NOTEBOOK : St. Bonaventure Nearly Equals Finals Feat of Buena, Ventura

A remarkable season came to an end for the St. Bonaventure High girls’ basketball program. It was a season that stood tall on the court, but fell short in recognition.

The Seraphs, led by two six-footers, reached the semifinals of the Southern Section playoffs for the first time. It also marked the first time the Seraphs won more than one playoff game.

But St. Joseph ended any thought of St. Bonaventure winning its school’s first basketball championship. The Seraphs fell, 83-52, Saturday in a 2-A Division game at Hancock College.

Stuck in the same city with perennial power Buena and upstart Ventura, St. Bonaventure had to reach the Southern Section final to share the limelight with its larger cross-town counterparts.

Both Buena and Ventura reached the final in their division and will play Hart and Muir, respectively.

“There wasn’t a dry eye in the locker room,” St. Bonaventure Coach Marsha Dedrick said of the semifinal loss. “We didn’t start to appreciate our accomplishments until Monday morning when a school announcement was made. I think that took away some of the hurt.”

Actually, the pain of losing started to disappear when Dedrick took over the struggling program.

In two years, Dedrick has guided the Seraphs to consecutive playoff appearances. This season, the Seraphs went 19-4 overall and won its first Tri-Valley League title with a 12-0.

The 1989-90 team also set school records for most wins in a season (19), most consecutive wins (15), most consecutive wins at home (13), most league wins (12), fewest loses (4) and first ever league title.

Susanne Carey, a 6-foot senior guard, and Joana Ziuraitis, a 6-1 sophomore center, were the prominent players. Carey averaged 16 points and 15 rebounds a game, and Ziuraitis averaged 9.1 points and 14.5 rebounds.

But the Seraphs’ nonstop running game would have been reduced to a crawl without contributions from starting forwards Lori Rice and Stacy Stoyanoff and guard Sandy Vasquez.

“Our starters each had at least one game where they led the team in scoring,” Dedrick said. “We weren’t a one or two player team.”

And Ventura is no longer a one or two team town when it comes to girls’ basketball.

On the shorts end: When Joana Ziuraitis began to dress for Saturday’s game, she realized that she forgot her shorts and had to borrow a pair from reserve Suzanne Cattanach.

When Ziuraitis fouled out in the fourth quarter, the players re-exchanged the shorts.

Add Seraphs: In college, Dedrick was a two-time NAIA All-American at Cal Baptist. She coached two seasons at Temple Christian before arriving at St. Bonaventure.

She admits the adjustment from player to coach has been a difficult one.

“When I was playing, I felt that I could directly affect the outcome of any game,” Dedrick said. “I’m not trying to be egotistical, but as a coach, you’re sitting and watching it happen.

“I can’t make anyone do anything. I can change offensive systems and practice times, but when the game starts, I’m virtually powerless.”

Staying alive: All three Ventura County men’s junior college basketball teams survived the first round of the Southern California regional of the state basketball tournament Saturday night and played second-round games Wednesday night. (Results were not available at press time.)

Ventura, the Western State Conference Northern Division champion and No. 8 seed, opened up with an 86-78 win over Palomar of the Pacific Coast Conference. Pirates’ forward Leo Parker led all scorers with 27 points. Ventura (28-9) played host to Compton (25-7), the No. 9 seed, in the second round.

Moorpark built a 19-point halftime lead and had little trouble dispatching visiting Orange Coast, 75-64. Moorpark’s Sam Crawford scored a game-high 20 points and 12 assists. Thirteenth-seeded Moorpark (22-10) travelled to Antelope Valley (27-6) Wednesday.

Oxnard, an at-large entry from the WSC and No. 15 seed, rallied in the second half for a 69-63 opening-round win against Mt. San Jacinto. Forward Randy Carter led the Condors in scoring with 19 points. Oxnard (17-14) played at Cypress (26-3), the No. 2 seeded team, in the second round.

The winners advance to the third round Saturday. Winners Saturday advance to the state tournament, which will be held March 8-10 at UC Irvine’s Bren Events Center.

The Ventura County women’s teams weren’t as fortunate, although Ventura lasted one round more than Moorpark, which lost in the first round last Wednesday to El Camino, 77-59.

After opening with a 62-54 win over Orange Coast College last Wednesday, the Pirates were eliminated in the second-round after losing to Cerritos, 84-65. Suzanne Hoag scored 31 points in a losing effort. Ventura finished 23-9.

Signings: Three former standouts from the Marmonte League made commitments Monday to play college football.

Newbury Park lineman Joe Smigiel (6-5, 255 pounds), a Times All-Ventura County selection, has signed to play for former Rams Coach George Allen at Cal State Long Beach.

Thousand Oaks defensive back Jim Magallanes, also an all-county player, accepted a grant-in-aid to play at Pennsylvania of the Ivy League.

Former teammate Lance Alverson (5-10, 175), a Thousand Oaks defensive back in 1987 and ‘88, accepted a scholarship to Fort Lewis, a Division II school in Durango, Colo. Alverson sat out last season with a knee injury while attending Moorpark College.

Staying around: The Nordhoff boys’ basketball team, which was 15-9 overall, 7-3 in league play, had its best finish since 1985 when the Rangers took second in the Frontier League and reached the semifinals.

This season, the Rangers again placed second in the league and reached the quarterfinals before losing to Banning, 87-68.

“It was refreshing to see kids make a commitment to the team and stick to it regardless of their role,” Coach Dick Sebek said. “I don’t remember that ever happen before.”

Record-setter: Nordhoff guard Rob Fournier set a school record for most assists in a season with 199, breaking the previous mark of 180 set by Larry Messer in 1984.

Conference kickoff: Ventura, Oxnard and Moorpark begin WSC baseball play this afternoon.

Ventura plays at Bakersfield; Oxnard plays host to Glendale, and Moorpark travels to Cuesta. Ventura, the defending WSC champion, is hoping a veteran team will improve last year’s 29-11 record.

Rebuilding Oxnard has a first-year coach, Lindsey Meggs, as does Moorpark, where former Camarillo High Coach Ken Wagner has taken over.

Eric Shepard and staff writer Brendan Healey contributed to this notebook.