Rancho Santiago Seeded 6th in Regional Playoffs

All seven teams from the Orange Empire Conference advanced to the Southern California Regional men’s basketball playoffs in the pairings that were announced Monday.

Rancho Santiago (21-9), the two-time defending State champion and the current Orange Empire Conference title-holder, was seeded sixth in the single-elimination, 32-team field.

The first round is Saturday, the second round is scheduled for Feb. 25 or 26, and the third round is set for Feb. 29.

The Dons play host to Glendale (13-15), the No. 27 team. The winner of the Rancho Santiago game advances to play the winner of the game between No. 22 El Camino (11-13) and host No. 11 Mt. San Jacinto (23-9). Other games in Rancho Santiago’s bracket: No. 19 L.A. Trade Tech (18-13) at No. 14 Santa Monica (19-11) and No. 30 Fullerton (13-14) at No. 3 Cerritos (27-4).

Saddleback (16-12) was seeded No. 9 and plays host to No. 24 Rio Hondo (19-12). The winner of that game plays the winner of No. 25 Chaffey (17-12) at No. 8 MiraCosta (15-11). The other half of the bracket has No. 32 Pasadena (15-15) at No. 1 Ventura (29-4) and No. 17 Riverside (20-13) at No. 16 Los Angeles City (16-14).

Cypress (20-10) is seeded No. 13 and plays host to No. 20 LA Harbor (18-14). Canyons (26-4), the No. 4 team, plays host to No. 29 Palomar (12-18). In other bracket games: No. 21 Barstow (19-12) is at No. 12 Southwestern (24-8) and No. 28 Mt. San Antonio (13-14) is at No. 5 Compton (25-5).

Golden West and Orange Coast have the toughest first-round games. Golden West (14-18) was seeded No. 26 and is at No. 7 Antelope Valley (19-12) and Orange Coast (11-18) was selected No. 31 and is at No. 2 Long Beach (27-5). Imperial Valley (22-10), the No. 10 team, plays host to No. 23 Santa Barbara (13-18) and No. 18 Los Angeles Valley (18-13) is at No. 15 Oxnard (18-11).

The four bracket winners from Southern California meet the four from Northern California in the state tournament March 12-14 in San Jose.

Decisions, decisions: When the Orange Empire Conference men’s basketball coaches meet tonight at Rancho Santiago, they face a difficult task--picking the conference’s most valuable player.

There were several strong players this season, but none stood out more than the others.

Rancho Santiago (21-9, 9-3 in conference) won the title for the second consecutive season, but the Dons lacked a superstar, instead relying on strong play as a unit.

Sophomore guard Beau Hossler might be the best choice from Rancho Santiago. He averaged 9.3 points and 5.3 assists and was a leader on the court. Freshman Ruben Oronoz was the leading scorer, averaging 12.6 points.

Saddleback (16-12, 7-5) and Cypress (20-10, 7-5) tied for second. Saddleback was led by sophomore guard Ray Ankton, who averaged 17.7 points. Ankton could have a good chance if the coaches don’t choose anyone from Rancho Santiago. David Boyle averaged 14.8 points for Cypress.

Riverside (20-13, 6-6) finished fourth and was led by sophomore forward Fred Haygood, another candidate who averaged 18.3 points and 9.6 rebounds per game.

Fullerton (13-14, 5-7) and Golden West (14-18, 5-7) tied for fifth. Sophomore forward Bob Terry of Fullerton was the top scorer in the conference with 20.3 points per game, but the Hornets’ sixth-place finish could hurt his chances. Mark Johnson averaged 18.4 points and 9.4 rebounds for Golden West.

Agustin Heredia, a sophomore guard, averaged 15.2 points for seventh-place Orange Coast (11-18, 3-9). OCC had only three conference victories but knocked off first-place Rancho Santiago and second-place Saddleback. Its other victory came against Golden West.

Crowds of the year: While men’s basketball tends to command most of the attention, the biggest and loudest crowds of the season were at the two Saddleback-Golden West women’s games. Saddleback had about 350 on hand Jan. 29 in Mission Viejo, when the Gauchos defeated Golden West, 77-74.

About 450 showed up Friday at Golden West, where the Rustlers won, 73-59, to claim their third consecutive Orange Empire Conference title. The crowds supported both teams well, as they have all season.

Golden West started slowly Friday, missing its first 16 shots and trailed, 30-22, at the half. The Rustlers then fell behind, 34-22, before outscoring Saddleback, 51-25, in about the final 18 minutes.

It was the 43rd consecutive victory at home for Golden West.

Community College Notes

Because of a mix-up Saturday, Golden West starting forward Bret Lundeen was without his uniform top when the Rustlers played at Saddleback. Lundeen borrowed the No. 42 jersey of reserve Art Perez. Perez was left with a green T-shirt, but with the help of teammate Mark Johnson and some white tape, he had a No. 0 on it . . . The Orange Coast women’s swim team, coached by Don Watson, beat Cypress Friday in the Orange Empire Conference opener. The victory ran the team’s dual-meet winning streak to 76. It is believed to be the longest ever of any team in the state. . . . Cypress guard Sandra Bernardo set the Chargers’ single-season record for three-pointers with 37.