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GROSSMONT COLLEGE BASKETBALL MEN Clark accepts scholarship to Cal State NorthridgeEastCountySports.com staff report NORTHRIDGE - When Cal State Northridge
head men's basketball coach Bobby An All-State pick, the 6-foot-5 Clark scored
663 points - fourth highest in "John shoots the ball extremely well
from the perimeter," Braswell said. Clark rallied the Griffins from a 3-9 start
to 16 wins in their final 21 As the conference MVP, Clark shot 39.0
percent from 3-point range (50-of-128) "(CSUN) finished fourth in their first
season in the (Division I) Big West A product of Mission Bay High, Clark selected
CSUN over BYU, Dayton, Cal Meanwhile, Grossmont College guard Michael
Scharf announced that he will Clark named to All-State CC team, scheduled to visit Cal State-NorthridgeEastCountySports.com staff report EL CAJON - Grossmont College guard John Clark, who was recently named to the California All-State Community College team, is presently mulling over his basketball future and educational opportunities. His choices are many, which has made the decision that much more difficult. It's a pleasant dilemma. The 6-foot-5 Clark who scored 663 points - the fourth highest total in Grossmont history - averaged 20.8 points per game for the Pacific Coast Conference co-champion Griffins (19-14). "John has visits scheduled, but nothing set yet," said Grossmont coach Doug Weber, noting that the first day Clark could sign is Wednesday (April 10). Clark visited Metropolitan State College of Denver the first weekend in April. Although not a "household name," the Metro Roadrunners won the NCAA Division II title this year, defeating perennial power Kentucky Wesleyan 80-72. It was the second time in three years that Metropolitan State has won the Division II championship. Clark's recruiting trips include a visit to Owensboro (Ky.) - home of Kentucky Wesleyan, which has made an unprecedented five straight appearances in the Division II finals. Cal State Northridge - a member of the Division I Big West Conference - will roll out the welcome mat for Clark this weekend (April 12-14). The Matadors' conference rival Cal State Fullerton has also visited Clark's San Diego residence. Grossmont's Mike Keddington recently visited
Division II Regis College in Denver, while guard Michael Scharf
has a coastal decision to make - Division II UC San Diego or
Division III New York University. 2001-02 COMMUNITY COLLEGE BASKETBALL SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA REGIONALS - 2nd ROUND Cubs claim victory over Griffins from line, on boardsEastCountySports.com staff report LOS ANGELES - Grossmont College's magical mystery tour came to a grinding halt Wednesday night (March 6) at Los Angeles City College. The Cubs (27-8), seeded fifth in the Southern California Regionals, destroyed the Griffins from the free-throw line and on the boards en route to an 80-55 victory. "They were a bigger, more physical team than we are," Grossmont coach Doug Weber said, noting that LACC has nine players 6-foot-5 or taller and claimed a 44-29 rebounding edge. The Griffins, who came in shooting just under 48 percent as a team, were off the mark, clicking on just 32.3 percent from the floor compared to LACC's 56.3 percent accuracy. Nevertheless, the Griffins managed to keep it close in the first half before the Cubs claimed a 31-24 lead by the break. "We had it tied a couple of times and got stuck on 19 for about four trips up and down the floor," Weber said. LACC also camped out on the free throw line, capitalizing on 23 of 28 chances, including 18 of 22 shots in the second half. Grossmont was 10-for-19 from the charity stripe. The Griffs were off the mark from the line, too, as they came in making better than 67 percent of their charity tosses. "We could never close the gap in the second half," Weber said. "Each time we made a run they came down and scored. Our kids played extremely hard and together. We just didn't shoot it well tonight, and some of that is L.A. City's defense, which is very good." John Clark, the MVP of the Pacific Coast Conference, led Grossmont (19-14) with 19 points - including 3-for-6 three-point shooting - and 6 rebounds. Mike Keddington, Grossmont's tallest player at 6-foot-7, delivered 12 points and 7 rebounds. Helix High alum Phillip Strocco, a 6-6 freshman out of USDHS, added 9 points and 3 rebounds for the Griffins. Ironically, it was 5-foot-10 point guard Jerel Blassingame who led LACC in scoring with 19 points. Six-foot-6 Tyrone Riley produced 12 points and a game-high 14 rebounds, and 6-10 Tony Key collected 15 points as did 6-4 Jason Breland. "Our kids played hard to the buzzer, which is indicative of their character and is why we had a very good year." Weber said. The Griffins posted their most victories
(19) since 1990 and captured a share of their first PCC championship
in 16 years. The Griffins won 15 of their final 21 games. PCC
co-champion Palomar lost in the second round of the Regionals
to San Bernardino 81-63. 2001-02 COMMUNITY COLLEGE Griffins knock out Antelope Valley with stifling defenseEastCountySports.com staff report LANCASTER - The Grossmont College Griffins seem to keep getting better. And momentum at this time of year is a welcomed bonus. Playing on the road against a team seeded nine rungs higher on the Southern California Regional ladder, the Griffins registered a reverberant 86-59 victory over Antelope Valley to advance to the SoCal "Sweet Sixteen." "It was just a super effort by our guys," Grossmont coach Doug Weber said after the Griffins (19-13) won for the 16th time in their last 20 starts. "We played incredible defense and received balanced scoring against a good basketball team. I know they were seeded 12th and had won more games than us, but I think we proved we were the better team." The Marauders had played 23 playoff games in the previous 10 seasons, which, if nothing else, qualified them as perennial post-season participants. They were 11-4 in playoff home games. Furthermore, AVC's veteran coach Newton Chelette had led his teams to an overall 295-128 record in 13 seasons, including 22-11 this winter. Mix in a 4-hour drive and it was clear the Griffins were facing a stacked deck, which might be considered unfair to a team that just won a share of its first Pacific Coast Conference championship since 1986. None of that seemed to matter to the visiting Griffins, who smothered AVC with arguably their finest defensive effort of the year. The Marauders shot a paltry 29 percent (20-for-68) from the field - 15 percentage points below their season average. They were 3-for-20 from three-point range. Grossmont, which placed four players in double figures, was on target better than 56 percent of its 55 floor shots. Sylvester Crockem was a sizzling 7-for-10 from the field and netted 5 of 6 free throws for 19 points. He also cleared 9 rebounds PCC Most Valuable Player John Clark led the Griffins with 21 points and 9 rebounds. Mike Scharf added 16 points and 9 rebounds, while Maury Brown chipped in 11 points and 6 boards. Scott Carr was 3-for-3 from the field on his way to an 8-point night for Grossmont. To boot, the Griffins missed only 6 of 26 free throws. The Griffins, who enjoyed leads as large
as 30 points, will meet the winner of Saturday's (March 2) Los
Angeles City (25-8)-vs.-Santa Ana )13-16) game on Wednesday (March
6). Griffins forced to hit the road for playoff openerEastCountySports.com staff report EL CAJON - Grossmont College coach Doug
Weber was stunned that his Griffins did not earn a home court
advantage for the first round of the 32-team Southern California
Regional Playoffs. According to Weber's count, there are six
teams that finished third, fourth or fifth place in their respective
conferences that received a first-round home game. Grossmont,
which won 15 of "It's kind of frustrating that we don't get to play our first game at home," Weber said. "But we've accepted the challenge. It's not like we're playing King Kong. We actually feel we have a chance to win. I think Antelope Valley is a good match up for us." The Marauders (22-11), who finished fourth in the Foothill Conference, have logged some impressive victories this season. They defeated Saddleback 67-62 and Los Angeles Valley 83-77 back in November. Saddleback (27-4) is the No. 1 seed in the SoCal tournament, and L.A. Valley (27-5) is No. 4. Those AVC conquests came early in the season and the Griffins know that they are not the same team now that they were in November. It's been well documented that Grossmont started the season with nine losses in its first 12 games. In terms of common opponents, the Antelope Valley lost at home to MiraCosta 78-75 in overtime on Nov. 29. Palomar beat the Marauders 73-66 Dec. 29 at the College of the Canyons Tournament. Grossmont swept MiraCosta 88-72 and 60-58, but lost to twice to Palomar 75-65 and 78-59 despite leading at the half both times. John Clark (20.8 ppg), Maury Brown (12.1 ppg), Scott Smith (11.1 ppg) and Sylvester Crockem (10.9 ppg) are the mainstays of a Grossmont offense averaging more than 80 points per game. Brandum Mates, a 6-foot-4 sophomore forward, is averaging more than 19 points per start for Antelope Valley. Freshman Sidney Melvin, who hit 7 three-pointers and tallied 30 points in AVC's 86-77 over Barstow in the Foothill Conference finale, is knocking down a smidgen more than 17 points per outing. A year ago, Grossmont was obliged to travel to Thousand Oaks to face No. 5 Moorpark. It wasn't a pretty sight as the Griffins were shot down 98-75 by the Raiders, who advanced to the State's Elite 8. The Griffins made it to the State's Elite
8 only once - in 1985 - in the 41-year history of Grossmont program. Griffins have come a long way from 3-9 start to share first title in 16 yearsEastCountySports.com staff report SAN DIEGO - Grossmont College coach Doug Weber is continually amazed when he looks back to the early stages of this season when his now Pacific Coast Conference-champion Griffins had plummeted to 3-9 record and were teetering on the brink of also-ran status. "That's what makes this a special group," he said after Grossmont secured a share of its first PCC crown in 16 years with a 71-62 victory at San Diego Mesa in Saturday's (Feb. 23) regular-season finale. "This is a testament to the character of our kids," Weber said. "And it feels really good." Weber's Griffins (18-13, 11-3), who tied preseason favorite Palomar (22-8, 1-3) for the conference title, advance to next weekend's Southern California Regional playoffs. They could well receive a first-round home game (either March 1st or 2nd) considering they finished the campaign winning 15 of their last 19 games. Official seedings won't be announced until Monday (Feb. 25). Mesa, however, was poised to spoil the Griffins' championship aspirations on the final night of the regular season. The Olympians (15-13, 5-9) were enjoying a 17-13 lead when Grossmont put together a 12-2 run to assume a 25-19 edge. By the end of the half, however, the Griffins were clinging to a precarious 31-29 advantage. "Mesa made us grind it out all the way," Weber admitted. "They didn't back down a bit. Neither did our kids." With 14:58 left, Cody Lockett hit a 3-pointer to put Mesa on top, 43-42. It also started a 13-2 run that gave the Olympians their biggest lead of the game, 53-44, with 10:59 remaining. "Our kids could have thrown in the towel right there, and said, 'Heck, we're going to the playoffs anyway,' " Weber said. "But this bunch doesn't think like that." After a Mark Thompson basket gave Mesa a 57-52 lead, the Griffins took control of the situation. In familiar come-from-behind fashion, Grossmont outscored Mesa 19-5 over the final eight minutes to nail down the victory. Six-foot-6 sophomore Mike Keddington scored 7 of his 19 points during the Griffins' final run. It was his lay-in with 4:38 left that gave Grossmont the lead for good at 62-61. Grossmont slapped the defensive clamps on Mesa in the waning moments. Eric Thompson was the only Olympian to score over the final 7:59. He hit 2 free throws at 6:58, a basket with 6:19 remaining, and a free throw with 3:17 left. That's it. On a night when Mesa focused its defensive attention on the PCC's leading scorer John Clark, Sylvester Crockem stepped up to ring in a game-high 22 points for the Griffins. Clark settled for 13. "To win a game like this when our leading scorer doesn't have a good night, is further indication of the caliber of team we have," Weber said. "To have guys like Crockem and Keddington control the game inside is huge. "We did not make a single 3-pointer the whole game. And it's not like we didn't try to hit the 3-point shot. We just missed. That's a first for us. So, what our inside guys did was crucial." It's the stuff that championships are made of. NOTE: Grossmont College sports information director Robert
Trevino Griffins take out Cuyamaca, can clinch title at Mesa on SaturdayEastCountySports.com staff report EL CAJON - Grossmont College is one victory
away from securing its first While the Griffins were clobbering Cuyamaca
87-62 in Wednesday night's (Feb. "You know, we thought that MiraCosta
just might beat those guys," Grossmont Now Grossmont must avoid a similar fate
at Mesa. This will be the third "We're going to have to play well,
because Mesa isn't just going to roll over A week ago Mesa dumped Palomar 71-66, so this is no gimme for the Griffins. Meanwhile, the Griffins stormed to a 46-27
