Thompson Adds Points to His Saddleback Role

When Matt Thompson talks about his offensive talents, it’s with an enthusiasm usually reserved for somebody who has just started a hobby.

In a sense, scoring is a fairly new habit for Thompson, who is a sophomore forward at Saddleback College. At El Toro High School and last season as a freshman at Saddleback, Thompson, who is 6 feet 5, was known mostly for his rebounding.

He is still rebounding well this season. Thompson is averaging a team-high 8.6 per game, fourth best in Orange County. But the real surprise is that Thompson is leading the Gauchos in scoring with a 14.6 average.

“I’d still rather get rebounds than points,” Thompson said. “I consider myself a role player and always have.”

The reason for Thompson’s scoring outburst this season is simple--he is finally working on his offensive game.

“He’s been our most consistent player,” Saddleback Coach Bill Brummel said. “He’s worked hard and done a nice job at both ends.”

Thompson spent the summer with Brummel, practicing his offensive game for the first time in his life. He had always played basketball in the summer, but that was usually in pickup games, during which he was reluctant to shoot.

As part of Saddleback’s offense, Thompson gets the ball in the low post; however, some of his scoring still comes as a result of rebounds. He has 180 rebounds this season, 67 coming at the offensive end.

“I really didn’t have any offensive skills before this season,” Thompson said. “I just liked to rebound, that was the part of the game that was fun.”

Thompson hadn’t considered playing college basketball after high school, mostly because he wasn’t a starter at El Toro. But that was because he played behind Khari Johnson (UC Irvine) and Greg Everett (Creighton).

“He was our sixth man,” El Toro Coach Tim Travers said. “But that was because he was behind two D-I (Division I) players. He always worked hard in our program. When he came in as a freshman, he was the 13th or 14th man on that team. But he just kept working hard and getting better.”

Thompson didn’t plan to play in college, but on the advice of Johnson, Thompson figured he’d give it a chance at Saddleback.

He made the team last season but got off to a slow start because of a thumb injury in mid-December. He missed the next 11 games, including the first four in conference, but still averaged 8.8 points and 7.6 rebounds.

Rancho Santiago, carrying the state’s No. 1 ranking and a 20-game winning streak, travels to Riverside Wednesday in the final game of the first round of Orange Empire Conference play.

The Dons (23-1, 5-0 in conference) will be facing a Tiger team that, like the rest of the conference, has been inconsistent all season.

Last week, Riverside (15-11, 2-3) lost to Orange Coast, 71-66, at home Wednesday, but turned it around Saturday with a 100-78 victory over host Fullerton.

When the second and final round of conference play begins Saturday, Rancho Santiago will play host to Cypress (17-8, 4-1) in a rematch of the Dons’ toughest game in quite a while.

Rancho Santiago defeated Cypress, 99-92, in the conference opener Jan. 3. The seven-point victory was the smallest the Dons have enjoyed in any game this season. Rancho Santiago is outscoring its opponents by an average of 97.5-74.2.

The Rancho Santiago men’s team has rolled up a 55-4 record over the past two seasons, but it’s not the best record in the county during that time.

The Golden West women, who like the Rancho Santiago men are the defending state champions, have a 62-2 mark over the past two years.

The Rustlers were 38-1 last season and this year are 24-1 overall, 6-0 at the halfway point in conference. Golden West has won 16 in a row this season and 28 in a row at home in a streak that dates back to February, 1989. Golden West has a bye Wednesday, then starts the second round of conference play Friday at Orange Coast.