COLLEGES / IRENE GARCIA : Harbor Putting Some Life Back Into Old Rivalry

Although El Camino College has held the edge over rival Harbor in practically every sport through the years, the Seahawk men’s basketball and soccer teams could be on their way to changing the Warriors’ domination.

In a South Coast Conference soccer match at Harbor on Friday, the Seahawks beat El Camino, 1-0, in a regular-season finale.

“They beat us for the first time in 16 years,” El Camino soccer Coach Jim Millinder said.

On Sunday, Harbor’s basketball team defeated El Camino, 94-66, in the final of the Corsair Tip-Off Classic at Santa Monica City College.

Harbor public information officer Gary Wood, who has been at the school for 11 years, says there is no record of a men’s basketball victory over El Camino.

“It if happened, it’s been a long long time,” Wood said. “I don’t think we’ve beat them in anything except baseball.”

Harbor swingman Jerry Allen scored a game-high 20 points in the victory and was named the tournament’s most valuable player. Sophomore Bassirou Niang had 16 points and was named to the all-tournament team.

Carl Strong, in his second season as Harbor coach, downplayed the victory.

“It was special because we won the tournament,” Strong said. “The kids played very well. The score is not indicative of the quality of the teams because after they got down 10, 15 points they put in their second unit and so did we.”

Sunday’s game could have been the first of four games between the teams. The Seahawks and Warriors will meet twice during South Coast Conference play and may play in this weekend’s Cypress tournament.

This is the first season Harbor will compete in the SCC, which is regarded as one of the state’s best community college basketball leagues. The Seahawks used to compete in the Southern California Athletic Conference.

Strong was an assistant at El Camino under three coaches. He worked under Ron Jacobs in 1978-79 and Paul Landreaux in 1980-81, when El Camino won its first state championship.

Strong coached the Torrance High boys’ team before returning to El Camino in 1989 for a two-year stint as Ron McClurkin’s assistant. McClurkin, who had been Landreaux’s longtime assistant, became the Warriors’ interim coach when Landreaux was granted a leave of absence to coach at the NCAA Division I level, first as an assistant at UCLA then as coach at St. Mary’s College.

Landreaux resigned from St. Mary’s midway through the 1990-91 season and returned to El Camino in 1991-92.

“I think any coach would like to compete in the South Coast Conference,” Strong said. “There’s a great tradition in that league and outstanding coaches. I’ve known those guys for a long time. You will not face a weak sister in the conference. It’s really class, first class.”

Last year Strong led the Seahawks to an 18-15 record. Harbor was 6-6 in the SCAC.

The El Camino men’s and women’s cross-country teams will compete in Saturday’s state championship meet in Fresno. The men qualified by easily winning last week’s South Coast Conference meet at Mt. San Antonio College.

The Warriors beat favored Mt. SAC, 21-40. Five of the top seven finishers on the four-mile course were from El Camino. Israel Pose won the race in 20 minutes, Steve Gonzales placed second (20:22), Joe Reinisch finished fifth (20:38), Julio Moreno sixth (20:52) and Jeoff Delahnty seventh at 21:07.

“We knew Mt. SAC would be very good on their course,” El Camino Coach Dean Lofgren said. “But we ran superbly. We expected it to be closer, though.”

The women placed third to Long Beach and Mt. SAC at the conference meet.

El Camino sophomore Maria Maldonado won the women’s three-mile race in 19:02. Liz Sutton finished seventh at 20:03 and Teresa Wise placed ninth at 20:15.

“Maria had a great race,” Lofgren said. “Winning it was really a pleasant surprise, but not all that unexpected. She’s had a great season.”

The El Camino men’s and women’s soccer teams will begin play Saturday in the state playoffs. The fourth-seeded women will meet top-seeded Cypress (15-1) in a second-round match and the seventh-seeded men’s team will play second-seeded San Diego City College in the first round.

The women improved to 15-2-3 with a 3-0 first-round victory over Bakersfield on Tuesday at Murdock Stadium.

“It was a very good win for the women,” Coach Jim Millinder said. “It will definitely be tough to go away on the road and win on Saturday. We’ve got to execute and put some pressure on them.”

Sophomores Natalie Sur and Marcelle Meses (Miraleste High) lead the Warriors in scoring.

The men (11-2-1) are led by freshmen David Kaemmerer (Palos Verdes) and Ben Thacker (South Torrance).

“We start eight freshmen, so we have a young squad,” Millinder said. “But I like our draw. I really like our chances.”

Coaching both teams has made life hectic for Millinder, who is working on a master’s degree in physical education at Cal State Dominguez Hills.

Millinder was coaching only the women’s team at the start of the season, but shortly after the season started, longtime men’s coach Norm Jackson suffered a stroke and Millinder took over the coaching duties.

“So I took over both programs and . . . it keeps me busy,” Millinder said. “Real busy.”

Jackson however, has recovered enough to help Millinder on Saturday. He will travel to San Diego with the men while Millinder accompanies the women in Cypress.

Notes

El Camino wide receiver Latario Rachal made the Mission Conference players of the week list after gaining 336 all-purpose yards and scoring two touchdowns in a 41-40 loss to Mt. San Antonio College last week. The sophomore from Carson High had a carry for one yard, six catches for 128 yards, four kickoff returns for 165 yards and a punt return for 42 yards. Warrior linebacker Andy Alvillar, who had 13 tackles and returned an interception for a touchdown, also made the list. . . The Dominguez Hills men’s basketball team will play host to the Australian Junior National Team tonight at 7:30. The women will start the season on Dec. 3 at Biola.