Community College Notebook : Used to Drawing a Crowd, Silva May See a Mob

Vicky Silva can’t move on the basketball court without drawing a lot of attention from her opposition.

Silva, a returning all-state player for Cypress College, gets at least double coverage most of the time and triple-teaming isn’t that uncommon.

Silva and Becky Wayland are the only returning players this season, and the Chargers have depended on them for a great amount of their offense.

Through the first 12 games, Cypress (6-6), the defending Orange Empire Conference champion, averages 58.4 points. Silva, a 5-foot 9-inch forward/guard, averages 24.9. Wayland, a forward, averages 22. Silva also averages 8.7 rebounds and 3.9 assists, and Wayland averages 10.5 rebounds and 4.9 assists.

Last year, Silva averaged 16.4 points, 8.7 rebounds and 4.7 assists.

“I don’t take it (getting double-teamed) as a compliment but I guess I should,” said Silva, who played at Fullerton High School. “I get really aggravated, but I love the challenge.”

If Silva loves a challenge, just wait until after Jan. 5.

That’s the date Cypress will lose Wayland, who has decided to join the Army. Wayland said she would like to delay her entry until after the basketball season, but can’t because she is going into intelligence training.

“I feel bad the way things have worked out,” Wayland said. “If there was any way I could have delayed my entry to finish the season, I would. Vicky is an outstanding student and hopefully recruiters will judge her by her talent and not on the team’s record.”

Wayland’s departure comes at a very unfortunate time for the Chargers--the start of the conference season.

“A lot of people have wished me luck,” Silva said. “I don’t know if I can handle that much pressure but I will give it a try.”

Fullerton, Golden West and Riverside--all strong teams--figure to contend for the conference title. Orange Coast, Cypress, Rancho Santiago and Saddleback make up the rest of the conference, which starts play Jan. 6.

Men’s basketball: Golden West is off to the best start among the Orange County teams. The Rustlers (11-2) won the consolation championship of their tournament Saturday and won the 16-team Antelope Valley tournament the weekend before.

Golden West is led by sophomore Markus Muller-Stach, a 6-foot 4-inch forward from Corona del Mar High School. Muller-Stach is averaging 24.5 points a game, which is tops in the county. He averaged 18 last season for the Rustlers.

Fullerton (9-1), Orange Coast (9-1) and Rancho Santiago (8-3) are off to fast starts, but Cypress (2-6) and Saddleback (4-6) have struggled.

Fullerton is led by forward Geoff Adams, averaging 13.6 points a game. Forward Alan Schlines leads OCC with 15.5 points a game. Forward Gene Altamirano leads Rancho Santiago with 13.7 points a game. Sean Keyes, a guard at Saddleback, averages 22 points a game, and guard Vince Hizon leads Cypress with 12.8 points a game.

Community College Notes

Ian Donnelly, a forward for Cypress’ basketball team, has made 19 consecutive free throws to tie Jim Sammon (1987-88) and Jerry Sypkens (1980-81) for the school record. . . . Derek Johnson, a guard at OCC, is shooting 70% (26 of 37) on 3-pointers this season. . . . Jay Barrington, a freshman guard at Cypress, broke his nose in practice last week and is not expected to return until the end of the week.