Playoff Games Put Squeeze on Ventura Gym, Fans’ Wallets

Ever hear of scalpers at a junior college sports event?

It happened Saturday at Ventura College, where the Pirate men’s and women’s basketball teams played a playoff doubleheader.

“There were about three or four little scams that went on,” said Dick James, Ventura’s athletics coordinator. “It was an interesting evening.”

The games were the last two at home for the Pirates, who were trying to qualify for the State championships at San Jose that run Thursday through Saturday.

Both teams advanced but many who showed up at the gym weren’t able to see the games. The place was sold out shortly after the ticket window opened 2 1/2 hours before the women’s game tipoff at 5:30 p.m.

The school sold 1,600 tickets--at $5 and $3--by Friday night and had only about 150 more available for sale on Saturday. The official attendance was 2,023.

Apparently, not everyone got in legitimately.

“People were scalping tickets, they were forging tickets, they were passing ticket stubs to other people through doors,” said Ned Mircetic, women’s coach. “I heard one guy walked to the door and flashed a $20 bill.”

Valley connection: Santa Monica defeated Antelope Valley College, 85-81,

in overtime Saturday to advance to the eight-team state tournament thanks in part to the contributions of three players with ties to the Valley.

Sophomore Damon Ollie from North Hollywood High was in foul trouble much of the night. Even though he picked up his fourth foul early in the second half, he collected game-high totals of 21 points and 12 rebounds.

Austin McKellar, an ex-Campbell Hall star, was the key to the Corsairs’ late comeback. The sophomore scored eight of Santa Monica’s last 10 points in regulation en route to 19 points in the game.

And with Santa Monica behind, 47-40, with 13 minutes 32 seconds to go, Ronald Patterson, a freshman from Grant High, nailed three three-point baskets in one stretch to help the Corsairs pull to within 52-50 with about 10 minutes to play. He finished with 17 points.

Streak talk: With Cal State Northridge’s school-record-tying 14-game winning streak snapped Sunday, attention turns to the Cal Lutheran baseball team, which won nine in a row until it ran into Chapman Tuesday.

All the victories have come in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play. Cal Lutheran (12-4-1, 9-1) is a half-game behind first-place Claremont-Mudd.

Pepperdine also has been hot, beginning West Coast Conference play last weekend with four victories over Loyola Marymount. The Waves had won seven of eight entering Tuesday night’s game at Fullerton.

Great Scott: Senior right-hander Andrew Barber pitched his second no-hitter in Cal Lutheran’s 9-0 victory over Whittier on Saturday. Barber tossed a seven-inning perfect game against Caltech in 1994.

Barber’s latest effort was the sixth no-hitter by a Cal Lutheran pitcher, but the most memorable might be one in which the Kingsmen were the victims.

Pepperdine’s Mike Scott, who went on to star with the Houston Astros, pitched a perfect game against Cal Lutheran on Feb. 17, 1976.

Honors

Cal State Northridge catcher Robert Fick has been selected as one of Collegiate Baseball magazine’s national players of the week. In five games Fick, a junior, hit .636 with five home runs and 13 runs batted in. Fick, along with Robert Crabtree, was also Western Athletic Conference player of the week for the Matadors, ranked No. 5 by Collegiate Baseball and No. 11 by Baseball America. Crabtree has a 1.39 earned-run average.

Pepperdine outside hitter Kevin Barnett has been named Mountain Pacific Sports Federation volleyball player of the week. Barnett led the seventh-ranked Waves to a sweep of No. 4 UC Santa Barbara with 19 kills, six digs and three aces.

Cal State Northridge’s Ruben Oronoz was selected to the final All-American West Conference basketball team. Oronoz, a senior forward, averaged 10.0 points and 5.6 rebounds for the Matadors, starting 26 of 27 games. He finished the season with a flourish, recording double-doubles in four of the Matadors’ final seven games.

Sophomore point guard Trenton Cross was a second-team selection, and seniors Eric Gray and Robert Hill earned honorable mention.

Among women’s teams, Carrie Dormire was the Matadors’ only first-team representative. Dormire, a senior forward who ranks in Northridge’s top 10 in 11 statistical categories, averaged 9.3 points.

Freshman point guard Tammie Mills was selected to the second team, and senior center Maureen Batiste, sophomore guard Pam Karbowski and sophomore center Sherry Ramirez earned honorable mention.

Stats

This from the Meaningless-but-Fun-Statistics Dept.:

If this season were next season, the Cal State Northridge basketball team would have finished sixth in the Big Sky Conference and made the conference tournament.

According to the Jeff Sagarin computer rankings, the Matadors are ranked No. 273 among 305 Division I teams. Not too good, but still higher than two other teams that will be in the Big Sky next season--No. 275 Cal State Sacramento and No. 290 Eastern Washington. Portland State, which did not field a team this season, also joins the conference in ‘96-97.

Things to Do

Cal State Northridge plays Pepperdine in a nonconference baseball game today at 2 p.m. at Matador field.

Contributing: Fernando Dominguez, Jeff Fletcher, Irene Garcia, Steve Henson, Lauren Peterson.