Saddleback Advances With Brummel’s 400th Victory

Bill Brummel waited 20 years to get a chance at victory No. 400. Getting through one more half was nothing.

With orders from Brummel to stay patient, the top-seeded Saddleback men’s basketball team surged in the second half and turned away pesky Diablo Valley, 73-56, in the first round of the community college state tournament Thursday night at University of the Pacific.

It was the 400th victory for Brummel, who has coached at Saddleback since 1981, with a one-year hiatus. Brummel, who was also named Southern California Coach of the Year Thursday by the community college coaches association, said victory No. 400 wasn’t as important as victory No. 1 in the state tournament.

“I think it’s more important getting this first win in the state tournament,” Brummel said. “That’s what we’re trying to think about. I never really had any vision of 400. I guess it’s a pretty good milestone.”

It is the 28th consecutive victory for the Gauchos (33-2), who will play L.A. Southwest tonight at 8 in the semifinals.

Diablo Valley, which runs a multifaceted offense and an air-tight defense, held the lead twice in the first half and was within two, at 37-35, with 16:55 to play.

Saddleback then went on a 13-4 run and opened up its first double-digit lead of the game at 50-39 when John Washington made two free throws with 12:11 left to play.

The 11-point lead seemed to send the Vikings (26-10) into a panic. They began launching three-point shots and did not make a field goal for the next four minutes. By then, Saddleback had a 60-42 lead and the game well in hand.

“They were a very patient team, so we had to be very patient too,” Brummel said. “In the first half, I didn’t think we were driving hard enough to the basket. We did a better job of that in the second half.”

It showed in the statistics. Saddleback’s opportunistic approach landed Gaucho shooters at the free-throw line 12 times in the second half, as opposed to seven in the first.

Diablo Valley, meanwhile, had trouble when it did get to the line. The Vikings shot only 47.6% on free throws, including three of 10 in the first half.

Mark Brown, who led the Gauchos with 15 points, and Adrian Aguayo, who had 10 points, keyed the second-half surge when they made back-to-back three-point baskets after Diablo Valley had pulled to within five, at 40-35.

Rahshaw McAfee kept Saddleback afloat in the first half, scoring 10 of his 13 points before the intermission.

Saddleback had leads of five or more points three times in the first half.