Chapman’s First Test in Basketball Probably Won’t Be Strenuous

Chapman’s transitional men’s basketball season begins Saturday, but it probably will be difficult to make many conclusions about the Panthers’ new era from the result.

Mike Bokosky, the Panthers’ first-year coach, promises tough defense and an exciting running game, and he could look like a visionary Saturday against Pacific Christian, which the Panthers routed, 85-36, last season.

But a truer test should come next Tuesday when NCAA Division III Occidental visits the Hutton Center or Dec. 5 when NAIA power Biola comes to Orange.

However, a team has to start somewhere, and Coach Lee Erickson’s Pacific Christian team is scrappy and 2-0 this season after defeating LIFE Bible, 136-72, Tuesday.

“I’m sure our score Saturday will by about the same, but not in our favor,” Erickson said.

Not taking anything for granted, Bokosky points out that his team will be without Rog Middleton, the university’s all-time leading scorer who graduated last spring.

Middleton averaged 18.3 points for the 7-19 Panthers last season. Jeff Gardner, the Panthers’ highest scoring returning player, averaged 7.7 points.

Gardner, a 6-foot-3 senior guard, is one of six remaining players on scholarship. The university has stopped offering athletic scholarships to comply with the regulations of NCAA Division III, the level at which the Division II Panthers will compete starting next fall.

Bokosky says games against teams such as Pacific Christian and Occidental, which don’t have scholarship athletes, should provide a good indication of how the Panthers are progressing.

Chapman’s nonconference schedule also includes games against Southern California College, Christ College Irvine, Cal State Fullerton, and several Division II teams.

“It’s a hodgepodge of different types of teams,” said Bokosky, who was an assistant at Fullerton and UC Irvine. “It’ll be a challenge to see if we are overachievers and are able to compete against the better teams.”

The Chapman women’s basketball team also opens its season this week. The Panthers will play Texas A&I; in the first round of the West Texas State tournament Friday in Canyon, Texas.

Chapman’s nucleus of sophomores includes Melody Earle, a point guard from Estancia High, and Deanna Harry, a 6-foot-2 center from Woodbridge.

Transfers Sig Lo, from Fullerton College and Valencia High, and Heidi Sorour, from Saddleback College and Loara High, also should contribute for the Panthers, who were 12-16 last season.

After the tournament concludes Saturday, Chapman will stay in Texas and play West Texas State on Monday. The Panthers’ first home game is Nov. 27 against Southwest Baptist of Bolivar, Mo.

Chapman women’s volleyball Coach Mary Cahill has had to alter her expectations this year, the Panthers’ final season playing at the NCAA Division II level.

Like other Chapman coaches, Cahill now has no athletic scholarships with which to attract recruits. And in this transitional season, her team has struggled in the competitive California Collegiate Athletic Assn.

Chapman performed well early and was ranked as high as 16th in the Division II coaches’ poll, but entering tonight’s CCAA final against No. 8 Bakersfield, the No. 24 Panthers (18-16, 3-8 in conference) are in fifth place and will miss the NCAA playoffs for only the second time in five seasons.

“This is a first,” said Cahill, in her fourth season at Chapman. “I kind of had to change my philosophy or intentions a little bit. It hit me hard in the middle of the season.”

But Cahill was heartened by a decent showing at the Air Force tournament this month--the Panthers won one more match than they did last season--and she said the Panthers only lost one conference match--to Cal State San Bernardino--that they should have won.

After the end on the season, she will have to restock almost her entire team. Cahill expects only two of her nine players to return next season. Three have played out their eligibility, three won’t be eligible because they have opted to continue their athletic-based aid, and one is expected to transfer.

“We’ll have a team,” Cahill said. “The question is how strong of a program we will have.”

Notes

The Southern California College men’s and women’s basketball teams will each open their season Friday on the road. The men play Cal State Los Angeles at 6 p.m. in the opening game of the The Master’s College tournament in Newhall. The winner will play the winner of the game between The Master’s and San Jose Christian on Saturday. The SCC women will play at La Verne in a 7:30 p.m. game. . . . The Pacific Christian women’s team will open its season tonight, by playing host to LIFE Bible at 9:30 at Cal State Fullerton. . . . The Christ College Irvine men’s and women’s basketball teams will play alumni teams in a doubleheader Saturday in the CCI Arena. The women’s play at 5:30 p.m.; the men’s game follows at 7:30 p.m.