Saddleback Tops Among Six County Teams in Playoffs

Saddleback led a pack of six Orange County teams to reach the 32-team Southern California field when the men’s basketball playoff pairings were announced Monday.

The Gauchos (24-7), the Orange Empire Conference champions, are seeded No. 3 and will open against No. 30 East Los Angeles (14-17). All first-round games are at 7 p.m. Saturday.

Ventura (32-1), the top-seeded team, plays host to San Diego City (10-16).

Cypress was the only other Orange County team to get a home game. The Chargers (25-8), seeded No. 12, play host to No. 21 Bakersfield (12-17). Cypress, which finished tied for second in conference, has won seven of its last eight games. The only loss was Feb. 17, to Saddleback, 85-69. The Gauchos clinched the conference title with the victory.

Rancho Santiago (19-12), seeded No. 17, is at Los Angeles Harbor (17-14). The teams met in late December with Rancho Santiago winning, 109-82.

Rancho Santiago comes into the playoffs struggling, though. The Dons have lost five of their last seven games after being tied for first midway through the conference season.

Rancho Santiago beat last-place Orange Coast and first-place Saddleback for its only second-round victories. But the Dons will be without sophomore point guard Beau Hossler. Hossler, who holds the college’s career assist mark with 346, left the team last week for personal reasons.

Golden West (12-19) is seeded 27th and will travel to Long Beach (25-8). Long Beach beat Golden West, 83-79, in mid-December.

Irvine Valley (14-16) and Fullerton (15-17) each go on the road to play conference champions.

The Lasers, in their first year, were seeded No. 29 and play at No. 4 Santa Monica (23-7), champion of the Southern Division of the Western State Conference.

The Hornets, seeded No. 31, are at Cerritos (23-5), South Coast Conference champion and seeded second. The Falcons are the defending state champions.

Riverside (24-9), the other team from the Orange Empire Conference to qualify, was seeded No. 7 and plays host to No. 26 Santa Barbara (15-16).

The second round is March 3 and the Southern California finals are March 6.

All regional games are played at the site of the higher-seeded team. The four regional winners in Southern and Northern California advance to the State Tournament, March 11-13 at University of San Francisco.

Jeff Porter finished his Orange Coast career as the No. 2 scorer on the Pirates’ all-time list. Orange Coast (5-23) was the only Orange Empire team not to make the playoffs.

Porter, a sophomore forward, averaged 20 points and finished with 561 points. He had 1,057 points in two seasons. Only John Vallely (1966-68) with 1,538, had more in OCC history.

Men’s leaders: Riverside’s Lou Williams won the Orange Empire scoring title at 26 points per game. Kris Kostoff of Irvine Valley averaged 22.5 to lead Orange County. Kostoff also was the top Orange County player in assists at six.

The rebounding leader was Saddleback’s Antoine Jefferson (10.5); Fred Amos of Rancho Santiago led blocked shots with 95.

Cypress’ Gary Gibbs averaged a conference-best 2.6 steals. Saddleback’s Kevin Fricka shot a conference-best 58.3% from the field and Kevin Carlson of Fullerton was best from the free-throw line, making 85.3% of his shots.

Women’s leaders: Melanie Iwamasa of Golden West averaged 18.4 points to win the Orange Empire scoring title. Teammate Cinnamon Basco was the top rebounder (12.9) and best from the free-throw line (74.6).

Orange Coast’s Ricarda Kuypers led in assists (6.8) and teammate LaAnn Kazmer won the field-goal percentage title (57.6%). Christi McDonald of Fullerton was tops with 43 blocked shots and teammate Traci Conte had a conference-high 3.6 steals average.

Planet Piratewood: The Orange Coast baseball program has struck a fund-raising deal with Planet Hollywood, an eatery across the street from South Coast Plaza. The goal is to finance a new scoreboard at the OCC baseball field.

The program runs Monday nights until May 28. Planet Hollywood has agreed to donate profits from meals purchased by OCC students, with valid identification, toward the $35,000 cost of the scoreboard.

Weather permitting: Barring rain, baseball teams start Orange Empire play at noon Saturday.

Cypress is at Fullerton; Rancho Santiago, the two-time defending champion, is at Riverside, and Saddleback is Orange Coast. Golden West has a bye.

Conference play continues on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays until May 8. Rainouts are scheduled six days after the day the game was washed out.