halftime lead against the visiting Grossmont scored on its first four possessions
of the second half, and never "Cuyamaca played us all zone in the
first half, and that's something we Grossmont, which is shooting a smidgen
better than 47 percent from the floor "Clark sat out the last 10 minutes,"
Weber noted. "The game had been decided Scharf had a hot hand for the Griffins,
hitting 7 of 10 shots, including all Crockem, 8 of 14 shooting, led the Griffins with 10 rebounds. "They switched to man-to-man in the
second half," Weber said of the Coyotes. James Francisco scored 17 points to lead
Cuyamaca. Adrian Givens added 11 Disappointing loss to Comets ends Griffs shot at outright titleEastCountySports.com staff report SAN MARCOS - Halftime proved to be more of a hindrance than a respite for the Grossmont Griffins in Saturday night's (Feb. 16) showdown between Pacific Coast Conference co-leaders at Palomar College. "It might have been better for us not to have had a halftime," Grossmont coach Doug Weber said. After all, his Griffins led 32-29 at the close of the opening 20 minutes. The second half, however, was a different story, as Palomar breezed to a 78-59 victory. The Comets (21-7, 10-2) embarked on a 10-0 run to begin the second half, and that groundswell rolled into a 17-4 "title" wave as Palomar pushed in front 46-36 a little more than six minutes into the final period. The Griffins never got closer than seven thereafter. "Palomar definitely kicked it up a notch and just hammered us in the second half," said Weber, who saw the Griffins' 6-game winning streak brought to a halt. "They really are a good team. They have all the pieces." The Comets' centerpiece is 6-foot-6 sophomore Anthony Bolton, who drilled in 24 points and collected 9 rebounds. Lamar Abbott added 13 points, 8 rebounds and 5 steals for the Comets, who scored their second come-from-behind victory over Grossmont (16-13, 9-3). Randy Randle added 13 points, 11 coming in the second half. "I don't think we were overconfident," Weber said. "But you know you're in trouble when you don't touch the rim on your first five possessions (of the second half). Of course, Palomar had something to do with that." Maury Brown paced Grossmont with 18 points, two more than the PCC's top scorer John Clark. Each hit a 3-pointer in the first half, but Grossmont delivered nothing but donuts in shots above the arc after intermission. Mike Keddington added 10 points for the Griffins, while Sylvester Crockem collected 7, Mike Scharf 4, Scott Smith 2 and Scott Carr 2. "It's always disappointing when you lose," said Weber, who saw the Griffins take a 41-24 halftime lead over the Comets Jan. 19 at Grossmont only to fall 75-65. "What makes this so frustrating is knowing that Palomar did not get our best game tonight. Had we played well and lost we might feel a little better about it." Regardless, the Griffins find themselves one game back with two to play. Even if Grossmont sweeps its final two and Palomar splits to create a co-championship, the Comets will enter the playoffs as the PCC's No. 1 representative. Of course, Grossmont needs to win just to retain its hold on second place, as third-place Southwestern is only one game behind the Griffins. These clubs split their two regular-season meetings. In a bit of an oddity, Palomar made only six field goals in the opening half, but stayed in contention by converting 15 of 20 free throws. The Comets jammed in 17 field goals and 14 of 18 free throws in the second half. Grossmont totaled 17 field goals and 23 of 33 free throws. The loss was only the fourth in 17 games
for the Griffins, who host district rival Cuyamaca on Wednesday
(Feb. 20) at 7 p.m. Griffins finally reach PCC peak by racing past JaguarsEastCountySports.com staff report EL CAJON - Despite fouling out with six minutes remaining, John Clark scored 30 points to propel Grossmont College to its second-highest scoring output of the season Wednesday night (Feb. 13) as the Griffins smashed Southwestern 106-89 to move into a tie for first place in the Pacific Coast Conference. The Griffins (16-12, 9-2), who have won six straight and 13 of their last 16, can thank San Diego Mesa for knocking off front-running Palomar 71-66 to create the knot at the top. Grossmont travels to San Marcos to face the Comets (20-7, 9-2) on Saturday (Feb. 16) at 7 p.m. "You'd think the winner of that game will probably win our conference," Grossmont coach Doug Weber said. "But we still have two games after that. About the only thing guaranteed at this point is we have 9 conference wins and we're probably going to the playoffs. That is always one of our goals." Grossmont, which blew a 17-point lead and lost its first-round bout to Palomar 75-65 on Jan. 19, enjoyed splendid offensive balance against one of the PCC's stingiest defensive teams in Southwestern (12-15, 7-4). Five Griffins reached double figures against the Jaguars, who were permitting only 68 points per game coming into Wednesday's tilt. Quite an energy boost for Grossmont, which mustered only 57 points in a four-point loss at Southwestern last month. "The positive spin on this is we had a lot of people step up," Weber said. "Maury Brown, who has been our second-leading scorer the past few games, probably played only 10 minutes (and scored just 4 points) because of foul problems. And Clark fouled out with 6 minutes to play. I was kinda worried, because we only had a 10-point lead and my top scorers had fouled out." Sylvester Crockem cashed in 19 points, Michael Scarf added 17, Scott Smith notched 16 and Mike Keddington collected 14 for the Griffins, who clicked on 30 of 36 free throws. Scharf and Smith were each 9-for-10 from the line, while Clark was 9-for-11. Clark also garnered 3-point shooting hat trick. Smith lofted in one 3-ball. Griffins still have shot at PCC title after topping CityEastCountySports.com staff report EL CAJON - In the last six seasons, the Grossmont Griffins have finished as high as third place only once in a Pacific Coast Conference race. They haven't captured a PCC championship in 17 years, grabbing the No. 2 spot three times during that span. With 4 games remaining in the 2002 season, the Griffins are sitting alone in second place riding a five-game winning streak. They trail front-running Palomar by one game with four to play. Although coach Doug Weber isn't making any late-season predictions, he has to believe his Griffins are geared to make a serious title run down the stretch. Grossmont cooled off one of the hottest clubs in the eight-team circuit Saturday night (Feb. 9), coming from behind to subdue San Diego City College 85-72. The PCC defending champions from SDCC had won five of their previous six starts and owned a 31-26 halftime edge at Grossmont before the Griffins erupted for 59 points over the final 20 minutes. "That was certainly one of our better halves of the season," said Weber, comparing it to the Griffins 60-58 narrow escape at MiraCosta on Wednesday (Feb. 6). "Even when City jumped out to a 19-9 lead, there was never a feeling that we were going to get blown out." John Clark provided the spark the Griffins needed to jump-start their game. The 6-foot-5 sophomore scored 19 of his game-high 31 points in the second half, but was by no means a one-man show. A bucket by Maury Brown and a 3-pointer from Slyvester Crockem in the opening 90 seconds of the second half pulled the Griffins even at 31-31. Brown continued on to score 16 of his 24 points after the break, while Crockem cashed in 9 of his 11 points in the second half. Scott Smith scored all 11 of his points in the second stanza. Clark knocked down a pair of momentous 3-pointers in span of 30 seconds to help open up a 65-55 lead for the Griffins with nine minutes left. "We were feeling pretty good about then, but 9 minutes is a lot of time to play," Weber said. The Griffins, however, were never seriously threatened thereafter, and led by as much as 16 points. As pleased as Weber was with Grossmont's offensive explosion he was delighted with Clark's defensive work on SDCC kingpin, Zack Jones. The Knights' sophomore was limited to 4 points, more than 11 below his season norm. "Just a tremendous job by Clark," Weber remarked. "I think he inspired our whole team. We really played well in the second half." Despite a series of early-season injuries
and a 3-9 start, the Griffins (15-12, 8-2 PCC) have won 12 of
their last 15 encounters. They host third-place Southwestern
on Wednesday (Feb. 13) at 7 p.m. The Jaguars defeated the Griffins
61-57 in Chula Vista on Jan. 16. Clark closes out MiraCosta after Griffs lose big leadEastCountySports.com staff report OCEANSIDE - John Clark's two free throws with 0:03 remaining gave the Grossmont Griffins a 60-58 victory over host MiraCosta in a Pacific Coast Conference game Wednesday night (Feb. 6). Clark went to the line after he was fouled while the Griffins were attempting to inbound the ball underneath their own basket. "We looked at the film and the guy actually tackled John before we could get the ball in," Grossmont coach Doug Weber said. The Griffins (14-12, 7-2), however, should not have turned the game into a high-wire act. They enjoyed a 51-36 lead with 11 minutes remaining. That's when their offense went into neutral. The Spartans (7-15, 3-6) went on a 14-0 run in the ensuing 6 1/2 minutes, closing the Grossmont lead to a single point. "We were stuck on 51 for the longest time," Weber said. Scott Smith finally snapped the Griffins out of their drought, hitting a 3-pointer. But the Spartans countered swiftly and eventually tied the game at 54-all when Charles White completed a tree-point-play. Mike Keddington (6 points, 12 rebounds) swished a pair of free throws to lift Grossmont back on top 56-54. The Griffins were afforded only four free throws over the final 20 minutes, while MiraCosta canned 16 of 21 from the charity stripe after intermission. The game would be tied two more times before Clark finally gave Grossmont the winning edge. Clark finished with 17 points, including a pair of 3-pointers. Maury Brown led the Griffins with 18 points, including a bucket that broke a 56-56 tie with less than a minute to play. The Griffins, tied with Southwestern for second place and one game behind Palomar, host defending PCC champion San Diego City on Saturday (Feb. 9) at 7 p.m. The fourth-place Knights have won five of their last six starts. Griffins knock off IVC in big fashion, move into tie for secondEastCountySports.com staff report EL CAJON - It's not that coach Doug Weber has ever given up on the idea, but his Grossmont Griffins can honestly be classified as serious contenders for the Pacific Coast Conference championship. By virtue of Saturday night's (Feb. 2) 95-65 victory over visiting Imperial Valley, coupled with a couple of key upsets, the Griffins (13-12, 6-2) are tied for second place and only one game behind front-running Palomar. San Diego City College tightened the race by knocking off previously unbeaten Palomar 98-85 on Saturday, while second-place Southwestern was succumbing 74-69 to MiraCosta. Defending PCC champion San Diego City, which staggered out of the gates at 0-3, has suddenly won four of its last five to stand fourth in the standings at 4-4. Palomar was making a bid to become the
first PCC champion to finish a The Griffins played what was arguably one their more complete games as they hammered an IVC team they beat only 78-75 in the season opener. Grossmont, which pushed its record above the .500 mark for the first time all season, jumped in front of the visiting Arabs early and cruised to a 44-25 halftime lead. Maury Brown led an eight-player Grossmont scoring parade with 22 points. Scott Smith canned 6 three-pointers on his way to a 21-point night. Steady John Clark added 15 points and Mike Scharf shoveled in 13. Sylvester Crockem chipped in 8 points and board-crashing Michael Keddington collected 7. Grossmont shooters nailed 11 three-pointers and were 16-for-22 from the free throw line. It doesn't get any easier down the stretch
for the Griffins, who travel to GROSSMONT COLLEGE OUTRUNS OLYMPIANS EastCountySports.com staff report EL CAJON - Scott Smith and John Clark scored 26 points apiece to carry the Grossmont Griffins to an 88-69 Pacific Coast Conference victory over the visiting Mesa College Olympians Saturday night (Jan. 25). No other game information was reported. Grossmont, which lost to the Olympians in the Mesa Holiday Tournament finals last month, finished the first half of the conference campaign in third place at 5-2. The Griffins are back at the .500 mark overall (12-12) for only the second time this season. Grossmont opens the second round of PCC
play hosting Imperial Valley College on Saturday (Feb. 2) at
7 p.m. Clark, Smith provide power for Griffs in win over CuyamacaEastCountySports.com staff report EL CAJON - John Clark is not as flamboyant as he is smooth. The 6-foot-5 Grossmont College sophomore delivered a double-double of 22 points and 10 rebounds in stealth-like fashion as the Griffins defeated district rival Cuyamaca 95-85 in a Pacific Coast Conference game Wednesday night (Jan. 23) in the Coyotes' den. Clark is not the most dominant at any particular phase of the game, but he is a steady performer who always seems to rank at the top of most statistical columns by the end of the night. "He's not a slasher, but he knows
what it takes to get the job done," Grossmont coach Doug
Weber said. "He can play the point, two guard or a wing.
