next 18 days, three of which will take place this week. Key games this week: Saddleback at Santiago Canyon (tonight); Santiago Canyon at Fullerton (Wednesday); Riverside at Santiago Canyon (Friday); Saddleback at Riverside (Wednesday); Irvine Valley at Cypress (Friday).

Pacific Coast Conference: Just two of San Diego City’s remaining seven games are against opponents with a .500 record or better. The Knights hold a 2½-game lead over San Diego Miramar and three over MiraCosta. The best drama may be the race for second where San Diego Mira holds a half-game lead on MiraCosta and one-game on Palomar. Key games this week: San Diego Miramar at San Diego City (Wednesday). MiraCosta at San Diego Miramar (Friday).

South Coast-North Conference: With three remaining games, East Los Angeles holds a 2½-game lead on Mt. San Antonio. One East Los Angeles victory, or a Mountie loss, this week will secure the Huskies the conference title, but probably only a top 8 see due the conference strength. East Los Angeles finishes conference play against 3-15 LA Trade Tech, 1-18 Pasadena, and Mt. San Antonio, a team they beat by 20 points previously. Key game this week: LA Trade Tech at East Los Angeles (Wednesday) — only because it will secure the conference title.

South Coast-South Conference: What a race this is turning out to be. Los Angeles Southwest and Compton did a number on Cerritos’ title chances as the Falcons lost consecutive games last week. The losses dropped Cerritos, the preseason favorite, in to third place, a half game behind second-place Long Beach and 2½ behind first-place LA Southwest. And, Compton is just a half game behind Cerritos. And, LA Harbor, despite being 4-6 in its last 10 games, is just a game out of third place, possibly the last spot for a post-season bid. Long Beach, despite starting conference play with a 7-8 record, is a game behind LA Southwest after winning four of its first six conference contests. With four games remaining (Cerritos has five) — the race to finish could be a dandy, especially if Long Beach knocks off LA Southwest in the two team's final match up. Key games this week: LA Southwest at Long Beach (Wednesday); Compton at LA Southwest (Friday); Long Beach at Cerritos (Friday).

Western State-North Conference: Ventura has six games remaining, including consecutive games against third-place Allan Hancock (3½ games behind) to close out the regular season. Second-place Cuesta (a game behind the Pirates) has one final shot at Ventura. Interestingly, Allan Hancock has two games against Cuesta — this week. We're sure Ventura is Hancock fans this week. In all, Allan Hancock has eight games remaining, while Ventura, which will play just once this week, and Cuesta have six games left. Key games this week: Cuesta at Allan Hancock (Monday); Allan Hancock at Cuesta (Wednesday).

Western State-South Conference: Backed by its thrilling victory on Saturday over Citrus, West LA has opened a 1½-game lead on the Owls with five games to play. The Wildcats have two games vs. 2-14 LA Valley (Monday and Wednesday) and then travel to 12-8 Bakersfield (Saturday). A sweep of this week’s games could seal the deal. Citrus haskey games this week if the Owls hope to keep the pressure on West LA. Key games this week: Santa Monica at Citrus (Wednesday); Citrus at Canyons.

(Robert Schmidt, CCCMBCA)