Canyons Wins Despite Serious Traveling Woes

Question: How can a team travel twice as far as its opponent for a home game?

Answer: Travel to the opponent’s gymnasium, then turn around and return to where you started.

That’s what the College of the Canyons women’s basketball team did last week for a Western State Conference game against Compton. Because of a schedule mix-up, Canyons traveled to Compton in snarled traffic--tied up by rainy weather--while Compton ventured to Canyons. Somewhere on the 405 freeway, the two teams passed.

When Canyons arrived at Compton--about 1 1/2 hours later--Canyons Coach Greg Herrick discovered the mix-up.

After a couple of phone calls to straighten out the situation, the Cougars headed back to Canyons. This time they took a different route--through Pasadena--and saved all of 15 minutes.

After nearly three hours in two cramped vans driving around rain-drenched Los Angeles, the Cougars took the floor against Compton. Despite the prelude, Canyons won, 70-60.

“After all of that,” Herrick said, “it would have been a shame to have lost the game.”

BATTLE PLAN

The Master’s men’s basketball Coach Mel Hankinson attributed strategy gleaned from Norman Schwarzkopf’s autobiography, “It Doesn’t Take A Hero,” with helping the Mustangs defeat Biola on Wednesday, 62-54.

“When you go into the intensity of a big battle you are tempted to be macho and hit them up the middle, which Schwarzkopf showed would have been a mistake in Desert Storm,” Hankinson said. “So we flanked them tonight. Schwarzkopf would have been pleased.

“We used half-court traps, we mixed zone and man-to-man presses and we always had two men on their big scorers.”

DRIVE AND DISH

The ball-handling and passing skills of guard David Humphrey enabled Master’s break Biola’s press. Several times, Humphrey pushed the ball past the half-court line, drove the lane and passed to teammates Emeka Okenwa, Don Peters, and Rogerio Soares, who made easy baskets. Humphrey, a senior from Miami, was credited with seven assists, boosting his season total to 100.

Another key was the 10 consecutive foul shots the Mustangs (12-8) sank in the final 5 minutes 12 seconds, including a pair by Okenwa, who finished with a team-high 15 points.

Okenwa, a junior from Owerri, Nigeria, transferred to Master’s, an NAIA school, from NCAA Division I Southern Illinois after his NCAA eligibility ran out.

A seldom-used reserve on the Southern Illinois squad, he leads the Mustangs in scoring (15.2 points per game), field-goal percentage (60%), rebounding (8.1 per game) and blocked shots (a total of eight).

PLAYING IN PAIN

A tear in the cartilage of his right knee is not keeping Damon Ridley from shredding the nets for Cal Lutheran.

Ridley postponed arthroscopic surgery until after the season when a doctor informed him that his knee would not be further damaged by playing.

In three Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference games, Ridley is averaging 26.6 points on 29 of 48 (60.4%) shooting from the field. The transfer from Sierra College in Rocklin, Calif., also has 19 steals, nine rebounds and 13 assists in conference play.

CHANGE OF HEART

Hart High middle hitter Shannon Martin and Nordhoff High setter Sami Sawyer have crossed Cal State Northridge off their lists in the wake of Coach Walt Ker’s resignation.

Martin, who renounced her commitment to CSUN, is considering Washington State, Fresno State, Reno, and Arizona. Sawyer, the Southern Section Division IV player of the year who led the Rangers to Southern Section and state Division IV titles, is no longer considering CSUN or Virginia. Houston is the front-runner for Sawyer’s services. Oklahoma also is in the running.

NO WELCOME

The Pacific and UC San Diego men’s volleyball teams might be rethinking their decisions to enter the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation when conference play begins next month.

“This is an awfully tough year to be coming into our league,” Northridge Coach John Price said. “With all of the good seniors everyone has, our league has never been better.”

Price’s statement speaks volumes, considering teams from the conference, previously known as the Western Intercollegiate Volleyball Assn. have won all 23 NCAA championships.

IRONMAN

No one could blame Northridge weakside hitter Ken Lynch for being tired last Saturday at the end of the UC Santa Barbara Collegiate Invitational Volleyball tournament. With the Matadors hampered by injuries, Lynch was in the lineup for every point of Northridge’s 14 games in the two-day event.

Lynch was as effective as he was tired. His consistent hitting helped the Matadors to a fifth-place finish.

GENERAL HOSPITAL

After opening the Western State Conference season with two victories in three games, the Moorpark women’s basketball team has struggled.

The Raiders (8-12, 2-5 in conference play) have lost four consecutive games, including a 63-49 decision against visiting Santa Barbara on Wednesday. Their last victory came Jan. 7 over Glendale, 86-82.

Many of Moorpark’s woes, Coach Lisa Ziegler said, have been caused by injuries. Point guard Diem Nguyen has been sidelined since the victory over Glendale with a dislocated kneecap and guard Lori Church is only recently recovered from a sprained ankle. Both are starters.

Church, a former Simi Valley High standout, is averaging 14.4 points and 7.6 rebounds. Nguyen, who played at Newbury Park, is second in assists among WSC players with a 6.5 average.

Ziegler said Nguyen is expected to return for today’s game at Oxnard, in time to replace Heather Eubanks, a former Simi Valley High standout who was filling in at point guard. Eubanks sustained a a sprained ankle against Santa Barbara. Ziegler said Eubanks will be out from seven to 10 days.

David Coulson and staff writers Fernando Dominguez, Paige A. Leech and Theresa Munoz contributed to this notebook.