That's why Clark is being recruited by Cal State Northridge, Colorado, BYU, Hawaii, Sonoma State, North Carolina-Charlotte and countless others. With the Griffins (11-12, 4-2) trailing Cuyamaca 20-12 with 11:34 remaining, it was Clark to the rescue. In a matter of 1 minute, 14 seconds, the PCC scoring leader executed a three-point-play, netted 2 free throws and buried a 3-pointer to tie the game 20-20. The Coyotes regained the lead 22-20 on an Adam Gainey bucket with 9:50 remaining. Gainey later gave Cuyamaca its last lead with a three-pointer, 25-24, with 8:40 left in the opening half. From there, Grossmont's Scott Smith keyed a 10-1 run with three baskets. "We had some guys in foul trouble, but Scott gave us the spark we needed," Weber said. "He's our third-leading scorer, which is pretty good when you consider he's our sixth man." A bucket by Sylvester Crockem swelled Grossmont's advantage to 46-32 with 3:08 remaining. Then the Coyotes' Rusty Bland caught fire in the final two minutes enabling Cuyamaca to close the gap to 50-44 by intermission. Makenzie Lee cashed in the first basket of the second half, pulling the Coyotes to 50-46, but Cuyamaca would never draw closer. The Griffins inflated their advantage to as much as 17 points before cruising home with the victory. "It was kinda ragged, but it's a win and we'll take it," Weber said, noting that his club had lost two straight. Crockem led Grossmont's supporting cast
with 18 points, while Smith (15 points, 8 rebounds), Maury Brown
(14) and Mike Scharf (14) also finished in double digits. NOTE: For additional coverage, check the "Cuyamaca
College" click on the home page to read the Coyotes'
angle on this game as written by the EastCountySports.com
staff. Clark returns with 28, but Griffins drop key game to Comets at homeEastCountySports.com staff report EL CAJON -- Grossmont's John Clark returned
to the form that has made him the Pacific Coast Conference's
top scorer on Saturday night (Jan. 19). It was a tough loss for the Griffins (10-12, 3-2), who had won 7 of 8 games and came into the week locked in a three-way tie with Palomar and Southwestern for the PCC lead. The Griffins now find themselves sitting third in the eight-team conference stack, two games back of the co-leaders. Several four-year college representatives were in attendance for Saturday's game. They came to see Palomar's Anthony Bolton and Grossmont's Clark. "I know coaches from Hawaii, North
Carolina-Charlotte and Colorado were here," said Grossmont
coach Doug Weber, who also noted that BYU, Cal Clark and Bolton guarded each other for the most part, that is until Bolton picked up his third foul. "John was the best player on the floor," Weber said of his 6-foot-5 sophomore, who has poured in 340 points in his last 15 games - an average of 22.7 per outing. "John is getting recruited at a pretty good clip, and I'm sure that list will be expanded. I'm sure Bolton is receiving the same kind of attention too." A versatile 6-foot-6 floor leader, Bolton finished with 12 points. "John played him tough," Weber said. "But Bolton hit a couple of 3s that were incredibly long - like in the 25-foot range." But it was James Johnson, a 6-7, 220-pound
post, who keyed the Comets' second-half charge. Johnson netted
14 of his 18 points after intermission and "Not that we backed away, but they got more physical in the second half," Weber said. "We missed the front end of 3 (bonus) free throws in a row, and we missed three, four lay-ups. Those 3s Feramisco hit were all heart-breakers. Those things add up against a good team like Palomar." Maury Brown added 14 points, while Mike Scharf netted 9 points and Sylvester Crockem collected 8 for Grossmont. "As well as we played in the first half, I really thought we had 'em beat tonight," Weber lamented. "To their credit, they came out and played much harder in the second half." Grossmont travels to district rival Cuyamaca
in its next game on Wednesday (Jan. 22) at 7 p.m. Griffs nearly make it all the way back against JaguarsEastCountySports.com staff report CHULA VISTA - Playing catch-up from the outset, the Grossmont Griffins nearly caught and passed host Southwestern during the stretch run of Wednesday night's (Jan. 16) battle of Pacific Coast Conference leaders in the Jaguars' den. The Griffins, in fact, trailed by one point with 34 seconds remaining, but eventually wound up on the short end of a 61-57 final score. It was only the second loss in the last nine games for Grossmont (10-11, 3-1), which tumbled into third place while Southwestern (9-11, 4-0) remained tied for the top spot with Palomar. The Griffins, who have played three of their first four PCC games on the road, host the Comets (15-5, 4-0) on Saturday night (Jan. 19) at 7 p.m. "This was a winnable game," Grossmont
coach Doug Weber said of the Griffins' loss at Southwestern.
"We got down early and wound up chasing them the whole night.
Defensively, they are really tough - probably as good as I've
ever seen them. We still had a chance to beat them, but did not
score on our final Sylvester Crockem, who led the Griffins with 16 points, made the second of two free throw chances to shave Southwestern's edge to 56-55 with 1:20 remaining. The Jaguars countered when Helix High alum Julian Trisby nailed a short bank shot to make it 58-55. Then it was Maury Brown's turn to convert an inbound-play for a bucket, pulling Grossmont to within 58-57 with 0:32 remaining. The Griffins caught the Jaguars in their full-court trap, causing Southwestern to call a timeout. The Jags eventually beat the Grossmont pressure and William Fisher scored what proved to be the winning layup with 0:22 left. Trisby later tacked on a free throw to make the final score. Crockem, Brown (14 points) and Scott Smith (10) all reached double-scoring digits, but John Clark - the PCC scoring leader - finished with 8 points. That's more than 12 points below his season average. "Clark didn't play real strong," Weber said. "But he wasn't forcing his shots, either. The shots weren't falling for him, so he looked more to involve his teammates." Ron McMillan led Southwestern with 12 points.
