COMMUNITY COLLEGE BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : From Start to Finish, Rancho Santiago Rolls

There was no in-depth post-game analysis from Rancho Santiago Coach Dana Pagett Saturday night.

Pagett didn’t even call a timeout as his Dons defeated Golden West, 83-69, in an Orange Empire Conference game at Golden West.

Rancho Santiago made 13 of its first 14 shots and never was challenged. The Dons (15-7, 3-1 in conference) scored the first seven points and kept pulling away.

Rancho Santiago led, 18-2, on a layup by Glenn Greene with 14 minutes 14 seconds left in the half. The lead went to 29-6 when J.J. Ballesteros made consecutive baskets, the second coming with 10:40 left in the half.

“We just did a real nice job tonight,” Pagett said. “We played well from start to finish.”

After the Dons took a 20-point lead, Pagett shuffled his players, all 13, in and out of the game. He was pressed into service only once, in the second half. Rancho Santiago’s Beau Hossler came crashing into the bench trying to save a loose ball and Pagett caught him.

“I got lucky this time,” Pagett said. “One time when I was (an assistant) at Utah State, I tried to catch one of the big guys I went over in my chair. I’ll take the guards anytime.”

Hossler made seven of his eight shots and had a team-high 14 points. He beat the Golden West defense for layups on six of his baskets. Greene was the only other Rancho Santiago player in double figures with 12. Eric Dahl had nine points, all three-pointers, after coming off a zero-for-11 game Wednesday against Saddleback, which the Dons lost, 63-59.

Rancho Santiago maintained the lead at 30 or more points much of the second half. The biggest lead was 33 points, 64-31, after a 10-foot jumper by Daryl Cole with 13:42 left.

Fred Amos, a sophomore forward, continued his solid play off the bench for Rancho Santiago. He had seven points, 10 rebounds and five blocks.

Sophomore forward Scott Campbell was among the few bright spots for Golden West (11-12, 1-2). Campbell, playing in only his third game this season, had a team-high 17 points. He was expected to be a medical redshirt because of an irregular heartbeat, but was given his medical release 10 days ago.

Greg Evans and Mark Johnson had 13 points each for Golden West.

In other conference games:

Fullerton 75, Orange Coast 70--Rod Summers had 18 points and Greg Bedford added 17 points for Fullerton (10-9, 2-2) as the visiting Hornets defeated Orange Coast (9-11, 1-2). Agustin Porter led Orange Coast with 19 points and Jeffrey Porter had 18.

Riverside 89, Saddleback 83--Host Riverside (15-9, 1-2) went on a 10-2 run with 7:43 left to take a 75-63 lead. Fred Haygood had a team-high 25 points for Riverside. Ray Ankton scored 26 for Saddleback (11-9, 2-2). Saddleback has won both of its conference games at home and lost both on the road.

Riverside was without starting forward Geoff Gorham, who hurt his foot in practice Friday and could be out the rest of the season.