GLENDALE COLLEGE PREVIEW : Vaqueros Battling Inexperience : Summer Exodus Leaves Beauchemin With Young Team

Success can be short-lived at junior colleges, where a playing career lasts 2 seasons at best. It’s a fact of life with which Glendale Coach Brian Beauchemin is all too familiar.

Still, Beauchemin never dreamed his squad, which went 10-2 in summer league play, would dissolve so quickly. Since the summer, 2 starters have left school to join the Navy, 1 dropped out because of financial problems and another left to become a firefighter.

Twelve first-year players remain.

But Beauchemin is taking things philosophically.

“It’s frustrating but, hey, if ‘if’ was a skiff we’d go sailing,” Beauchemin said. “We can’t live on maybe’s.”

So far, however, it appears the Vaqueros (2-0) are managing quite nicely, thank you. Glendale opened its season by defeating East L. A. College, then squeaked out a 93-92 win over L. A. City College last Saturday, 93-92.

The effort even impressed the critical Beauchemin.

“They played pretty damn well,” he said of his team.

But don’t expect to hear Beauchemin heaping praise on his players often--especially in practice. In fact, a Glendale practice bears a striking resemblance to boot camp.

“I’ve got to be the Patton,” said Beauchemin, who stalks the court with jaws clenched. “The only guy they’re going to hear it from is me.”

The situation came to a head a few weeks ago when Beauchemin kicked the entire team out of the gym in frustration.

Bruce Heicke, a starting guard, says that was the turning point.

“I was glad we were kicked out,” Heicke said. “Practice was dragging on at the time. But the next day we thought we better get going or it’s going to be a long year.”

Gary Fowler, the only remaining starter from the summer team, says Beauchemin is friendly and approachable off the court, but when he hits the hardwood, his benevolence disappears.

“The first five minutes he’s out there he’s going nuts,” Fowler said. “It’s like, relax, we have to make mistakes to get better. He forgets he’s talking to us--it’s like another world. But that’s how we have to be treated--it’s a favor.”

Once Fowler confronted Beauchemin about his iron-fisted approach.

“I told him, ‘Brian, you intimidate the guys, man,’ ” Fowler said. “He couldn’t believe it and I said, ‘Believe it, coach. You scare them.’ ”

But it’s Beauchemin who shudders when he thinks of his players trying to box bigger teams off the boards.

“We’ve got to defend better to be better,” he said. “But we’ve got to rebound better to be in it.”

The Vaqueros’ biggest starter and top rebounder is 6-foot, 5-inch center Clarence Williams, who had 9 and 14 rebounds in the first 2 games.

Fowler helps on the boards, too, grabbing 10 rebounds against East L. A. But he also scores, picking 32 points in 2 games. And mixing it up in the paint suits Fowler fine.

“I’ll just say, ‘C’mon, I’m not going to take that crap from you,’ ” he said. “I’m not a post player but I like to get down there and mingle.”

Dave Swanson, the other starting forward, scored a team-high 24 points and had 9 rebounds against LACC. Vigen Serop and Heicke start at the guard spots.

Beauchemin says many of the freshman have yet to see the toughest JC competition.

“They don’t understand how physical, how good, how much better the next kid around the block is,” he said. “We’re going to have to grow up in a hurry.”

And growing up is rough when the team doesn’t have the leaders to take the helm.

“They don’t have anyone to mirror themselves off of,” Beauchemin said. “That has set us back.”