Lonnie Chenot added 11. Trisby finished with 4. First-place Griffs find break-even pointEastCountySports.com staff report SAN DIEGO - Riddled by a rash of early-season
injuries and a challenging schedule, the Grossmont Griffins won
only three of their first 12 games. They could easily have faded
into oblivion at that point, but refused to fold. Two of the Griffins' three conference conquests have come on the road, including Saturday night's (Jan. 12) nod over San Diego City College 75-73 at San Diego High. The Griffins' road show continues on Wednesday (Jan. 16) when they travel to Chula Vista to face Southwestern (8-10, 3-0) in a battle of first-place teams at 7 p.m. "It's been a long climb to get back to .500 after that 3-9 start," Grossmont coach Doug Weber said. "I'm so proud of our guys." Grossmont (10-10, 3-0) nearly let one get away against defending PCC-champion San Diego City, as the Griffins twice failed to hold 10-point leads in the second half. In fact, they had to play catch-up during the final three minutes. Scott Smith's three-point bulls-eye pulled the Griffins even at 69-all with 2:30 remaining. That's when John Clark - the PCC's leading scorer - took over. The smooth-shooting 6-foot-5 Clark cranked in back-to-back buckets to lift Grossmont into a 73-69 advantage. The Knights (5-11, 0-3) countered with a basket, but Clark sealed the victory with a pair of free throws with less than a minute unplayed. Clark finished with a team-high 21 points, giving him 304 tallies in his last 13 games. Maury Brown added 15 points, while Scott
Smith scored the majority of his 14 points by casting in four
shots from beyond the arc. Crockem cans career-high 23, but MiraCosta stays tied for topEastCountySports.com staff report EL CAJON - For the second straight game, Sylvester Crockem made a major offensive contribution for the Grossmont Griffins, who marched past visiting MiraCosta College 88-72 Wednesday night (Jan. 9) to retain a share of the Pacific Coast Conference lead. A 6-foot-3 sophomore from Kenner, La., Crockem canned a career-high 23 points, giving him 44 markers in his last two starts. Together with 6-foot-5 John Clark, Grossmont has developed one of the top 1-2 scoring duos in the PCC. Clark, the conference's leading scorer with a 20.9 average, generated 28 points against MiraCosta as Grossmont won its 6th game in its last 7 starts. The product of Mission Bay High has cast in 283 points during his last 12 games - an average of 23.6 points per outing. Crockem cooked up 14 points and Clark popped in his first two three-point shots of the game to help stake Grossmont (9-10, 2-0) to a 43-37 halftime lead. Clark finished with 4 treys for the Griffins, who led by as many as 19 points in the easy victory over the Spartans (4-11, 0-2). Mike Scharf chipped in with 13 points for the Griffins, who presently share the PCC penthouse with Palomar and Southwestern. Ryan Bishop - returning to the lineup after suffering a broken wrist two months ago - added 9 points for Grossmont. Nick Burgess led MiraCosta (4-11, 0-2)
with a game-high 30 points. Crockem gives Griffins start, then finishes off IVCEastCountySports.com staff report IMPERIAL - Sylvester Crockem made a rare
start for the Grossmont Griffins in Saturday's (Jan. 5) Pacific
Coast Conference opener and turned it into a career night. The
6-foot-3 sophomore from Kenner, La. scored 21 points, "It was a great night for Crockem," Grossmont coach Doug Weber said. "We talked about being more aggressive, and taking the ball to the basket. Sly did that for us. He was 9-for-11 from the free throw line." After Grossmont's John Clark tied the game 73-73 with a lay-in, Crockem gave the Griffins a 75-73 edge when he netted a pair of charity tosses with 0:51 remaining. IVC (3-10, 0-1) knotted the score on an 18-footer by Brandon Warner, before Crockem buried two more free throws to put Grossmont (8-10, 0-1) back on top. Mike Scharf made one of two shots from the foul line to give Grossmont a three-point cushion. He then blocked IVC's desperation three-point shot at the buzzer. Clark collected a game-high 22 points for Grossmont. His totals included 8-for-9 shooting from the foul line. The Griffins were in command most of the first half, but saw their lead shaved to 36-32 when IVC hit a half-court shot at the buzzer. The Arabs eventually caught and passed the Griffins in the second half. IVC led by as many as 6 points after intermission. "Our kids played well, but so did IVC," Weber said. "The main thing is we were able to put the ball in the right guys' hands down the stretch." Mike Keddington added 13 points for the
Griffins, who have won 5 of their last 6 starts. (01-05-02) Frustrating loss for Griffins in Mesa finalEastCountySports.com staff report SAN DIEGO - The Pacific Coast Conference figures to be a pretty hotly contested scramble. If Saturday's (Dec. 29) finals of the San Diego Mesa Holiday Tournament is any indication, the Grossmont Griffins and the Mesa Olympians should be primary contenders for the PCC crown. In the Griffins' first test against a conference opponent, they held up well and took host Mesa College into overtime before dropping a 91-87 decision to the Olympians in the tournament title tilt. It was the sixth straight win for Mesa (10-4) and the first loss in five games for Grossmont (7-10). "Although Ed (Mesa coach Ed Helscher) and I were talking before the game how we believe our teams are peaking at the right time, this was still a frustrating loss," said Grossmont coach Doug Weber. "It was pretty much our game - we led by 3 points with 11 seconds to play. All we had to do was take care of the ball, not make stupid fouls, and hit some free throws. But we didn't do that." Mesa buried the Griffins from the free throw line during the five minute overtime, as the Olympians converted 14 of 15 chances from the charity stripe. "We really are clicking pretty well right now," said Weber, whose Griffins led 43-35 at halftime. "But you've gotta give Mesa credit for coming back. They're a good team. Overall this was a good weekend for us (two wins in three games), but we had a chance to make five wins in a row." Five Griffins - led by John Clark's 22
points - finished in double figures. Scharf represented Grossmont on the All-Tournament Team. Tournament MVP, Eric Thompson, scored 30 points to lead Mesa over Grossmont. Mark Thompson (no relation) added 19 points for the Olympians. Grossmont opens the PCC season on Saturday
(Jan. 5) at Imperial Valley at 7 p.m. The Arabs, who were defeated
by state power Ventura 72-50 on Saturday (Dec. 29), own a misleading
3-9 pre-season record. Griffins contain Glendale, will play Mesa for tourney titleEastCountySports.com staff report SAN DIEGO - The Grossmont Griffins stretched their season-best winning streak to four on Friday (Dec. 28) as they rolled over Glendale College 82-67 to reach the championship game of the San Diego Mesa Holiday Tournament. The Griffins (7-9) face the host team, Mesa College (9-4), for the tourney title Saturday (Dec. 29) at 4 p.m. John Clark continued his scoring surge with a team-high 21 points, as the Griffins defeated the Vaqueros in the semifinals. Clark has scored 211 points in his last nine games - a 23.4 average. Maury Brown added 19 points, Mike Scharf slipped in 14, and Scott Smith rang up 11 for the Griffins. "Our offense has been pretty good
lately, but I thought we played our best defensive game of the
year against Glendale," Grossmont coach Doug Weber said.
"We did a better job of containing people and it seemed
like we got every rebound. We didn't gamble. We played eight
guys and nobody let down." Griffins win third-straight behind Clark, ScharfSAN DIEGO - For the first time this season, the Grossmont College Griffins have linked together three straight victories. John Clark scored 27 points and Mike Scharf tossed in 23 on Thursday (Dec. 27) as the Griffins opened the San Diego Mesa Holiday Tournament with a 92-81 victory over Rocklin's Sierra College. The Griffins (6-9), who play Glendale in Friday's (Dec. 28) tournament semifinals at 4 p.m., have been scoring at a 96-point clip during their modest win streak. Clark, on the other hand, has been smoking the cords of late. The 6-foot-5 sophomore out of Mission Bay High has averaged 26 points over the last four games and netted 190 points (23.8 ppg) over his last eight outings. Scharf, a 6-foot-2 sophomore from Nanuet, N.Y., has been making large offensive deposits, too. For the third consecutive game, he hit his season high, and has produced 56 points over that stretch. Mike Keddington added 11 points, Sylvester Crockem dropped in 10 and Scott Smith swished 9 for the Griffins, who led by 16 points at the half. Griffins rock Bay Area for second-straight winEastCountySports.com staff report EL CAJON - For the first time all season, Grossmont College has posted back-to-back victories. Coach Doug Weber's Griffins defeated the Bay Area Stars 105-94 on Sunday (Dec. 16) to capture the consolation championship of the Cuyamaca Classic. That victory, coupled with Saturday's 98-75
conquest of Orange Coast, marked the first time in 14 starts
Grossmont has put together consecutive victories. "Maybe we are on a little bit of a roll," Weber said. "At least we're putting up some points." Sophomore John Clark certainly has been on a scoring tear of late. The 6-foot-5 sophomore out of Mission Bay High rang up 32 points in the consolation final and scored 77 points in the three Cuyamaca Classic games, earning an all-tournament berth for his effort. More than that, though, Clark has averaged 23.3 points over his last seven starts. Clark clicked on 9 of 17 shots from the floor, hit 10 of 12 free throws and collected 11 rebounds against the Bay Area squad, which was led by a handful of graduated four-year college players. He was 4-for-5 from three-point range. Scott Smith led a strong supporting cast with 23 points, while Mike Keddington rolled a nifty double-double of 10 points and 11 rebounds for Grossmont (5-9). Michael Scharf had his second strong game
in a row with 17 Although smoldering rather than hot would
be the best way to rate the Griffins' play of late, Weber lamented
that his team doesn't have another game until the San Diego Mesa
College Christmas Classic tips off on Thursday, Dec. 27. The
Griffins meet Sierra (Rocklin, Ca.) College in the opening round
at noon. Clark guides Griffins in Coyotes' eventEastCountySports.com staff report EL CAJON - John Clark guided Grossmont College to its finest offensive showing of the season on Saturday (Dec. 15), as the Griffins clobbered Orange Coast College 98-75 in the second round of the Cuyamaca Classic. The Griffins (4-9) play the Bay Area Stars for the consolation championship Sunday (Dec. 16) at 11 a.m. Clark canned a game-high 23 points against OCC, hitting 7-of-12 shots from the floor and 9-of-10 free throws. Guard Mike Scharf played his best game of the year, ringing up 16 points, 8 rebounds and 5 steals. "We're still pretty thin (due to injuries), but all eight guys who played made significant contributions," Grossmont coach Doug Weber said. "We got five guys in double figures, and nobody scored less than 8 points. That's pretty good balance." Scott Smith (12 points), Helix alum Phillip Strocco (11 points), and Sylvester Crockem (11 points, 5 assists) joined Grossmont's double-digit point parade. Strocco was 5 for 6 from the floor in what was his best game at Grossmont. Mike Keddington rolled some impressive
numbers, cashing in 11 rebounds, 8 points, and 6 assists for
the Griffins. Maury Brown (9 points) and Tony Roberts (8 points)
rounded out the scoring for Grossmont, which shot better than
54 percent (37-of-68) from the floor. The Griffins were also
23-of-29 from the free throw line. Griffins give No. 2 Cubs a matchEastCountySports.com staff report EL CAJON - Grossmont College coach Doug Weber was surprisingly upbeat after the Griffins lost for the ninth time in 12 starts in Friday's (Dec. 14) opening round of the Cuyamaca Classic. Weber's exuberance could be centered around the fact that his Griffins had undefeated Los Angeles City College (14-0), the No. 2-ranked team in the state, on the ropes in the final minutes of a 72-64 loss. "We were right there," Weber said. "We held the lead something like six times, but we just could not put them away. Obviously, this was the best we've played." The Griffins, who have lost seven games by eight points or less (four by three points or fewer), trailed the Cubs of LACC by only 32-29 at the half. "We're playing a lot of good teams and playing them tough," Weber said. "We've only been blown out twice (in 12 games). And when you consider that we've had a rash of injuries, the outlook for the future is pretty good." John Clark led the Griffins with 22 points, including four 3-pointers and a half-dozen rebounds. Scott Smith chipped in with 12 points and 6 rebounds, while Sylvester Crockem and Mike Keddington contributed 10 points apiece. The Griffins' defense was better than their offense against perennial power LACC. The Griffins shot only 32 percent (21 for 64), and hit 13 of 20 free throws, compared to the Cubs' 53 percent accuracy from the floor and 12-for-13 marksmanship from the charity stripe. Another key stat is LACC, which featured a front line that included 6-foot-10 and 6-foot-8 giants, was 0 for 9 on three-point shot attempts. The Griffins were 8 for 20 above the arc, including Clark's 4 for 8. LACC claimed a 37-24 rebounding edge. Grossmont faces Orange Coast College in Saturday's (Dec. 15) second round at 2 p.m. Lasers zap out Griffins' upset bidEastCountySports.com staff report EL CAJON - Grossmont College rallied from a 14-point halftime deficit on Wednesday (Dec. 12), but the Griffins couldn't pull off the upset, as the visiting Lasers (10-3) prevailed 70-68. The injury-riddled Griffins (3-8), who trailed 47-33 at halftime, forged in front when Scott Smith's 3-pointer broke a 59-59 tie with five minutes to play. Grossmont was clinging to a 66-64 edge with three minutes remaining, but faltered down the stretch. John Clark, a 6-foot-5 sophomore, led the Griffins with 15 points. The Mission Bay High alum earlier in the day was named the Pacific Coast Conference Co-Athlete of the Week for having scored 71 points during the three-game Santa Barbara Classic. Maury Brown and Sylvester Crockem added 14 points apiece for Grossmont in the loss to Irvine Valley. Mike Keddington chimed in with 10 points, and Tony Roberts rattled in a trio of 3s for 9 points. Next up for the Griffins is the Cuyamaca
Classic Friday through Sunday (Dec. 14-16). Grossmont faces perennial
power Los Angeles City College in Friday's first round at 4 p.m.
