JC NOTES : Rancho Santiago Shoots Down Harbor and El Camino in Tourney

Rancho Santiago proved to be a post-season nightmare for two South Bay basketball teams. The Dons, who defeated Chabot, 72-65, to win the state junior college title Saturday, eliminated both Harbor and El Camino in the playoffs.

Rancho Santiago nailed the Seahawks, 105-86, in the second round and beat El Camino, 81-70, on Friday in the semifinals of the state Final Eight Tournament at UC Irvine.

Harbor, the third-place team in the Southern California Athletic Conference, finished with a 23-13 mark. El Camino, which tied for third in the South Coast Conference, ended at 24-11.

“We thought we had a good chance against them,” El Camino Coach Ron McClurkin said after Friday’s loss, “but they were tough. They were real tough.”

Rancho Santiago’s success didn’t disappoint all local observers, however. The Santa Ana school has strong South Bay ties.

The Dons’ coach, Dana Pagett, was a CIF player of the year at El Segundo High School in 1967. He went on to play at USC from 1968 to 1971.

Pagett’s first coaching job was as an assistant at Loyola Marymount University in 1974. He coached at Cal State Long Beach and Utah State University before taking over at Rancho Santiago in 1983.

Pagett has led the Dons to the state playoffs four times and has a 165-92 record at the school. This season’s team went 32-3.

The El Camino women were also eliminated in the state basketball playoffs by the eventual champion. After defeating Moorpark in the first round, the Warriors got mauled, 130-80, by Golden West.

Otherwise, it was a good season for El Camino, which placed second to co-champions Cerritos and Mt. San Antonio in the South Coast Conference. The Warriors finished 22-8 under second-year head Coach Kristy Loesener.

Corey Stanbury is confident that his El Camino swim teams will make it to the state meet this year. In only his second year as head coach, Stanbury said he has the personnel to at least place second in the seven-member South Coast Conference.

“We have a pretty strong men’s team,” Stanbury said. “I think we definitely have a chance to get into the (state’s) top 10.”

The Warriors’ strength lies in the sprint and breast-stroke events. Sophomore Dan Wilkenson leads the pack in the 100- and 200-yard freestyle. Freshman Scott Peppard, a 1983 graduate of Palos Verdes High, is perhaps the team’s best sprinter. He will compete in the 50- and 100-yard events.

Freshman Charles Kissel, an all-conference water polo player at El Camino last year, is also a top-notch sprinter and mid-distance swimmer who is expected to qualify for the state meet.

All-American Todd Douglas leads the breast-strokers. The sophomore placed fourth in the 100-yard breast-stroke at last year’s state meet in Diablo Valley. Mira Costa freshman Bret Johnson will also compete in the 100 breast-stroke and several freestyle sprints.

“We really have a deep team,” Stanbury said. “We should do very well this year.”

The women’s team isn’t as strong as the men’s, but Stanbury said it has improved since last year.

Nicole Standardi is the Warriors’ top returner in the 100 and 200 freestyle. Last year Standardi, a graduate of Rolling Hills High, competed primarily in the butterfly.

Nancy Stanbury, the coach’s wife, is expected to be one of the team’s leading breast-strokers. Nancy, 40, is a top masters swimmer who competed for one year at Ventura College when Stanbury coached at Class Aquatics in the San Fernando Valley.

Ronona Smith, 29, is also one of the Warriors’ top breast-strokers. The Carson High graduate competed at El Camino in 1979 and is back in full force, Stanbury said.

Dusty Crayton will lead El Camino in the 50 and 100 butterfly. The freshman from Redondo High qualified for the CIF meet last year in the 100 butterfly and a freestyle relay team.

Terry McFate found himself in an unfamiliar situation last Friday. The El Camino women’s track coach suffered his first loss since coming to the program in 1984. The defending state champion Warriors lost to Long Beach in a tri-meet at Cerritos, giving McFate a 36-1 career mark at the school.

“He was upset,” said El Camino Athletic Director Dave Shannon, the Warriors’ former cross-country and track coach, “but he was very philosophical about it. He was down several athletes. There were illnesses and family emergencies and some ineligibilities.”

In addition, El Camino lost several key athletes from last year’s state championship team. But the Warriors have a tremendous bright spot in Sharette Garcia.

The sophomore broke her own 800-meter school record at the Aztec Invitational in San Diego last weekend. Her 2:07.92 finish in San Diego ranks tops in the nation among junior college runners.

Winning marks are nothing new for Garcia, who swept the 800-meter state title last year and placed second in the 1,500 meters. She was also part of El Camino’s state champion 4 x 400 relay team.

Another bright spot is newcomer Diana Tracy, who placed third for El Camino in the state championship cross-country meet. The 37-year-old has already topped the Southern California mark in the 3,000 meters (10:12).

“She’s incredible,” said assistant track coach Dean Lofgren, who is also the Warriors’ head cross-country coach. “It’s early in the season, and she’s already getting top marks. She’ll definitely make it to state.”