State JC Basketball Championship : El Camino Rallies to Beat Columbia, 58-56

Charles White slipped past two defenders with 27 seconds remaining Saturday night and scored an uncontested layup to lead El Camino College of Torrance to a come-from-behind 58-56 victory over the nation’s top-ranked team, Columbia College of Sonora, in the State community college basketball championship game at Toso Pavilion.

Columbia had a chance to win with two seconds remaining, but an off-balance 25-footer by Dwight Myvett missed the rim.

The win gave El Camino Coach Paul Landreaux his third State title. The Warriors also won in 1981 and 1985. Nevada Las Vegas Coach Jerry Tarkanian holds the State record with four titles in the mid-1960s at Riverside and Pasadena.

El Camino (33-3), which has struggled offensively all season, committed 20 turnovers and missed seven layups. Five consecutive times down the stretch in the second half, the Warriors had a chance to tie the game, but each time they turned the ball over or missed a high percentage shot.

The sixth-ranked Warriors shot 46% from the field. Columbia (32-3) made just 32% of shots.

El Camino center David Lee was named the tourament’s most valuable player. Arlandis Rush and White were chosen to the all-tournament team, along with Shawn Graham and Jerry Anderson of Columbia and Ron Taborn of Merced.