Host Cuyamaca takes on the Bay Area Stars at 6 p.m. Griffins' weekend highlighted by win over Victor ValleyEastCountySports.com staff report EL CAJON - John Clark struck an offensive gusher for the Grossmont College men's basketball team during the Griffins' three-day run in the Santa Barbara Invitational, which concluded Saturday night (Dec. 8). Clark, a 6-foot-5 sophomore, tossed in 71 points as the Griffins (3-7) won one of three games in the tourney. Ironically, Clark had his lowest scoring night (19 points) Friday (Dec. 7) when the Griffins ripped Victor Valley 97-80. Scott Smith added 22 points, including 4-for-5 shooting from three-point range. Smith also corraled 5 rebounds and handed out 4 assists. Maury Brown rolled in 19 points for the Griffins, and Tony Roberts contributed 14 in the victory over Victor Valley. In Saturday's (Dec. 8) consolation championship game, the Griffins fell to Oxnard 84-81. Grossmont tied the game 81-all on a Scott Smith layup, but the Condors countered with a length-of-the-court pass that led to the go-ahead layin. Grossmont then gave up the ball on a offensive foul, and Oxnard added one more free throw for the margin of victory. Clark led the Grossmont scoring attack with 26 points. Brown added 18 points, while Smith slipped in 16 points and snagged 6 rebounds. Roberts finished with 14 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists. Grossmont trailed 43-28 at halftime before staging a steady comeback in the second half. The Griffins, who host Irvine Valley on
Wednesday (Dec. 12) at 7 p.m., hurt their own cause against Oxnard
when they missed 10 of 24 free throws. Griffins' rally falls short, record falls to 2-6EastCountySports.com staff report SANTA BARBARA - The Grossmont Griffins fired up a flurry of three-pointers during the final two minutes against Coalinga's West Hills College in Thursday's (Dec. 6) opening round of the Santa Barbara Invitational, but still came up short, 78-74. The loss dropped the Griffins (2-6) into Friday's (Dec. 7) consolation round opposite Victor Valley at 5 p.m. John Clark, who led Grossmont with 26 points and 5 steals, canned the third of three-straight 3-pointers that brought the Griffins back from a 72-61 deficit. Regan Arroyo and Mike Scharf also hit 3s, as Grossmont pulled to within 72-70. "We made a run, but just couldn't get over the hump," Grossmont coach Doug Weber said. Mike Keddington added 11 points before
leaving the game with a sprained ankle late in the in the opening
half. Maury Brown also had 9 points for the Griffins, whose leading
rebounder was point guard Scharf with 7. GROSSMONT COLLEGE 30TH Annual Men's Basketball Tournament CHAFFEY 86, GROSSMONT 67 - One of the positives that evolved out of the Griffins' tournament was Maury Brown's elevation to a starting role. The 6-foot-4 sophomore from Ramona High scored 52 points during the three-game tourney. "People were impressed with Maury,"
Grossmont coach Doug Weber said. "He was Brown had a game-high 15 points in the consolation championship loss to Chaffey on Saturday (Dec. 1). John Clark added 14 points and Mike Scharf tossed in 10. Chaffey, which defeated Grossmont in the season opener last month, canned nine 3-point baskets in the second half (10 in the game) to erase the Griffins' 36-35 halftime lead. Next up for Grossmont is the Santa Barbara
Classic, which begins on Thursday (Dec. 6) when the Griffins
face Coalinga's West Hills College at 9 p.m. GROSSMONT COLLEGE GROSSMONT 104, DESERT 90 - For one of the few times this season, the host Grossmont Griffins displayed genuine offensive balance, as five players finished in double figures. Led by John Clark's 27 points, the Griffins (2-4) posted a wire-to-wire victory over College of the Desert in Friday's (Nov. 30) second round of the tournament. Maury Brown added 17 points, while Tony Roberts and Sylvester Crockem popped in a dozen points apiece. Michael Keddington completed the double-digit club with 10 points. "Everything we ran worked," said Grossmont coach Doug Weber. "It's nice to have great balance. It's something that's been missing for us this year." Victory was not without a price for Grossmont, which has been hounded by injuries all season. The Griffins' latest casualty was point guard Scott Carr, who turned an ankle with 10 minutes left in the C.O.D. game. He's expected to miss up to three weeks. "Then we put Scott Smith in at the point, and he makes the two free throws in Carr's place," Weber said. "About a minute later, Smith gets popped in the mouth, and winds up having to go get stitches. He was a bloody mess. "I look at our bench and we're down to eight guys (including the loss of center Ryan Bishop with a broken wrist). So we're really doing things patchwork at the moment." Grossmont hosts Chaffey in Saturday's (Dec. 1) consolation championship at 3 pm. The tournament championship matches City College of San Francisco against Saddleback at 7 pm. CCSF, the No. 2 ranked team in the state,
edged College of the Sequoias 78-77. The Griffins lost their
first-round game to Sequoias by two points. Griffins see Sequoias chop down huge lead at Grossmont inviteEastCountySports.com staff report EL CAJON - Grossmont College men's basketball coach Doug Weber must watch his post-game videos in near disbelief these days. As sorry as it sounds, Weber's Griffins always seem to find a way to lose this season. Grossmont (1-4) blew a 49-37 lead with less than 10 minutes to play enabling visiting College of the Sequoias to snatch a 60-58 victory over the Griffins in Thursday's (Nov. 29) opening round of the 30th annual Grossmont Invitational. The Griffins, who play College of the Desert in Friday's (Nov. 30) consolation round at 4 p.m., played without 6-foot-6, 230-pound center Ryan Bishop, who suffered a broken wrist in the Barstow game two weeks ago. The Griffins got a superb effort from Maury Brown, who scored 14 of his game-high 20 points in the first half. Unfortunately for the Griffins, no other player hit double figures, as Sylvester Crockem was the team's second-leading scorer with 9 points. BARSTOW 93, GROSSMONT 75 - The Barstow College Vikings went on a 23-8 scoring spree over the final seven minutes to deal the Grossmont Griffins a non-conference loss Saturday (Nov. 17) in the desert community. "We just couldn't buy a basket there at the end," Griffins coach Doug Weber said after his team lost for the third time in four games this season. "Barstow wants to go fast and they do everything they can to speed up the tempo. I think we got going faster than we needed to, and didn't do a very good job of taking care of the basketball." Sophomore John Clark led the Griffins with 24 points. "Clark could have had 34," Weber said. "I think he passed up some shots because he wants to be a team guy. He probably passed the ball when he shouldn't have. His teammates didn't give him much help at the scoring end." Michael Scharf led Grossmont's supporting
cast with 9 points. Golden West rustles up first win at Griffins' expenseHUNTINGTON BEACH - You know it's not going to be a good night when your leading scorer draws a blank. That's what happened to Grossmont College at Golden West College Thursday night (Nov. 15) when Tony Roberts, who averaged 20.5 points in the Griffins' first two games, went 0-for-3 from the floor as the host Rustlers corralled a 63-56 victory. "Golden West (1-4) controlled the tempo, just walked the ball up the court, ran the shot clock down under 10 seconds and then put the ball up," Grossmont coach Doug Weber reported. "We got a little antsy at the other end. We'd make one pass and cast off a shot. We don't even have that in our offense yet. We didn't rush things like that in our first two games." Weber believes Grossmont's problems may have started when the Griffins watched Pacific Coast Conference rival San Diego Mesa grill Golden West 80-54 on Wednesday (Nov. 14). "That may have been a mistake to take our kids over to watch that game," Weber said. "Golden West didn't play very well, and I think our kids got the idea that they would get an easy 'W' when we played them." Only one Grossmont player reached double figures - Ryan Bishop with 10 points - as the Griffins shot an unimpressive 43 percent from the floor and were outscored 15-8 from the free throw line. "We didn't take enough shots (49)," Weber said. "We threw the ball around too much without doing much of anything on the offensive end." Scott Smith tallied 9 points for the Griffins (1-2), who also got 8 points and a game-high 8 rebounds from Maury Brown. One of the high points was the return of sophomore John Clark. It was obvious that Clark wasn't at the top of his game, finishing with 7 points and 3 rebounds. "I was favoring it a little bit," said Clark, referring to the sprained right ankle he suffered in the Griffins' season-opening loss at Chaffey. "It was hard to make cuts." Clark explained how he sustained the injury. "I was back-peddling down court and tripped over one of the officials," he recalled. "But I think I'm at about 90 percent. I'm doing a lot of ice treatments, so I think I'll be back at 100 percent real soon." In other news, the Griffins' scheduled
home opener against Orange Coast College on Saturday, Nov. 24,
has been cancelled. Roberts, Smith solid in Griffins' consolation winEastCountySports.com staff report EL CAJON - Tony Roberts drilled in 24 points
and Scott Smith added 18 as the "I don't know if we played any better
than we did against Chaffey (in a One of the biggest differences was Grossmont
came out strong in the second John Clark, the Griffins most experienced
player, remained on the sidelines "John wanted to play, so we taped
him up but he just couldn't go," Weber said. "It's
probably better that he rested the ankle, anyway." Clark injured in season-opening defeatEastCountySports.com staff report EL CAJON - Grossmont College basketball coach Doug Weber drew a doozy of an opponent to open the season on Friday (Nov. 9) in the first round of the Glendale Classic. Chaffey College defeated the Griffins 95-88 in a game that Grossmont led 43-38 at halftime. "They're as good as their football team," Weber said, comparing the Panthers' basketball team to Chaffey's undefeated football squad - the No. 1 ranked team in Southern California. "They really get after you." John Clark, one of the Griffins most experienced players, suffered a severe ankle sprain midway through the second half. Clark (Mission Bay HS) finished with 10 points. "It was one of those freak deals," Weber said of Clark's injury. "John had just made a basket and turned to go back downcourt when he collided with one of the officials. He really turned his ankle, and the trainers think it might be broken." Grossmont fell behind Chaffey at the outset of the second half when the Panthers reeled off six straight points. Chaffey extended its advantage to 10 points with 12 minutes left. And then the Griffins lost Clark. The Griffins made one final charge when Tony Roberts hit a 3-pointer, closing Chaffey's lead to three points with a minute to play. "We had to foul in the final seconds, and Chaffey made their last four free \throws to put the game away," Weber said. Scott Smith paced the Griffins with 17
points, and Roberts added 15. |
2001-02 coverageCUYAMACA COLLEGE BASKETBALL Cuyamaca closes with win over IVC behind Givens' 21EL CAJON - Adrian Givens drilled in 21
points and Randy Bland added 18 points The victory enabled the Coyotes (10-21,
3-11) to avoid finishing in the Cuyamaca, which led 38-36 at intermission,
shot 50 percent from the field Tim Browning (El Capitan) added 14 points,
4 assists and 3 steals for Coyotes come up well short of first-place GriffsEastCountySports.com staff report EL CAJON - When your leading scorer comes
up empty for an entire half, you Bland, who came in averaging 18 points
per game, scored 10 in the first half, James Francisco scored 15 of his team-leading
17 points in the second half John Clark and Michael Scharf led Grossmont
(17-13, 10-3) with 21 and 19 Cuyamaca closes the season by hosting Imperial
Valley on Saturday night (Feb. Southwestern breezes past Coyotes in first halfEastCountySports.com staff report EL CAJON - Another slow start added up
to another loss for the struggling Five Jaguars finished in double figures
as Will Fisher led the way with 19 Randy Bland paced the slumping Coyotes
(9-20, 2-10) with 19 points and 8 Cuyamaca travels to Grossmont on Wednesday
(Feb. 20) for a 7 p.m. bout. The Seaberry, Endsley, not Jones, combine to sack CoyotesEastCountySports.com staff report EL CAJON - The struggling Coyotes accomplished
one goal when they shut down While Jones was settling for 8 points,
7 assists, 5 turnovers and 3 steals, SDCC (11-13, 6-5) buried the Coyotes (9-19,
2-9) from the free throw line, "I guess we weren't aggressive enough
to get the foul call when we tried to The Knights also dominated the Coyotes
on the boards by an almost 2-1 margin Randy Bland led Cuyamaca with 19 points
and 10 rebounds. Adrian Givens added Cuyamaca travels to Southwestern on Saturday
(Feb. 16) for a 7 p.m. tipoff. Cuyamaca can't get started against MiraCostaEastCountySports.com staff report EL CAJON - The Cuyamaca Coyotes came out
flat in Saturday's (Feb. 9) Pacific The Coyotes (9-18, 2-8) scored only 20
points in the opening half and trailed James Francisco scored 17 points to pace
Cuyamaca. Justin Mellinger added 10 Cuyamaca hosts San Diego City on Wednesday
(Feb.13) at 8 p.m. Effort can't keep Coyotes off losing end of OT decisionEastCountySports.com staff report SAN MARCOS - Frustration reached a painful
peak for the Cuyamaca Coyotes The Coyotes (9-17, 2-7) led by 4 points
with less than two minutes remaining Instead, the Comets (19-6, 8-1), ranked
No. 11 in the state, forced overtime Palomar marched out to an 8-point lead
in the first five-minute extra period, "Losing a chance to win it in regulation
was devastating," Cuyamaca coach Ron Randy Randle scored 5 of Palomar's 8 points
in the second overtime to secure Randy Bland scored a game-high 27 points
to pace the Coyotes, who also Coyotes clip Mesa to open second half with winEastCountySports.com staff report EL CAJON - There's no quit in Rob Wojtkowski's
youthful Cuyamaca Coyotes. Randy Bland, hobbled by a knee injury of
late, showed no ill effects against Guard Tim Browning knocked down 5 of 8
shots from the field and netted 6 free Makenzie Lee added 15 points, including
7-for-8 free throws for the Coyotes, "We've been through a lot of adversity
this past week with Bland and (Adrian) Cuyamaca, a long-shot to make the playoffs,
needs at least a split of its Coyotes fall short to IVC at buzzerEastCountySports.com staff report IMPERIAL - The short-handed Cuyamaca Coyotes
missed several chances to avoid Ironically, Browning was enjoying a superb
shooting night prior to his The Coyotes could have tied the game and
sent it into overtime had Makenzie "It wasn't our offense that lost the
game for us," Cuyamaca coach Rob It was the sixth straight loss for Cuyamaca
(8-16, 1-6), which opened the PCC Cuyamaca capitalized on 27 IVC fouls to
convert 25 of 35 free throws. James All teams take a bye on Wednesday (Jan.
