Winning Rotation Turning Heads

From corners near and far, they are hollering, “Somebody stop them!”

Who? The Chicago Bulls? The Houston Rockets? The Kansas Jayhawks?

Naah.

The Cal Lutheran men’s basketball team, that’s who.

With a 5-0 record going into a game at the University of San Diego on Sunday, the Kingsmen are turning heads.

Even that of third-year Coach Rich Rider.

“One of the strengths is our depth, which I didn’t know we would have,” Rider said. “We have been able to rotate 10 players in and out. That’s been our trademark and we’ve been able to keep that 10-man rotation.”

Rider figured the Kingsmen would be thin after six players graduated, including four starters from last season’s team that finished 19-6.

But Rider said seniors Brian Capella, Christian Dunbar and Chad Dueker have compensated for the team’s inexperience.

Capella, a forward transfer from San Diego and former Thousand Oaks High standout, leads the Kingsmen with a 16-point average. Dunbar, a guard from Chatsworth High, averages 11.4 points. Dueker, a guard, doesn’t score much but contributes in other ways.

“They are giving us excellent leadership,” Rider said. “That’s such an overlooked commodity. They set the tone. Not too many people expected us to be at this level, and we wouldn’t be if not for that leadership.”

Rider believes the Kingsmen will contend in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference but knows that there are plenty of land mines along the way.

The Kingsmen, a Division III team, will come across one against San Diego, a Division I program.

“There are several speed bumps along this highway,” Rider said.

*

Someone should tell Mark Ayotte, Mike Eggers and Rich Nielsen, the officials who worked the Cal State Northridge men’s basketball game against St. Mary’s on Monday, to use common sense next time.

By looking at each other for several seconds before Ayotte decided that a layup by Brad Millard of St. Mary’s beat the buzzer, giving the Gaels a 56-54 victory over Northridge, they put doubt in people’s minds about the call.

Everyone would have been better served by sending the game into overtime.

Why sink a team with an unsure call?

Even if it was the correct decision, it took them too long to make it.

*

One way for the Northridge women’s basketball players to look at their calamitous season is that officials won’t have the chance to influence one of their games.

The Matadors (1-6) are out of contention by the buzzer. At halftime.

They plummeted to a new low in an 86-33 loss to Portland on Monday, making one of 30 shots from the field in the first half.

That’s a whopping 3.3% shooting.

But, hey, maybe there’s hope.

The women’s volleyball team started 0-8 this fall before going 16-0 in Big Sky Conference matches.

*

Jot down Jan. 9 on the calendar if you want to watch good junior college men’s basketball.

That’s when Valley (10-2) visits two-time defending state champion Ventura (8-3) for a Western State Conference interdivisional game.

The Monarchs, behind freshman wing Pierre Elize (15.3 points per game), have emerged as a potential state finalist.

Ventura, after starting 0-3, is again tormenting opponents.

Valley is at the Pasadena tournament starting today and Ventura travels to Long Beach City for a nonconference game Friday.

*

Former Moorpark College center Paul Foster comes to the neighborhood with UC Irvine to face Northridge in a nonconference game Saturday night. Maybe he’d like to trade places even for a few games with his twin, Nick, who plays for Big West Conference rival Pacific. Irvine is 0-5, Pacific 5-1. . . .

The twins were coached at Moorpark by Al Nordquist, who resigned after the 1994-95 season to become the school’s dean of social sciences and physical education.

On Saturday, before Moorpark’s home game against Harbor, Nordquist will be honored for his 27 seasons with the Raiders.

Nordquist guided Moorpark to two state Final Eight appearances.