Orange County Community College Basketball : Smalls Comes Through for Saddleback

Vincent Smalls knew he had been struggling for Saddleback College in the men’s community college basketball playoffs.

But Smalls finally had the kind of game he expected of himself Saturday as he scored 26 points and had 13 rebounds to lead Saddleback to a 59-46 victory over El Camino in a Southern Division final.

The top four teams from the Southern and Northern divisions will meet in the state tournament at Loyola Marymount College, starting Thursday.

The victory advanced the Gauchos (25-7) to the tournament for the first time since the 1982-83 season, when 16 teams made the field. Saddleback will be the third-seeded team from the south, with Rancho Santiago No. 1, Ventura No. 2 and Compton No. 4. Saddleback will play Skyline in the first round.

Smalls, who averaged 16 points and 9 rebounds this season, was held to 9 in Saddleback’s 64-44 victory over Los Angeles Valley in the fist round last Saturday. He scored 12 in the 63-51 second-round victory over Antelope Valley.

From the outset, Smalls, a 6-foot, 4-inch forward, appeared bent on establishing himself. He tipped in a lob pass from Mike Minier, was fouled and made the free throw 20 seconds into the game.

Smalls finished the first half with 13 points and the Gauchos led, 31-20.

“The coaches were expecting a big game for me since I had really not done that much so far,” said Smalls, who is from University City High School in Philadelphia. “They told me to keep my cool and they would get me the ball more than in the first two games in the playoffs.”

For most of the game, getting the ball to Smalls seemed like a good idea. He was 8 for 15 from the field and 10 for 15 from the line. But Smalls and the rest of the Saddleback offense appeared to take a break for more than 10 minutes.

Renny Ingram made a steal and passed to Smalls, who slammed to give the Gauchos a 43-25 lead with 14:35 left in the game.

Saddleback then scored three points, all on free throws by Smalls, in the next 13:10 of the second half.

El Camino took advantage of the break to close the gap to 46-41, with 4:05 left to play.

“We just told them to stop forcing the ball into ‘Butter’ (Smalls),” Bill Brummel, Saddleback coach, said about the scoreless streak. “Yes, I was scared when they were coming back. You would have to be a fool not to be scared at that point.”

Ingram and Scott Dwinell did plenty to help ease Brummel’s fears in the final two minutes.

Ingram made both ends of three one-and-ones to help keep El Camino from getting too close. He finished with 6 points.

Dwinell, a sophomore center, made his only field goal of the game with 1:25 left to give Saddleback a 50-41 lead. Dwinell finished with 4 points but 10 rebounds, 7 on the offensive end. Tom Desiano scored 9 points and Tony Villanueva 8 for Saddleback.

The Gauchos also had a prolonged scoreless streak in the first half.

After Smalls’ three-point play to start the game, El Camino went on a 9-0 run in the next four minutes to take a 9-3 lead.

After a timeout, Saddleback went on a 21-7 run to take 24-16 lead with 4:20 left.

Kirkland Howling scored 18 points and Charles White 11 for El Camino (26-6).