30). Cuyamaca returns to the court on Coyotes take a beating from GrossmontEastCountySports.com staff report EL CAJON - Adrian Givens provided a positive
jump start for the slumping "Givens was 4-for-5 with 3 rebounds,"
Cuyamaca coach Rob Wojtkowski said. "And then, when Randy (Bland, the
Coyotes' No. 1 scorer) hurt his knee at the Givens never returned to the lineup, but
Bland did and continued on for a The Coyotes took a 22-20 lead on an Adam
Gainey bucket with 9:50 remaining. Makenzie Lee enjoyed a profitable night
for Cuyamaca, spinning in 16 points James Francisco added 12 points and 4 assists,
while Adam Gainey contributed "We're a young team," Wojtkowski
said. "Our coaches and players are going to Cuyamaca completes the first round of conference
activity with a trip to Southwestern speeds past CoyotesEastCountySports.com staff report EL CAJON - Duval Taylor nailed 15 of 20
floor shots on his way to a 34-point It was Southwestern's highest scoring output
of the season, and the most Cuyamaca's Randy Bland blasted in 21 points,
which included 3-for-5 shooting Cuyamaca hosts district rival Grossmont
in its next game on Wednesday (Jan. Coyotes can't keep up with Jones, KnightsEastCountySports.com staff report SAN DIEGO - Zach Jones Jr. scored 35 points,
including six 3-pointers to lead Jones was 6-for-7 from above the arc in
the opening half, but 0-for-2 during Turnovers again plagued the Coyotes (8-13,
1-3), who gave up the ball 21 "I was disappointed with our transition
game," Cuyamaca coach Rob Wojtkowski Wojtkowski thought the game may have been
halted a second or two prematurely. "I thought there was at least one
full second left," Wojtkowski insisted. "I Randy Bland, who played for San Diego High
in The Cave (also the Knights' Cuyamaca was tagged with 29 fouls, which
resulted in 22-for-35 free throw The Coyotes host Southwestern on Saturday
(Jan. 19) at 7 p.m. Nothing goes right for Coyotes against MiraCostaEastCountySports.com staff report OCEANSIDE - A combination of 22 turnovers
and poor shooting from every venue "It was a completely chaotic game,
and we usually play well in those The Coyotes (8-12, 1-2) misfired on 15
of 18 shots from above the arc, and Randy Bland paced the Coyotes with 15 points
and 9 rebounds, while Adrian Cuyamaca travels to San Diego City on Wednesday
(Jan. 16) in what shapes up Coyotes pose threat, but Comets streak awayEastCountySports.com staff report EL CAJON - Palomar College used a 20-4
scoring run over a 5:18 stretch of the That streak by the Comets (13-5, 2-0) gave
Palomar a 56-43 advantage with "Our defense dictates everything,"
Cuyamaca coach Rob Wojtkowski said. "If we Bland, a 6-foot-5 freshman out of San Diego
High, scored a game-high 27 The Coyotes parlayed a 16-4 scoring run
the final four minutes of the first "In the second half our defense didn't
give us anything," said Wojtkowski. Anthony Bolton (18 points, 7 rebounds,
6 assists, 4 steals), Aaron Abrams (15 Coyotes crush Mesa with preparation, defenseEastCountySports.com staff report SAN DIEGO - Sometimes the Cuyamaca Coyotes
don't play like the freshman-laden Coach Rob Wojtkowski's Coyotes (8-10, 1-0)
turned in one of their most "This was a huge win for us,"
said Wojtkowski, noting that the Coyotes play Adam Gainey took the pole position for
Cuyamaca, and finished with a Bland, meanwhile, banged in 15 points in
the first half despite being saddled "I wasn't able to put Randy back in
until there was only five minutes left," Freshman point guard Tim Browning showed
little effect from an ankle sprain "Tim played extremely well for us,"
Wojtkowski said. "He contributed in every James Francisco added 13 points and 3 assists for Cuyamaca. Mesa (10-5, 0-1), one of only two PCC teams
with an overall winning record, East L.A. nips Coyotes at buzzerEastCountySports.com staff report LOS ANGELES - A basket at the buzzer gave
East Los Angeles College an 80-78 Randy Bland led Cuyamaca with 16 points
and 15 rebounds. Adrian Givens scored Cuyamaca tips off the PCC campaign at San
Diego Mesa on Saturday (Jan. 5) at Cubs drub Coyotes in LACC event semisEastCountySports.com staff report LOS ANGELES - The Cuyamaca Coyotes were
no match for the host Los Angeles No other information was provided. Bland's big game helps Coyotes overcome foul-shooting woesLOS ANGELES - Randy Bland scored 31 points
and grabbed 18 rebounds as the Although the Coyotes (7-8) maintained a
10-point lead with 1:22 remaining, it More upsetting to Cuyamaca coach Ron Wojtkowski
was losing point guard Tim Adrian Givens added 16 points and 8 rebounds
for Cuyamaca, which also Lasers send Coyotes running for cover in first halfEastCountySports.com staff report EL CAJON - Randy Bland scored 21 points,
and Tim Browning added 13, but the "We've been a strong first-half team,
and a so-so second-half team all Irvine Valley (11-3) streaked to a 38-23
halftime lead, and then cruised in "They're a good team, definitely a
Top 8-type team with two Division I Browning was 5 for 6 from the floor and
2 for 2 from the free throw line, Cuyamaca (6-8) committed 26 fouls, and
Irvine Valley capitalized by netting Next up for Cuyamaca is the Los Angeles
City College tournament (Dec. 27-29). Cuyamaca plays formidable foe for state-power Cubs EastCountySports.com staff report EL CAJON - It figured that the visiting
Los Angeles City College Cubs would Cuyamaca did not make easy prey, as the
Coyotes even enjoyed a one-point lead Adrian Givens and Randy Bland scored 18
points apiece to pace Cuyamaca (6-7). College of the Canyons won the tournament
with a 51-50 victory over the All-tournament pick Lonnie Chenot paced
the Jaguars with 11 points, while Ron Cuyamaca hosts Irvine Valley in a non-conference
game on Wednesday (Dec. 19) CUYAMACA CAGED BY COLLEGE OF THE CANYONS AT CLASSIC EL CAJON - The host Coyotes just missed
pulling off a major upset in Saturday Cuyamaca's Randy Bland scored 19 points
and collected 7 rebounds before "Randy has been a steady go-to guy
for us, and losing him when we did, really The Cougars (8-4) claimed a 12-9 scoring edge in the five-minute overtime. "Canyons has a high profile team and
it would have been a nice win for us to Cuyamaca (6-6) hosts No. 2-ranked Los Angeles
City College (14-1) in Sunday's CUYAMACA 90, BAY AREA STARS 77 - Adrian Givens cast in a season-high 21 The victory qualified Cuyamaca for Saturday's
(Dec. 15) semifinals of the The Coyotes shot 50 percent from the field
(29 of 58) against Bay Area. Adam The Dons took a 47-38 halftime lead and never looked back. Randy Bland led the Coyotes with 27 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists. Makenzie Lee added 13 points and Justin
Mellinger notched 11 for the Coyotes, Coyotes crush Orange Coast behind Bland, benchEastCountySports.com staff report EL CAJON - The Cuyamaca College Coyotes
pushed their season record above the The key to the Coyotes (5-4) recent surge
has been the superb play of the "I don't think we've ever gotten as
much scoring off our bench," said Makenzie Lee (13 points), Justin Mellinger
(8 points), Deone Nubine (4) and Starter Randy Bland came up big with a
game-high 25 points and 9 rebounds. The Coyotes travel to Santa Ana on Saturday
(Dec. 8) for a 5:30 p.m. tipoff. Coyotes claim consolation at Orange Coast tournamentEastCountySports.com staff report EL CAJON - The Cuyamaca College Coyotes are beginning to howl. Coach Rob Wojtkowski's club dribbled past Victor Valley College 69-60 on Saturday (Dec. 1) to capture the consolation championship of the 25th annual Orange Coast/Miles Eaton Invitational. The victory was the Coyotes' second in a row and evened Cuyamaca's record at 4-4. Five Coyotes finished in double scoring figures, including two non-starters. "Our bench played really, really well," Wojtkowski said. "Victor Valley got out to a six-point lead the first five minutes of the game. Our starters were a little sluggish in the beginning, so I subbed with four guys off the bench." Makenzie Lee scored 10 points in a relief role to help the Coyotes take a 36-35 advantage at the break. Reserve Justin Mellinger scored all 10 of his points off the bench in the second half. Cuyamaca's Adrian Givens sank 6 of 9 shots from the floor on his way to a team-high 13 points. Randy Bland chipped in 11 points and hauled down a game-best 13 rebounds. Adam Gainey also had 11 points, while guard Tim Browning rolled out a game-high 7 assists. "Our defense was pretty good," Wojtkowski added. "Victor Valley was 8-for-11 from threes in the first half, but made only one after we made some halftime adjustments." Cuyamaca returns home to host Orange Coast College on Wednesday (Dec. 5) at 5 p.m. Clutch Coyotes rally down stretch, win in overtime against CypressEastCountySports.com staff report EL CAJON - The Cuyamaca Coyotes overcame a 7-point deficit with 1:13 remaining in regulation, and then continued on into overtime to defeat Cypress 74-69 in Friday's (Nov. 30) consolation round of the 25th Annual Orange Coast/Miles Eaton Invitational in Costa Mesa. James Francisco's lay-up tied the game 66-66 with 14 seconds left in regulation. Francisco, who finished with a team-high 22 points, added a key 3-pointer as the Coyotes (3-4) outscored the Chargers 8-3 in overtime. Randy Bland, who contributed a 3-point bucket in Cuyamaca's late regulation run, finished with 17 points and 14 rebounds. The freshman from San Diego High scored the first basket in overtime to put the Coyotes in front to stay. "That's the first time we've beaten Cypress in four years," Cuyamaca coach Rob Wojtkowski said. "We had great intensity and played with a lot of energy." Leading Cuyamaca's supporting cast were Adrian