AVC AIMS TO BREAK LOSS STREAK\Marauders hope winning drive will produce 2nd-round victory.

Byline: Kathy Orton Special to the Daily News

Whatever it has accomplished up to this point doesn't matter. The entire season for the Antelope Valley College men's basketball team will be defined by this one game.

Sure, it's impressive that the Marauders went undefeated for the first time in school history during Foothill Conference play to win their second consecutive title. And that Antelope Valley coach Newton Chelette has posted 20-win seasons all seven years at the school.

But this team has never advanced past the second-round of the regional playoffs in those seven years - a point of continued frustration for players, coaches and fans.

Entering tonight's pivotal game against Mt. San Antonio College, the Marauders hope to snap their 0-6 second-round playoff losing streak against a team they hardly expected to meet and have not played against since 1968.

Fans of the Antelope Valley men's basketball program have grown accustomed to success during Chelette's tenure. But if it should lose tonight, this team will be remembered like every other one before it - another talented collection of players that couldn't get it done in postseason play.

Before the year even began, the Marauders were anointed a championship team.

"There were a lot of expectations on this team from the get go," Chelette said.

Most of those expectations came from Chelette, who proclaimed this team to be one of the most talented during his years at Antelope Valley.

Early on, Antelope Valley struggled to live up to those expectations. However, since the conference season began, the Marauders have been playing well and take a nine-game winning streak into tonight's game.

For the first time in three years, Antelope Valley will host its second-round playoff game. But Chelette doesn't see that as much of a plus.

"It's an advantage until the game starts," he said. "Most teams don't have the atmosphere that we do here. Most people don't get this kind of hoopla. It motivates them. We're used to it."

Mt. San Antonio, the No. 22 seed, finished third in the Western State Conference Northern Division. The Mounties are a guard-oriented team with a dominant big man in the center - not unlike the Marauders.

"It's a good matchup," Chelette said.

Mike Salser, who played well against Moorpark in the Marauders' first-round game, gets the start over Shaun Murray. Murray, who injured his sprained ankle during practice more than a week ago, did not play Saturday and is not expected to see any action tonight either.

Tickets for tonight's game are $5 for adults and $3 for students with picture ID, Antelope Valley College faculty and staff, senior citizens 62 years and older and children under 12. No passes will be accepted. Doors will open at 5:30 p.m. The game is being broadcast live on KAVL-AM (610) with Larry Thornhill and Henry Schindel calling the action.

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