Mathews to Be Honored by Community Colleges

Phil Mathews, who built Ventura College into one of the premier junior college men’s basketball programs in the nation, will be inducted into the California Community College Basketball Coaches Assn. Hall of Fame on March 13.

Mathews, now coach at the University of San Francisco, is one of eight people who will be inducted in a ceremony during the first day of the state championships scheduled for March 13-15 at San Jose State.

At Ventura, Mathews had a 298-56 record from 1985-86 to 1994-95. His teams won nine Western State Conference Northern Division titles and two state championships.

He is one of eight men’s coaches to win two or more large-school state titles.

Mathews last season guided San Francisco to a 15-12 overall record and third place in the West Coast Conference with an 8-6 mark. The Dons are 11-10 this season and tied for first place with Gonzaga in the WCC at 6-3.

Jumping the gun: Two out, the tying run at second base for Loyola Marymount in the final inning of the team’s softball opener against Cal State Northridge. . . . and there goes Hart High football coaches Mike and Dean Herrington heading for the exit.

“They’re the kind of people who walk out of Dodger Stadium with two out in the ninth,” said Jamie Herrington, Northridge’s center fielder who is married to Rick, the brother of Mike and Dean.

Mike and Dean are great coaches, but not-so-great fans, according to Jamie Herrington, who threw out the potential tying run at the plate for the game’s final out as her brothers-in-law were walking to the parking lot.

“They actually came back [to congratulate me]. That surprised me,” Jamie Herrington said.

The poet: Ryan Finney, Cal State Northridge’s sports information director, noting in a recent press release that the Matador basketball team was 7-1 when making more free throws than its opponent but only 6-7 when making more three-pointers:

“The moral of the story is: forget the three, practice the free.”