Givens (12 points, 7 rebounds) and Adam Gainey (10 points). The Coyotes face Victor Valley for the tournament consolation championship on Saturday (Dec. 1) at 3 pm in Costa Mesa. EL CAMINO 94, CUYAMACA 68 - The most glaring number on the Cuyamaca statistical sheet in Thursday's (Nov. 29) opening round of the 25th annual Orange Coast/Miles Eaton Invitational was turnovers, as the Coyotes (2-4) were tagged with 21. "It wasn't much of a game," said Cuyamaca coach Rob Wojtkowski, whose Coyotes hope to survive the second round cut on Friday (Nov. 30) when they battle Cypress in a consolation game at Orange Coast College at 2 p.m. Adrian Givens led Cuyamaca with 15 points in the loss to El Camino. Makenzie Lee added 10 points, while Randy Bland muscled in 9 points and hauled down 7 rebounds. Francisco, Browning combine for 40 in Coyotes' winEastCountySports.com staff report EL CAJON - Freshman guard Tim Browning, a graduate of El Capitan High, put together his finest collegiate game as the Cuyamaca Coyotes defeated Victor Valley 87-78 Saturday (Nov. 24) in Victorville. Browning scored 18 points, handed out 6 assists, grabbed 5 rebounds and collected 5 steals for the Coyotes who improved to 2-3. Browning was deadly from the free throw line where he clicked on 11 of 13 shots. James Francisco popped in a game-high 22 points, including 4-for-6 shooting from 3-point range. Francisco was also 4-for-4 from the charity stripe. Adam Gainey had a 6-for-7 shooting night and finished with 15 points. Randy Bland added 14 points and a team-high 9 rebounds for Cuyamaca. Cuyamaca will next play in the Orange Coast
Tournament in Costa Mesa, Nov. 29-Dec. 1. Coyotes turnover game to Cypress, fall to 1-3EastCountySports.com staff report EL CAJON - The Cuyamaca Coyotes committed nearly three times as many turnovers as visiting Cypress College Wednesday night (Nov. 21) and that helped the Chargers claim a 72-60 non-conference victory. Randy Bland banged in 16 points and grabbed
9 rebounds for the Coyotes (1-3). Next up for Cuyamaca is a trip to Victorville
on Saturday (Nov. 24) where the Coyotes take on the Victor Valley
College Rams at 4 p.m. Coyotes shut down Key, but Cubs still remain unbeatenEastCountySports.com staff report EL CAJON - The Cuyamaca Coyotes faced a tall order at Los Angeles City College Saturday (Nov. 17) night - stopping 6-foot-11, 280-pound center Tony Key, while trying to deal the undefeated Cubs (4-0) their first loss of the season. LACC showed why it is a perennial state power as the Cubs clipped the Coyotes 77-49, in a game that was closer than the score indicates. Cuyamaca (1-2) did a superb job defending Key, who is reportedly being courted by the NBA's New York Knicks and Portland Trail Blazers. "We played great defense on him," Coyotes coach Rob Wojtkowski said. "We double- and triple-teamed the guy all night." Adrian Givens (6-5), Jermaine West (6-7) and Steve Simms (6-3) handled the bulk of the defensive duties on Key, who came in averaging 25 points per game. Key managed only six shots from the floor and hit 2 of 4 free throws for a season-low 6 points. Simms and Randy Bland paced Cuyamaca at the offensive end with 11 points apiece. Adam Gainey added 9 and Makenzie Lee chipped in 8 for Cuyamaca, which trailed only 31-25 at halftime. LACC dominated the boards against the smaller Coyotes, who clicked on only 17 of 55 shots (31 percent). "We played hard against one of the top three teams in the state," Wojtkowski said. "Our freshmen team competed with them without fear in their eyes. I'm really pleased with their effort." Bland buries Rustlers to get Cuyamaca into win columnEastCountySports.com staff report CUYAMACA 72, GOLDEN WEST 70 - The Coyotes rebounded from an opening night Randy Bland buried 24 points, grabbed 13
rebounds and logged 4 steals for the Adrian Givens added 14 points and seven
rebounds for Cuyamaca, which also Next up for Cuyamaca is a trip to Los Angeles
City College on Saturday (Nov. EastCountySports.com staff report Barstow 87, Cuyamaca 81 - All nine Coyotes made their college debut on the
Randy Bland, a freshman from San Diego
High, hit 8-of-11 shots and finished Barstow, which placed five players in double
figures, takes on Imperial Tip-off time on the JC hardwood, as Coyotes host tournament EastCountySports.com staff report EL CAJON - The East County community college
basketball season begins this Coach Rob Wojtkowski's Cuyamaca Coyotes
open on the home front, hosting the Cuyamaca takes on Barstow Friday at 7 p.m.
after Golden West and Imperial The Coyotes will have an all-new look,
as Justin Mellinger is the only Top freshmen in the Coyotes' cast include
Tim Browning (El Capitan HS), Olympians complete 10-0 PCC season with win over GriffinsEastCountySports.com staff report EL CAJON - The visiting Grossmont Griffins played another strong first half against Pacific Coast Conference champion San Diego Mesa, but the Olympians were not to be denied, finishing with an unblemished record in Friday's (Feb. 22) regular season finale. Mesa scored 47 points in the second half to defeat the Griffins 78-49. Santana alum Kathryn Wynne's 19 points and 13 rebounds helped the Olympians (22-9, 10-0) break open what had been a close game. The Griffins (9-18, 3-7) trailed only 31-23 at the half, but could not keep pace during the final 20 minutes. Elisabeth Reynolds, a former Granite Hills standout, added 13 points and 15 rebounds for the Olympians, who dominated the game inside. Jennifer Tessier chipped in with 16 points for Mesa, which captured its ninth PCC title in the last 12 years. Cindie King led Grossmont with 17 points and 8 rebounds, while Anna Hinchliff pulled down 14 rebounds and scored 9 points. OTHER PCC ACTION: PALOMAR 77, CUYAMACA 32 - Christina Preciado, the PCC Player of the Week, poured in 18 points and dished out 6 assists to push Palomar (14-15, 5-5) past host Cuyamaca (0-10, 3-24) in Friday's (Feb. 22) regular season finale. Cynthia Sorrell added 13 points and pulled
down 8 rebounds for the Comets, who hope to join champion Mesa
and PCC runner-up Imperial Valley in next Steady Catie Schilling notched 15 points, 4 assists, 5 rebounds and 2 blocked shots for the Coyotes. Chelsea Wignall hit a pair of 3s for Cuyamaca, while Schilling and Naomi Lathan (El Cajon Valley) each hit one trey. Lisa Baker (Granite Hills) added 5 points. IMPERIAL VALLEY 86, SOUTHWESTERN 42 Arabs down Griffs, but can't secure co-titleEastCountySports.com staff report EL CAJON - Cindie King scored 13 points and hauled down 10 rebounds Wednesday night (Feb. 20), but it wasn't nearly enough as the Grossmont Griffins dropped a 76-43 Pacific Coast Conference contest to visiting Imperial Valley College. Anna Hinchliff added 9 points and 9 boards
in the Griffins' home finale. LaToya Jackson and Jello Moore scored 18
points apiece for the Arabs (21-7, 7-2). Sandra Ramos added 16
points for IVC, which saw its chances for a possible PCC co-championship
evaporate when San Diego Mesa edged Palomar 64-57. Santana alum
Kathryn Wynne led the Olympians (21-9, 9-0) with 21 In Wednesday's other PCC game, Southwestern clubbed Cuyamaca 72-39. Catie Schilling scored a game-high 18 points for the Coyotes (3-23, 0-9). Grossmont concludes the season at Mesa
on Friday (Feb. 22) at 7 p.m. King on her court, but Comets have too muchEastCountySports.com staff report SAN MARCOS - Cindie King continues to sparkle
for the Grossmont College women's basketball team. The 5-foot-10
forward out of Ramona scored 25 points and grabbed 9 rebounds
as the visiting Griffins succumbed to host Palomar King nailed 11 of 16 shots from the floor, including one 3-pointer. She added two free throws, giving her 47 points in her last two outings. Angela Cardenas canned 10 points, including a pair of treys. Anna Hinchliff collected 9 points and 9 rebounds plus one 3-point bucket. Christina Winstead had three assists and one 3-pointer while Emma Lam tossed in 6 points and cleared 6 boards. Christina Preciado popped in 14 points to pace Palomar (13-13, 4-3). The Comets led 35-31 at halftime, but Grossmont
forged in front 44-43 with 14:25 remaining. The Comets regained
the lead 51-50 with eight minutes unplayed. A three-minute scoreless
spell during the final five minutes was the end for Grossmont
and a victory for Palomar. GROSSMONT COMPLETES SEASON SWEEP OF CUYAMACA EastCountySports.com staff report EL CAJON - Cindie King enjoyed her finest game of the season on Friday (Feb. 8) with a double-double of 22 points and 19 rebounds as the Grossmont Griffins crushed their visiting district rivals Cuyamaca College 78-52. The victory gave Grossmont a sweep of the two-game series. Anna Hinchliff turned in a strong supporting game for Grossmont (8-15, 2-4) with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Christina Winstead chipped in 16 points and handed out 7 assists, as the Grossmont trio outscored the entire Cuyamaca squad with 55 points. "The game was won from our transition lay-ups and domination on the boards," Grossmont coach Cheryl Campbell said. Catie Schilling was the leading Coyote with 20 points, including 7 for 10 free throw shooting. Naomi Lathan added 10 points, including a pair of threes. Other Grossmont scoring: Emma Lam 8, Corey Dickmann 7, Jennifer Lo 4, Angela Cardenas 2 and Milagro Antonio 2. Other Cuyamaca scoring: Lisa Baker 7, Chelsea
Wignall 7, Jennifer Baldwin 5, Michelle Boyd 3. Mesa is comfortable in win over Grossmont EastCountySports.com staff report (Revised-Feb.2) EL CAJON - The Grossmont Griffins had first-place
San Diego Mesa College down The Griffins (7-15, 1-4) scored only 18
points in the second half after taking a 40-35 halftime lead.
