Flu Bug Ends Reynolds’ 33-Year Streak of Games

In 33 years coaching basketball, Bill Reynolds never missed a game--until last Saturday.

Reynolds, men’s coach at Southern California College, was stricken with intestinal flu several hours before the Vanguards’ game against Holy Names College.

“My wife told me at quarter of 6 that I wasn’t going to the game,” Reynolds said. “At 6 I told her I was going but by 6:15 I knew I wasn’t.

“You talk about the 100-year storm we’ve been having; this was like the 25-year flu for me.”

With Reynolds at home, assistant coaches Todd Dixon and Tim Travers took control and led the Vanguards to a 70-64 victory.

Reynolds recovered quickly and was back on the job for Monday’s practice.

In his 14th season at SCC, Reynolds is the dean of Orange County four-year college basketball coaches. This season, he might have to draw on that experience more than usual.

The Vanguards (9-7), picked to finish last in the Golden State Athletic Conference coaches poll, have been inconsistent and have struggled with defensive intensity and offensive production. SCC’s conference opener is Saturday at home against Westmont, and Reynolds is concerned.

“I’m concerned that overall we have not played really well really often against competition that isn’t close to what we are going to be playing now,” Reynolds said.

“It’s definitely going to be a challenge. I’d like to think we are ready to meet the challenge, but the Westmont game will be a good barometer, believe me.”

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Reynolds, who is also a guidance counselor at Bolsa Grande High, coached at La Quinta and Bolsa Grande before coming to SCC.

At SCC, Reynolds has a 290-134 record, a winning percentage of 68.3% that put him among the top 25 nationally among active NAIA coaches at the beginning of the season.

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Damp Pit: SCC’s gymnasium, known as the Pit partly because of the way it can swallow up opponents, is having its problems because of the rain.

Built in the 1920s for the Santa Ana Air Force Base and moved from Orange Coast College in 1961, the gym has long had problems with leaks. And with 1 minute 28 seconds remaining in Saturday’s game, coaches were asked if they wanted to call the contest because the floor was wet in spots.

The game was completed, but until the rain lets up, prevention cannot be much more elaborate than buckets on the floor.

The college is scheduled to play host to a basketball doubleheader tonight. The women face Christian Heritage at 5:30; the men play Pacific Christian at 7:30 p.m.

“We just basically say, ‘Welcome to the Pit,’ ” sports information director Pat Guillen said. “That’s why it’s called the Pit: it’s so old and rickety.”

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The Concordia men’s basketball program achieved another first this week. The Eagles, 15-1 and on a school-record 11-game winning streak, are ranked in the NAIA national men’s poll for the first time in school history.

Concordia is ranked 16th, higher than any other California team.

“We’re trying to act like we’ve been here before, but we haven’t,” Coach Greg Marshall said. “We’re trying to keep our feet on the ground and we certainly realize it’s much better to be there at the end of the year than now.”

Concordia is leading the conference in shooting percentage (54.1% before Wednesday’s 109-95 victory over Cal Baptist) and margin of victory (23.1) and has beaten NCAA Division I Northern Arizona and Division II Cal State San Bernardino.

Pharoah Jones, the Eagles’ leading scorer, was named GSAC player of the week. Jones, a 6-foot-4 junior, averaged 22 points and six rebounds and shot 65.9% from the field in three victories.

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Before the conference season started Tuesday, the Concordia women’s team was the only GSAC team with a winning record. Concordia (10-7, 1-0) has been winning with balance: 10 players average at least 13 minutes and only two, Michelle Kravik (11.6) and Melissa Ridge (10.6), have a scoring average in double figures.

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The Chapman men’s team won another tournament Saturday and again sophomore point guard Adam Dzierzynski was named most valuable player.

Dzierzynski, from Santa Margarita High, averaged 16.5 points and 9.5 assists as the Panthers beat Hamilton (N.Y.), 99-92, in overtime and Colorado College, 84-71. Stefan Mumaw, a senior center, averaged 17 points and 13 rebounds and also was named to the all-tournament team.

Dzierzynski was named MVP of the Redlands tournament.

Chapman Coach Mike Bokosky said the Panthers (10-5) are continuing to win because the defense makes up for 45% shooting.

“I believe our players have the ability to shoot a better percentage,” Bokosky said. “We started to do that a little at the Whittier tournament. We’re starting to come out of it a little.”

Notes

Tina Demarsh-Southard was named GSAC player of the week for the SCC women’s team. Demarsh-Southard averaged 18 points and seven assists as the Vanguards (6-7) finished third in the Cal Baptist tournament. . . . The Southern California College men’s and women’s basketball games, rained out Tuesday at Point Loma Nazarene, have been rescheduled for next Thursday. The women will play at 2:30 p.m.; the men at 7:30.