Community College Notebook : Sophomore Overachievers Surprise Cypress Coach, Become Contenders

When Don Johnson talked about his Cypress College men’s basketball team in November, he saw plenty of problems.

The team lacked a dominant scorer, rebounder and speed. Johnson figured his team would finish third in the Orange Empire Conference.

But Johnson tends to be a bit of a pessimist. His fellow coaches picked Cypress first or second.

His team has surprised him all season. Cypress won the Orange Empire Conference with a 10-0 record.

Cypress defeated Rancho Santiago, 64-63, Saturday to earn a berth in the state tournament. Cypress (30-5) opens against Skyline (26-7) Thursday at 7 p.m. at Santa Clara University. The winner plays the winner of the Palomar (25-8)-Columbia (31-2) game, which starts at 3 p.m. West Valley (23-6) plays El Camino (30-3) at 5 p.m. and Santa Monica (25-8) plays Merced (27-6) at 9 p.m. in the other bracket.

“This is best group of overachievers we’ve had in our history,” Johnson said. “We don’t have the physical talent other teams have. I’m not trying to minimize our players, but we don’t have great size or that one excellent shooter. If we are to do well, we will need everyone.”

The one thing that does allow Johnson a slight smile is his team’s experience. Cypress starts five sophomores.

“With our type of team, that experience factor is so important,” Johnson said.

Jeff Green, a 6-foot 4-inch sophomore forward, leads the team with 14.5 points and 7.7 rebounds a game. Green shot 39% in conference play but 49% for the season. Kris Brodowski, a 6-6 forward, averages 13.3 points and 7 rebounds. But both are prone to foul trouble.

John Jackson, a 6-3 forward, averages 6.9 points and 3.9 rebounds despite being bothered by a sore hip.

Jim Sammon and Greg Spruell make up the backcourt. Sammon, who averages 13 points and 4.7 assists, has been erratic on offense but is steady on defense. Spruell led the conference in assists (5.5) and averaged 7.2 points.

Notes from the North: There were a lot of shocked people when Golden West, which had played so well all season, was knocked out of the women’s state tournament semifinals by Long Beach, 74-69.

But the reason was obvious--poor shooting. Golden West (31-3) shot 49% and averaged 89 points for the season. But Golden West went to American River College, shot 34% (43 of 128) in two games and was eliminated.

“I’ve got a book at home somewhere that deals with nothing but shooting,” said Dick Stricklin, Golden West coach, with a slight smile after the loss. “I’m going home to read the whole thing. I’m going to have it memorized by the start of next season.”

Santa Rosa won the tournament Saturday by defeating Long Beach, 75-65.

There was one ugly moment in the tournament.

Late in the first half of Los Angeles Valley’s 56-54 victory over Merritt, there was a shoving match inside between Elva Davis of Merritt and Traci Atkins of L.A. Valley.

After the officials broke the pair up, Davis spit at Atkins as she walked away. Davis was ejected.

“I thought our team showed a lot of composure during the incident,” Valley Coach Doug Michelson said.

Last add North. While Golden West was playing San Mateo in the opening game, some American River College players, keeping score, started to wonder where exactly Golden West College was located.

Said one player: “They must be around San Francisco. I bet Golden West has something to do with the Golden Gate Bridge.”

Community College Notes

The Orange Coast women’s swim team puts its 57-straight dual meet victory streak on the line Wednesday against Santa Monica at 2:30 p.m. OCC, which has won four consecutive state titles, last lost a dual meet in February 1982. Santa Monica was fifth in the state last season. . . . Saddleback defeated Fullerton, 5-2, Sunday in the championship of the softball Tournament of Champions at Bakersfield. Kim Braatz had a two-run single for Saddleback (14-3), which scored five runs in the fifth. Braatz’s single tied it, 2-2, and Debbie Hartwig had a sacrifice fly to put Saddleback ahead. Patti Taylor (13-2) pitched the final three innings for the victory. Fullerton beat Saddleback, 1-0, earlier Sunday to force another game.