Cindie King had 17 points and 9 rebounds to lead Grossmont, which
also got 16 points from Christina Winstead. King and Anna Hinchliff finished with 8 points and 11 rebounds for the Griffins, while Emma Lam contributed 13 points, 5 rebounds and 2 steals playing primarily in the second half. Angela Cardenas chipped in 5 assists. Jennifer Tessier added 19 points for Mesa (17-9, 5-0). Palomar racks up 26-point win over GrossmontEastCountySports.com staff report EL CAJON - Poor shooting by Grossmont from the field and from the free-throw line, plus a powerful inside presence by the visiting Palomar Comets added up to a 73-47 Pacific Coast Conference defeat for the Griffins Wednesday night (Jan. 23). The Comets pulled away to lead 41-31 at the half, aided by a 9-for-10 shooting performance from the free throw line. "We got off to a pretty good start, but we put Palomar on the free throw line too much at the end of the first half," Grossmont coach Cheryl Campbell said. "Then, we came out and got flat out-rebounded by them in the second half." Grossmont faded out of contention due to its lack of offensive firepower. The Griffins were a paltry 8-for-22 from the free throw line and a chilly 17-for-62 (27 percent) from the field. The Griffins (7-12, 1-1) scored just 16 points in the final 20 minutes. Anna Hinchliff was 5-for-6 from the floor and sank 4 of 8 free throws to lead the Griffins with 17 points and 6 rebounds. Christina Winstead contributed 10 points, including two 3-pointers. Grossmont's Cindie King had a rough shooting night, and managed just 9 points, while guard Angela Cardenas added 6. Allison Strouse led four Palomar players in double figures with a game-high 19 points. She netted a pair of treys and was 7 for 9 from the foul line. In other PCC women's games on Wednesday, former Santana High standout Kathryn Wynne rolled an awesome double-double of 31 points and 18 rebounds to lead first-place Mesa past Southwestern 79-70, and Imperial Valley crushed Cuyamaca 99-44. Next up for the Griffins is a Friday night
(Jan. 25) encounter against Southwestern. Grossmont hosts the
Jaguars at 7 p.m. Griffs are winners over Coyotes in openerEastCountySports.com staff report EL CAJON - It was a grand homecoming, of sorts, for first-year Grossmont College women's basketball coach Cheryl Campbell Friday night (Jan. 18) at Cuyamaca. Campbell, who coached at Cuyamaca last year, guided the Griffins to a 60-45 victory over the Coyotes in the Pacific Coast Conference opener for both teams. "I have a lot of friends at Cuyamaca and it was great going back there. And it was fun to win," Campbell said. Anna Hinchliff rolled a double-double for Grossmont (7-11, 1-0) with a game-high 22 points and 10 rebounds. Angela Cardenas added 11 points, and Corey Dickmann knocked down 10. Emma Lam chipped in 8 points to the Griffins' balanced offense, which also included 14-for-22 free throw shooting. Catie Schilling led Cuyamaca (3-15, 0-1) with 17 points. The Griffins host Palomar on Wednesday
(Jan. 22) at 7 p.m. Griffins peak in first half, lose to Shasta in secondEastCountySports.com staff report EL CAJON - Although Grossmont College led
the No. 10-ranked team in Northern Corey Dickmann led Grossmont (6-11) with
18 points, 7 rebounds, one steal and Grossmont had the lead most of the first half before Shasta put together a mini-run 5-0 to lead 35-33 at intermission. Shasta point guard Marcella Jung keyed
a strong Shasta transition game, as the Knights (14-6) from Redding,
Calif. pulled away in the second half. Grossmont ends losing skein against HarborEastCountySports.com staff report EL CAJON - The Grossmont Griffins (6-9) snapped a seven-game losing streak by knocking off Los Angeles Harbor 60-33 in Saturday's (Dec. 29) third round of the 14th annual Grossmont College Lady Griffins Holiday Festival. Grossmont, which closes the tourney with
a consolation game against GROSSMONT COLLEGE WOMEN SOUNDLY DEFEATED AT HOMEEastCountySports.com staff report EL CAJON - The Grossmont Griffins were
defeated by Spokane Falls (Wash.) 74-49 in Friday's (Dec. 28)
second round of the 14th annual Grossmont College Lady Griffins
Holiday Festival. Santa Ana blows by GriffinsEL CAJON - Cindie King and Anna Hinchliff
scored 14 points apiece for the short-handed Grossmont College
Griffins, but it wasn't enough as visiting Emma Lam added 12 points for the Griffins (5-8), who take on Spokane Falls (Wash.) in Friday's (Dec. 28) second round at 11:30 a.m. Other first round scores: Clackamas (Ore.) 107, Compton 35;
Big Bend (Wash.) CYPRESS 76, GROSSMONT 48 - With Anna Hinchliff sidelined with a bone bruise and Miya Krystek out with a concussion, the short-handed Griffins were no match for the Cypress College Chargers Friday (Dec. 14) in Buena Park. Emma Lam, whose parents traveled from Yucaipa
to see their daughter play, Cindie King added 10 points, but the Griffins were clearly missing Hinchliff's leadership. It was a long night for point guard Angela Cardenas, who has been one of Grossmont's hot-handed shooters in recent games. While Cardenas made 5 steals and handed out 5 assists, she was only 3 for 24 in the shooting gallery. Next up for the Griffins is a Monday (Dec.
17) road trip to Barstow. Cardenas forces OT at buzzer, but 'Runners go on for winDESERT 78, GROSSMONT 74 (OT) - Coach Cheryl Campbell's Grossmont College Griffins forced an overtime when Angela Cardenas canned her fourth 3-pointer of the night (Dec. 5) as the buzzer sounded to end regulation. But the visiting Roadrunners claimed a 14-10 scoring advantage during the five minute extra period - the difference being their 4-for-4 free throw shooting. Cardenas, who was a pass-don't shoot point
guard at El Capitan High, finished Sophomore Cindie King scored a season-high
24 points, with nine of her 10 field goals coming in the second
half. Anna Hinchliff was limited to 12 points, but connected
for a 3-pointer during the overtime session. Christina Despite the loss, Campbell was pleased
that her Griffins were able to Next up for Grossmont is a trip to Buena
Park to face Cypress at 5 pm on Griffins go 1-2 at Cuesta eventEastCountySports.com staff report SAN LUIS OBISPO - Although the Grossmont College women's basketball team lost two out of three at the Cuesta Tournament that concluded Saturday (Dec. 1), the Griffins, nevertheless, featured some impressive individual performances. Anna Hinchliff scored 49 points during the three-day tournament. Guard Angela Cardenas scored a career-high 15 points in the Griffins 83-55 loss to 18th-ranked Orange Coast on Saturday. Christina Winstead tallied 10 points in the 77-69 victory over Bakersfield on Thursday (Nov. 29), and 11 points in Friday's (Nov. 30) 78-35 loss to 23rd-ranked Cuesta. Hinchliff garnered 17 rebounds in the games against Bakersfield and Orange Coast, and also blocked 4 shots against OCC. Grossmont (5-4), which finished fourth
in the 8-team tournament, returns home to host College of the
Desert on Wednesday (Dec. 5) at 5 p.m. Grossmont 77, Bakersfield 68 - There were those who believed that coach Cheryl Campbell and her Grossmont College Griffins would struggle this season. So far, that hasn't been the case. Anna Hinchliff hammered down 27 points
and Cindie King canned 17 as the Griffins (5-2) defeated Bakersfield
in Thursday's (Nov. 29) opening round of the Cuesta Invitational. Not at best, Grossmont still gets past L.A. City EastCountySports.com staff report EL CAJON - First-year Grossmont College women's basketball coach Cheryl Campbell is pleased that her Griffins are off to a 4-2 start, but she's far from satisfied. "Our transition game is working really well, but we're making too many turnovers and shooting poorly from the free throw line and from the perimeter," Campbell said. Case in point was Grossmont's 61-59 victory over visiting Los Angeles City College (2-3) on Monday night (Nov. 26). The Griffins committed 21 turnovers and connected on only 15 of 28 free throws. "We led by 15 points in the first half and still had a chance to lose it in the last 10 seconds," Campbell said. "We just didn't play fired up. We got some lay-ups against their man-to-man defense, but they really hurt us with their 3-point shooting (connecting for 4 treys, including one with 10 seconds remaining)." Anna Hinchliff played a strong game inside for Grossmont, pouring in a team-high 16 points while grabbing 12 rebounds. Cindie King added a dozen points, but collected only 5 rebounds (all off the defensive boards). Point guard Angela Cardenas turned in a solid game, handing out 8 assists while making 4 steals and contributing 9 points. Miya Krystek contributed 10 points off the bench. In a game played on Saturday (Nov. 24) at Santa Monica City College, the Griffins lost to the Corsairs 70-63. Grossmont opens play in the Cuesta College
Tournament in San Luis Obispo on Thursday (Nov. 29) when the
Griffins oppose Bakersfield at 6 p.m. Grossmont plays well enough to crush Mt. San JacintoEastCountySports.com staff report EL CAJON - Four Grossmont College women's basketball players soared into double scoring figures Tuesday (Nov. 20), as the Griffins mauled visiting Mt. San Jacinto College 86-64 in a non-league game. Cindie King paved the way with 22 points and 8 rebounds, helping give Grossmont its third win in four starts under first-year head coach Cheryl Campbell. Anna Hinchliff added 17 points and a game-high 16 rebounds, while Emma Lam contributed 17 points, 8 rebounds and 2 steals to the victory. Jennifer Lo tossed in 10 points, Angela Cardenas handed out 5 assists, and Corey Dickmann had 7 rebounds and 2 blocked shots off the bench. "We got a lot of transition points," Campbell said. "It's a good thing, because we didn't play well defensively and we didn't make our free throws." Grossmont converted only 23 of 44 chances
from the free throw stripe. WOMEN PERFECT IN TWO STARTS Grossmont took to the road for a early-season tilt against Compton (Nov. 14) and came away with a 52-44 win and improve to 2-0. The Griffins' 'new' familiar faces - 5-10 Anna Hinchliff (Fallbrook HS) and 5-10 Cindie King (Ramona HS) - combined for27 points. Hinchcliff, who led GC with 14 points, and King played at Grossmont two years ago. The Griffins lost, 76-58, at Saddleback (Nov. 17) despite a team-high 21 points from King and 13 points from Hinchcliff. GC will next open the home season Tuesday, Nov. 20, against Mount San Jacinto at 7 p.m. WOMEN'S PREVIEW Coach Cheryl Campbell moves over from Cuyamaca to Grossmont this year. Campbell's Griffins feature many new faces,
and a couple of familiar ones in |