COMMUNITY COLLEGES : Playoff Berth Within Reach of El Camino

The El Camino College women’s basketball team struggled during the preseason, but the Warriors have been consistent winners in South Coast Conference play.

With three games remaining in the regular season, it appears El Camino will be playoff bound. The Warriors are in second place in the eight-member SCC with a 9-2 record (13-12 overall) after Wednesday’s 55-50 victory over Pasadena City College.

Cerritos College (21-6 overall, 11-0 in league play) is in first place. El Camino lost to the Falcons, 58-50, Jan. 23. The teams will meet again Feb. 15 at Cerritos in the final regular-season game.

The Warriors are looking for their second consecutive postseason berth under Coach Kristy Loesener, who led El Camino to the second round of the playoffs and a 22-8 record in her first year.

El Camino lost four starters from last season’s club, but Loesener managed to fill the void. The Warriors’ top three scorers and rebounders are newcomers.

El Camino is led by sophomore Cyndi Lyons (14.2 points, 6.6 rebounds), a community college transfer from Washington. Freshmen Sarah Birt and Monica Wood average 10.4 and 10.3 points respectively. Birt, a guard from Morningside High, also averages 4.0 rebounds and Wood, a center from Bishop Montgomery High, averages 9.5 rebounds.

Freshmen guards Rosa Olloque, and Toya Ashford have also played consistently. Olloque, a two-time All-South Bay point guard from West Torrance, averages 2.4 assists and Ashford (Carson High) averages 2.8 assists and has 32 steals.

Former El Camino basketball standout Zlatko Josic will complete his collegiate career at Division II Chapman College, where he averages 8.6 points and 4.8 rebounds this season.

Josic transferred to Chapman after a disappointing junior season at Clemson University. He received a scholarship at Clemson in 1989 after two spectacular seasons at El Camino. But the 6-foot-5 forward played in only five games and averaged 1.3 points at the Atlantic Coast Conference school.

“Going there was a bad decision,” Josic said. “I was told I would play and I didn’t even get a chance. I practiced hard and played a lot during practice, but I never got a chance in a game.”

Josic says he was going to quit playing basketball when Chapman Coach Bob Boyd gave him a call.

“He knew me from when I played at El Camino and he coached at Riverside (City College),” Josic said. “I’m glad I came here because I’m having a good time. I really like it a lot and I get along with the coaches and players.”

Josic, a fierce defensive player, helped the Warriors reach the semifinals of the state tournament as a sophomore in 1989. That season he averaged 18 points and was an All-South Coast Conference selection. He was also named SCC defensive player of the year as a freshman and sophomore.

Josic was also a standout at San Pedro High, where he helped the Pirates win four consecutive Pacific League titles. He was named the team’s most valuable player his senior year at San Pedro. He says its good to live close to his family again.

“I don’t have to worry about big phone bills,” Josic said jokingly. “I like the fact that my parents can come and watch me play. I feel like I have an edge when my mom and dad are at the games.”

The state community college basketball tournament, which in recent seasons had a 52-team field, will increase to 64 teams this season. The 12 additional teams eliminates byes previously awarded to the top six teams in each region. Some coaches felt that not playing a game for up to two weeks after the end of the regular season was a disadvantage.

Tournament seeding will take place Feb. 19. First-round games will be played Feb. 23, second-round games Feb. 27 and third-round games March 3. The final eight teams will compete in the championship tournament at UC Irvine’s Bren Events Center March 7-9. Rancho Santiago won the title last season with a 72-65 victory over Chabot.

It has been a disappointing season for Harbor College basketball Coach Ken Curry, who has led the Seahawks to the playoffs in his three previous years at the school.

Harbor is in fifth place in the seven-member Southern California Athletic Conference with a 10-17 record and is 3-6 in league play. The Seahawks have lost two consecutive games, Jan. 30 to L.A. City College, 122-75, and Friday to Compton College, 111-68.

Harbor’s conference victories are against the two worst teams in the league, Marymount (10-16, 3-6) and L.A. Trade Tech (4-21, 0-8). The Seahawks beat Marymount, 95-93, in the league opener Jan. 2. They won an overtime game against Marymount Jan. 25.

Harbor is expected to earn its fourth SCAC victory tonight when it plays host to winless Trade Tech.

Harbor could really use a player such as Terry Nelson. The 6-foot-6 forward led the Seahawks in scoring (18.3) and rebounding (nine) as a freshman All-State selection last season. But Nelson transferred to Long Beach City College late in the summer, saying that Long Beach had a better team with a strong chance of making the playoffs.

This season Nelson leads the Vikings in scoring (15.5) and rebounding (11.3) and averages 5.1 assists. The Vikings are ranked third in the state by the JC Athletic Bureau with a 25-4 record. They are 5-1 in the competitive South Coast Conference.

Ever wonder what happened to Sam Crawford, the flamboyant point guard from Westchester High? The two-time, All-City player has taken his flashy show to Ventura County.

As a freshman at Moorpark College this season, he leads the state in assists (13.2) and is second on the team in scoring (19.8). The Raiders are ranked seventh in the state by the JC Athletic Bureau.