Basketball Fever Starts With 4 Tournaments

Basketball slams headlong into Orange County this week with a schedule that includes four tournaments.

Cypress, Fullerton and Rancho Santiago have men’s tournaments and Golden West plays host to a women’s tournament.

Fullerton’s tournament starts Wednesday when Saddleback plays Long Beach at 6 p.m. and Columbia plays Cerritos at 8 p.m. Long Beach reached the state final last season, but lost to Rancho Santiago. Saddleback is expected to challenge for the Orange Empire Conference title this season.

The other two first-round games take place Thursday when East Los Angeles plays Grossmont at 6 p.m., and Fullerton takes on San Bernardino Valley at 8.

The quarterfinals are at 6 and 8 p.m. Friday and the championship game is at 8 p.m. Saturday.

The Cypress Thoroughbred Classic starts Thursday with four games. Santa Monica plays Edwards Air Force Base at 2 p.m., Arizona Pima plays El Camino at 4, Miramar Naval Air Station takes on Canada at 6 and Cypress plays New Mexico at 8.

The tournament continues Friday and the championship game is at 8 p.m. Saturday.

Rancho Santiago, the two-time defending state champion, plays host to a four-team tournament that opens Friday at 6 p.m. with Glendale playing Chaffey. The Dons take on a team from the Tustin Marine Base at 8. The winners play at 8 p.m. Saturday, and the losers at 6.

The pairings for the Golden West women’s tournament, which starts Thursday, are expected to be finalized today. A problem arose when Rancho Santiago dropped its program two weeks ago, leaving a void.

Football poll and bowl news: Palomar (8-1) continues as the top-ranked team in Southern California and Saddleback (8-1) is second in the weekly Southland Poll.

Santa Barbara (8-1) is third, Fullerton (7-2) fourth, Moorpark (7-2) fifth, Cerritos (7-2) sixth, Antelope Valley (8-1) seventh, LA Pierce (7-1-1) eighth, Pasadena (6-3) ninth and San Bernardino Valley (7-2) is 10th.

Palomar finishes the regular season with a game against Grossmont at 1:30 p.m. and Saddleback plays host to Rancho Santiago at 7 p.m.

But the chances of the teams meeting to decide the top team in Southern California are remote when bowl bids are extended Sunday.

Palomar is expected to play in the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame Bowl in San Diego. Saddleback probably will play in the Simple Green Orange County Bowl. Since either team leaving their local bowl is unlikely, secondary matchups are the best hope of any bowl organizers.

It also looks as if the Orange County Bowl with have a doubleheader for the fifth consecutive year.

Homecoming Horrors: It’s been a difficult year for homecoming committees around the Central Division of the Mission Conference. So far Golden West, Orange Coast, Rancho Santiago, Riverside and Saddleback have had homecomings, but only Saddleback won its game.

Orange Coast lost to Fullerton, 38-30, Riverside was drubbed by Orange Coast, 51-0, Golden West lost to Saddleback, 38-14, and Rancho Santiago was beaten by Fullerton, 34-7. Saddleback beat Riverside, 28-14, for the only alumni-pleasing victory.

Fullerton plays host to Riverside at 7 p.m. Saturday in the final homecoming of the year.

Golden West celebrated its 25th anniversary with a fireworks display that capped the halftime ceremony Saturday. Cheerleaders from different years took part in routines and some did yells popular during their time at Golden West.

The oddest cheer came from the Class of 1966. “Grab an arm and rip it off, make them gag, make them cough.”

Community College Notes

Laura Corson, who was pitcher of the year in the Orange Empire Conference last spring for state-champion Cypress, will attend Utah State on a softball scholarship. Corson, from La Habra High School, was 29-7, with two saves and an 0.37 earned-run average for Cypress. She also was the most valuable pitcher of the state tournament . . . Golden West defensive back Doug Cunningham (knee) will miss the final game of the season. . . . Heather Haas, daughter of Cypress women’s soccer Coach Ray Haas, is a member of the Cal State Dominguez Hills soccer team that won the Division II title Sunday with a 2-1 victory over Sonoma State . . . The four fumbles recovered by OCC in its 51-0 victory over Riverside Saturday gave the Pirates the single-season record with 26.