Rancho Santiago Goes Far With a Little Bit of Luck

It’s not as if Rancho Santiago College exactly roared into the quarterfinals of the men’s state basketball playoffs.

In fact, far from it. The Dons needed and got a pair of free throws from freshman Vern Broadnax with one second left in regulation to force overtime. After taking a two-point lead in overtime, Glendale had a chance to tie the score on two free throws with four seconds left but missed, and Rancho Santiago went on to an 86-84 victory.

“We’re just really excited about being in the final eight,” Rancho Santiago Coach Dana Pagett said. “You have to be good and get a few breaks along the way to get this far. We’ve been at both ends but so far things have just gone our way.”

In the quarterfinals, which start Thursday at UC Irvine, the Dons (23-9) will play American River (24-12) at 7 p.m. The other pairings at the Bren Center: Chabot (24-10) vs. Moorpark (24-10) at 3 p.m.; West Valley (29-2) vs. El Camino (23-10) at 5 p.m., and Imperial Valley (32-1) vs. Merced (22-10) at 9 p.m.

A victory in the quarterfinals would give Rancho Santiago its first 30-victory season.

Rancho Santiago’s previous best season was in 1986-87 when the Dons went 29-5, losing in the semifinals.

Coaching award: Ezra Van Horn, former Fullerton men’s basketball coach and longtime basketball and football official, will be honored on Wednesday by the Orange County Chapter of the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame.

Van Horn also has been selected to coach the south team in the state all-star basketball game, which will be played at 5 p.m. Saturday at UC Irvine. The state championship game follows at 7:30 p.m.

Van Horn had a 140-121 record in his 10 seasons at Fullerton College. He is currently the school’s golf coach.

More coaching awards: Ken Hamdorf of Golden West and George Mattias of Orange Coast were honored by the California Coaches Assn. last week.

Hamdorf was voted the 1989 water polo and swimming coach of the year and Mattias was picked as the men’s tennis coach of the year. Mattias retired as coach after last spring, but is still teaching at OCC.

Local heroes: Orange County teams have won four state titles in the 1989-90 school year, and all have been won by Golden West and Orange Coast, both members of the Coastline Community College District.

The fourth title came Saturday when the Golden West women’s team won in basketball. The title had proved elusive to the Rustlers in the last three seasons, even though they reached the quarterfinals each time.

Last fall, Golden West had won the water polo title and OCC won both men’s and women’s soccer titles.

Men’s tennis: Saddleback won the first Sports Chalet men’s tournament Sunday at Golden West.

The Gauchos finished with 24 points, L.A. Pierce was second with 17, Long Beach (11) was third, and Orange Coast (seven) was fourth.

Saddleback won five of six singles divisions and two of three doubles divisions.

Arlen Sternberg, Esteban Saba, Scott Hansen, Eimei Ishida, and Scott Clark won in singles and Sternberg and Hansen, and Ishida and Clark won in doubles.

Pick ‘em: The Orange Empire Conference sports information directors are hoping to run their streak of correct picks in the baseball race to four in a row this season.

The group has selected Rancho Santiago as the conference favorite.

So far the decision appears solid. Don Sneddon’s team is 4-0 and in first place. The group has picked 12 of the 17 polls correctly.

Community College Notes

Claudette Jackson of Golden West was picked as the Southern California player of the year in women’s basketball. Bits Sirchia, a freshman guard, and Donna Gondringer, a sophomore forward, Jackson’s teammates, also were picked to the first team. OCC point guard Michelle Hennessey was also named to the team. . . . Baseball coach Nick Fuscardo is seeking his 100th victory at Fullerton today when the Hornets play host to Cypress in a 2:30 p.m. game. Fuscardo is 99-69 and in his fifth season. . . . Brian Fisher, a former Rancho Santiago pole vaulter, set a Cal State Los Angeles record when he cleared 16 feet, 7 inches, Feb. 17. . . . Nick Scandone is the new sailing coach at OCC. Scandone, an All-American at UC Irvine in 1988, replaces Dwayne Bora, who stepped down last week.