Orange County Community College Basketball : Golden West Seeks Another Water Polo Championship

Golden West College goes for its second consecutive state water polo championship starting today at Merced College.

Golden West (25-4) tied Long Beach City College for the South Coast Conference title. The teams qualified for the state finals by finishing first and second last Saturday at the Southern California Regionals.

Long Beach (25-2) defeated the Rustlers in the title game, 10-4, to become the South’s top-seeded team. The Vikings hold a 3-2 series edge over the Rustlers this season.

Long Beach will play DeAnza, the North’s No. 2-seeded team, at 1 o’clock today. Golden West plays Modesto, the North’s top-seeded team, at noon. The winners meet Saturday at noon for the title.

“We would like nothing better than to get another chance at Long Beach,” Golden West Coach Ken Hamdorf said. “But we know Modesto is the type of team that gets up for a Golden West and you can’t make mistakes against them.”

Golden West is led by the South Coast Conference’s co-most valuable player, Jason Jeffries, who scored 69 goals this season.

The Rustlers’ leading scorer was all-conference player Scott Larson, who had 70.