Glendale Hopes to Measure Up in Hoop Tourney

As a measuring stick of success, Glendale College men’s basketball Coach Brian Beauchemin would like to see his team win 20 games for the sixth time in seven years.

But that could prove to be a tall order this time around.

The Vaqueros, 17-11 overall, open the state community college playoffs Saturday night at Ventura (15-8) in a first-round game of the Southern California regional tournament.

Ventura’s size will pose the most immediate threat to Glendale’s bid for 20 wins.

“They start a front line that goes 6-7, 6-8 and 6-7 across,” Beauchemin said. “Our tallest player is about 6-6.

“Plus, their big guys are quick. We’d rather have them be big and slow.”

That could mean a change in the lineup at times for the Vaqueros, Beauchemin said.

“Part of our problem is that we start guards that are 5-8 and 5-9,” he said. “So we may have to juggle some things to get more size in the lineup.

“We will have our work cut out for us on the boards, but our kids work hard, and we’ll make up for it that way.”

If Glendale gets past Ventura, they will play El Camino (23-4) in the semifinals of the regional pairings. El Camino is the top-seeded team in a bracket that includes Long Beach City (20-13), Santa Barbara (18-11) and a wild card.

The winner of each of four brackets in the Southern California regional advances to the state tournament at Cerritos College, March 13-15.

Glendale is led by sophomore John Hoffman, who averaged 20 points and 5.4 rebounds a game during the regular season. David Djolakian was the Vaqueros’ leading rebounder, averaging 5.7 a contest in addition to a scoring average of 14.4. Darren Hubbell was the only other player to produce double figures in scoring, averaging 10.3 points a game.