COMMUNITY COLLEGE NOTEBOOK / STEVE KRESAL : Greenfield Returns to Coach Golden West Women

Jim Greenfield, who stepped down as the men’s basketball coach at Golden West last spring, has been selected to take over the women’s program, Athletic Director Tom Hermstad said Monday.

Greenfield will coach the team for at least one season because Dick Stricklin is taking a sabbatical.

Under Stricklin, Golden West had become one of the best programs in the state. The Rustlers have reached the State tournament the last nine seasons and have also won six consecutive Orange Empire Conference titles.

“It’s a tough situation,” Greenfield said. “Everybody expects you to go 30-2 every year.”

Greenfield, a graduate of Long Beach State, started coaching at Bellflower High School, where he had a mark of 106-60 and reached the Southern Section playoffs four times.

He came to Golden West for the 1977-78 season to coach the women’s program. Stricklin was the men’s coach at the time.

Greenfield led the Rustlers to a 21-6 mark, then he and Stricklin traded jobs. Greenfield went on to compile 223-262 mark in 16 seasons with the men’s program. His teams won 20 games four times including going 23-11 in 1989-90 and falling one game short of the State tournament.

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More coaching news: Joni Easterly, who has been the head coach for the Katella High girls’ basketball team the last two seasons, is expected to become the next Fullerton women’s basketball coach. The approval of her hiring is on the agenda at tonight’s North Orange County Community College District meeting.

Easterly, who was standout player at USC and Katella, replaces Debbie Wagner. Wagner, who is returning to college to complete her teaching credential, led Fullerton to a 13-18 record, including 3-9 in the Orange Empire Conference.

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Softball: Rancho Santiago (13-6, 4-0 in the Orange Empire Conference) has a one-game lead over Cypress (14-4, 3-1) and Fullerton (11-3, 3-1) in the early going of the conference race.

All three teams are expected to remain close in the title chase.

Rancho Santiago, which has shown steady improvement in each of Coach Kim Nutter’s four seasons, is expecting big things this season. The Dons gave an unwanted birthday present to Cypress Coach Brad Pickler by beating the Chargers, 2-1, two weeks ago.

But the Dons face a stern task Wednesday when they play host to Fullerton in a 3 p.m. game. The Hornets’ only conference loss was to Saddleback, 1-0, March 8.

Orange Coast (4-8, 2-2) and Saddleback (10-5, 2-2) are tied for fourth, Golden West (4-8-1, 1-2) is sixth, Irvine Valley (1-11, 0-3) seventh and Riverside (2-11, 0-4) eighth.

Irvine Valley is at Golden West at 3 p.m. to finish up a game stopped in the fifth inning because of rain. Golden West was ahead, 8-6, at the time.

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Deana Itow, a sophomore guard from Golden West, has made an oral commitment to play for University of San Francisco.

Itow joined Golden West teammate Julie Murdent who committed to San Francisco earlier.

Itow, from Huntington Beach High, averaged 14 points and nine assists. She finished fourth on the Golden West all-time scoring list with 1,142 points. Murdent heads the list at 1,318. Itow had 514 career assists, third best at Golden West.

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Tennis: The Orange Empire Conference tennis races reach the halfway point today with the Saddleback men and the Golden West women in first place.

Saddleback is 8-0, 5-0 in conference under first-year coach Chris Boyle. John France, a freshman from El Toro, has a 6-0 record at No. 1 singles for the Gauchos.

Golden West (7-1, 4-1) is in second but lost to Saddleback, 8-1, when the teams met Feb. 21. Saddleback starts the second round Thursday at 2 at Golden West.

In women’s: Golden West (7-1, 5-0 in conference) holds a one-match lead over Orange Coast as the teams also reach the halfway point today.

Golden West beat Orange Coast, 6-3, March 6. It was the first time the Rustlers beat OCC since 1989.

Golden West is ranked fourth in the state and Orange Coast (4-1 in conference) is sixth. Chabot is the top team, Grossmont second and Santa Barbara third.

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Notes

Marcus Austin, a sophomore from Fullerton, completed his community college basketball career by scoring 22 points as the South beat the North, 131-117, at the State All-Star game Saturday at UC Irvine.