JC Basketball PLAYOFF PICTURE : Plenty at Stake in MVC Tourney Even for Canyons

College of the Canyons basketball Coach Lee Smelser is taking his team to the Mountain Valley Conference tournament this week, but only because he has to.

The Cougars, who won the MVC this season with a 9-1 record, are guaranteed no less than a state playoff qualifying game next week regardless of how they fare at the conference tourney. That leaves Canyons little incentive to play, Smelser says.

“The emotional part of our season is behind us. We’re going to go to the tournament and play--we’re certainly not going to be ducks--but obviously a lot of the other teams have more at stake than we do,” Smelser said.

The Cougars are one of four Valley-area teams vying this week for a state playoff qualifying game or, better yet, a seeded berth in the state tournament. Valley, Moorpark and Glendale colleges are also in the running for one of the eight Southern California berths in the 16-team state tourney, slated to begin March 15 at Selland Arena in Fresno.

Actually, Canyons should have plenty of incentive Friday at the MVC tournament when it meets the winner of tonight’s 6:30 p.m. meeting between Valley College and host Antelope Valley. If the Cougars, 22-5 overall, can win the tournament, they will likely be tabbed one of the four seeded Southern California teams at the state playoffs.

Valley College, which finished 5-5 in the MVC and tied L.A. Southwest for third place, is led by guard Larry Middleton, averaging 27 points and seven rebounds a game, and forward Glenn Boss, averaging 12 points. The Monarchs, 15-11 overall, defeated Antelope Valley (4-6 in the MVC and 14-16 overall), twice this season.

Smelser, whose club drew a first-round bye, would rather meet Antelope Valley in Friday’s 8 p.m. conference semifinal, despite the fact the Antelopes handed his team its only MVC defeat.

“Valley, I think, has got more guns,” Smelser said. “They seem to be getting some momentum at just the right time, too.”

Forward Pete Coeler leads Canyons’ balanced offense with a 16-point average. Center Don White (14), guard James Mixon (12) and forward Karl Tompkins (11) are also averaging in double figures for the Cougars.

Moorpark College, which defeated Ventura Tuesday in the first round of the Western State Conference tournament, faces Santa Barbara City College in a 6 p.m. semifinal game Friday at Taft College in Bakersfield. The Raiders, who took second in the WSC behind Taft with a 9-3 record, defeated Santa Barbara (16-17 and 4-8 in the WSC) twice this season.

Moorpark, which is 19-9 overall, is led by forward Woody Jones with a 20.6-point average. Forward Kip Brown averages 15.5 points for the Raiders.

The Inland Valley Conference is not holding a postseason tournament, but Glendale and Riverside colleges, the conference co-champions, will meet at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Glendale College to determine the league’s No. 1-seeded team in the playoffs. Both teams finished IVC play with 15-3 records, but Glendale defeated the Tigers twice in conference play and three times overall this season.

The Vaqueros, 18-11 overall, are led by forward John Hoffman and all-conference guard Bill Carr, who averaged 17.9 and 16.5 points, respectively, in IVC play. All-conference center Toros Yetenekian averaged 15.5 points and 10.2 rebounds in conference for Glendale.