AREA COLLEGE NOTEBOOK

One near disaster and one upset. That was the story of the Glendale College men’s and women’s basketball teams in the Southern California playoffs Saturday night.

The men, seeded No. 8, pulled off a 53-52 victory at home over No. 25 Cerritos on DeJon Lee’s layup and free throw with 18 seconds to play.

The women, seeded No. 20, knocked off Foothill Conference champion and No. 13-seeded San Bernardino Valley, 75-70, on the road.

It was the first playoff victory for women’s Coach Dyan Miller in five seasons with the Vaqueros, who played the last four minutes against San Bernardino Valley with four players.

“They pressed us, double-teamed us and came within one, 71-70,” Miller said. “It was a nail-biter.”

Somehow, San Bernardino left guard Marilyn Dubon unguarded much of the game, and the sophomore responded with six three-point baskets and a game-high 35 points. Dubon averaged 18.5 points during the regular season.

“They didn’t do a very good job of scouting us,” Miller said. “She was open all the time. We were really shocked. She was able to knock down the shots.”

The Vaqueros (18-13) travel to No. 4 Santa Ana (24-6) on Wednesday for a second-round game. A tough assignment, but Miller is not counting out the Vaqueros.

“We haven’t had as much respect as we deserve,” Miller said. “We’ve been playing well lately. I think people have to contend with us.”

Men’s Coach Brian Beauchemin recorded his 400th career victory at Glendale against Cerritos, but he almost had to wait for another season to reach the milestone.

Beauchemin goes for No. 401 in a second-round game Wednesday when the Vaqueros (21-10) host No. 24 San Bernardino Valley (19-14), which eliminated No. 9 Riverside, 86-77, on Saturday.

The winners of third-round games on Saturday advance to the state championships March 8-10 at Stockton.

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Valley and Ventura also have men’s and women’s teams alive in the playoffs, the Valley men by a whisker.

The Monarchs, seeded No. 6, escaped with a 58-57 victory over No. 27 Pasadena City on Saturday. Pasadena had seven players in uniform and four on the court for the final 2:18 after three fouled out.

In men’s second-round games on Wednesday, Valley (22-11) hosts No. 11 Fullerton (22-10), No. 7 Ventura (23-8) hosts No. 10 Long Beach City (20-12) and No. 3 Moorpark (23-5) hosts No. 14 Compton (18-12).

If they win, Valley and Moorpark meet Saturday at Moorpark in a potentially volatile matchup. Their last meeting, a Western State Conference interdivisional game on Jan. 10, was won by Moorpark, 77-68, but ended with heated words and punches thrown.

The Monarchs and Raiders each lost in the state semifinals last season.