COMMUNITY COLLEGE NOTEBOOK / STEVE KRESAL : Skehan Bruised but Still Scrapping

Maureen Skehan was the topic of a recent conversation between Saddleback women’s basketball Coach Jack Single and trainer Brad McReynolds.

They went down the list of minor injuries Skehan, a sophomore guard, has suffered this season in helping Saddleback to a 10-0 start.

The cut above her left eye came up first, then the ankle she recently sprained.

And there was her finger.

“She told me it was just jammed,” McReynolds said.

Said Single: “No, it was dislocated. I saw it. I guess it must have popped back in during the game.”

The nicks and bruises affirm Skehan’s frantic, diving-on-the-floor style of play.

Skehan, 5 feet 9, is a talented offensive player, who averages 15 points, five rebounds and four assists. But her strong suit is getting the ball away from an opponent.

Skehan has 52 steals this season after setting the Saddleback single-season mark of 113 last season.

Her steals come not only because of her quickness but also because she wants the ball more than her opponent.

While injuries have slowed her at times, they have never knocked her out of a game. In fact, unless she is in foul trouble, she is rarely on the bench.

“When I get in the game I’m just so pumped,” she said. “I don’t ever think about getting hurt. I usually don’t feel it until the next day.”

However, she has had one injury she felt almost immediately.

Saddleback was playing Southern California College in a scrimmage in early November. Skehan and an SCC player went for a loose ball and collided.

Skehan got the ball but also received a cut to her eyelid that required seven stitches.

“The other player only had a knot on her forehead,” Skehan said. “It wasn’t fair.”

Skehan’s full-throttle style began in the sixth grade in Rock Island, Ill.

Her aggressive ways on the court continued at Villa Park High, where she transferred as a junior. She played two years of varsity basketball for the Spartans and was an All-Orange County selection as a senior.

“She’s the one everybody asks me about after they see us play,” Single said. “She’s tough and I would like a 100 more like her.”

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More women’s basketball: Fullerton hosts to a 16-team tournament that starts today and ends with the title game Saturday at 4 p.m..

In first-round games involving local teams, Golden West meets Los Angeles Valley at 1:45 p.m.; Irvine Valley plays Ohlone at 3:30 p.m., and Fullerton and Antelope Valley meet at 7 p.m.

Umpqua (Ore.) College also is in the tournament. The team, coached by former Golden West Coach Dave Stricklin, features five players with county connections: Angela Burgess, a freshman center from Woodbridge High; Theresa Gethins, a freshman center from Esperanza; Anna Lechmann, a sophomore guard from Mater Dei and Los Angeles Harbor College; Farrah Magee, a sophomore guard from Ocean View High and Golden West College; and Lisa Tamamasui, a freshman guard from Westminster High.

If Golden West and Umpqua win their first-round games, they would play in the quarterfinals Thursday at 8:45 p.m. If each loses, they would play in the consolation round at 1:45 p.m.

Saddleback and Cypress are in the 16-team Grossmont tournament, which also runs today through Saturday. Saddleback opens with Dixie (Utah) at 9:30 a.m., and Cypress meets Utah Valley at 8 p.m.

Saddleback’s Single, who is in his seventh season, is a victory shy of No. 100 with the Gauchos. He has a record of 99-73.

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Men’s basketball: The Rancho Santiago holiday tournament starts today and features Saddleback (10-2), which has won 10 in a row. The Gauchos, led by sophomore guard Anthony Carter, play Mt. San Antonio at 2 p.m. Carter is averaging an Orange County-best 30.5 points.

In other first-round games: Clark (Wash.) plays MiraCosta at 4, Pasadena and Rio Hondo meet at 6 and Rancho Santiago takes on Wenatchee (Wash.) at 8. The semifinals are at 6 and 8 p.m. Thursday and the title game is at 7 p.m. Friday.

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New hire: Janet Ely-Lagourgue, a member of the 1972 and ’76 U.S. Olympic diving teams, will coach diving at Saddleback this spring.

She was the world platform champion in 1975 and won the NCAA one- and three-meter titles for Southern Methodist in 1979.

She also is the diving coach for the Mission Viejo Nadadores.