COLLEGE DIVISION NOTEBOOK : Coach Hopes SCC Can Live Up to Its Ranking

The Southern California College men’s basketball team, which entered the NAIA Division I rankings at No. 14 this week, will play in the Christ College Irvine tournament Friday and Saturday.

The Vanguards (7-1) moved into the national poll despite losing their first game of the season, 64-60, to NAIA District 3 rival Cal Baptist in the semifinals of the Redlands tournament Friday. SCC is the only District 3 team ranked. Biola, the district’s preseason favorite, is among others receiving votes. SCC senior guard Rick Witmer was named to the Redlands all-tournament team.

“Let’s hope it’s not a premature ranking,” SCC Coach Bill Reynolds said. “I have mixed emotions. I am happy that other people think highly of our team, but I’m not sure that we’re as good as that yet.”

SCC will play Christian Heritage, which it defeated, 70-63, last month in El Cajon, at 6:30 p.m. Friday. Christ College Irvine (4-3) will play host to Mt. Mercy College of Iowa in the second game, which is scheduled for 8:30 p.m.

The winners will play for the title at 8:30 Saturday night.

It’s a big weekend for basketball at CCI. Christ College’s women’s team will play Northern Montana, ranked No. 1 in the NAIA Division II, at 4:30 p.m. Friday, in the first game of a triple-header.

Christ College also plays host to Biola at 4:30 p.m. Saturday. The men’s team will play Northern Montana, ranked No. 13 in the nation, at 7:30 p.m. Monday.

The Lady Eagles (5-1), who avenged their only loss of the season by defeating Redlands, 77-59, Tuesday, have won five consecutive games. Christ College is led by Nancy Geisler, who is averaging 14.8 points, Gitte Mejer (14.5) and Kaisa Kepsu (13). Mejer, a sophomore from Aarhus, Denmark, and Kepsu, a freshman from Espoo, Finland, each scored 22 points against Redlands.

CCI was hurt by a half-court trap in the season-opening loss to Redlands, but Eagle Coach Kent Schlichtemeier brought in some male CCI intramural players to get his team accustomed to pressure.

“We call them the ‘Meat Squad,’ ” Schlichtemeier said. “They’re better jumpers than we are and they’re stronger, so it toughens us up for games.”

CCI’s Darren Lax, a transfer from Riverside College, will have surgery on a broken foot that he suffered in practice before the season. Lax, who will redshirt this season, retains two seasons of eligibility.

D’Andre Brown, a post player for CCI, was named District 3 player of the week. Brown, a transfer from Cerritos College, averaged 18.3 points and 7.6 rebounds as the Eagles went 2-1 for the week.