COC WOMEN ARE LOOKING FOR AN EDGE TEAM FACES SHASTA TO OPEN STATE PLAYOFFS.Byline: Scott Magoloff Staff Writer VALENCIA - In eight seasons at the College of the Canyons College of the Canyons is one of the fastest-growing community colleges in the state. According to the National Junior College Research Association, College of the Canyons consistently ranks in the top 50 community colleges in the nation. , coach Greg Herrick has taken his women's basketball Women's basketball is one of the few games which developed in tandem with men's. It became popular, spreading from the east coast of the United States to the west coast, in large part via women's colleges. team to the playoffs in all but one year. Once again this year, the Cougars are right there, in the state tournament, though past successes are just memories. When 26-6 COC See chip on chip. takes the court tonight at San Joaquin Delta College San Joaquin Delta College is a community college in Stockton, California. It is currently going through a long renovation project to tailor to the growing county. This college is a great college for those who want to transfer to a 4-year university. in Stockton against Shasta (31-3), the No. 1 seed in the North region, it will be a win-or-go-home situation. And while the Cougars - the No. 4 seed in the South region - will be facing the No. 1 seed in the North in the 8 p.m. game, COC may have one big advantage. In a matchup of the coaches, Herrick is the far more playoff-tested coach compared to Shasta's Jerry Brown For the whistleblower, see . Edmund Gerald "Jerry" Brown, Jr. (born April 7, 1938), is the Attorney General for the state of California. Brown has had a lengthy political career spanning terms on the Los Angeles Community College Board of Trustees (1969-1971), as California , who is making his first appearance in the state tournament. It also is the farthest the Shasta program has advanced since the early 1980s. Shasta, like COC, is a deep, athletic team. However, that's where the similarities end. The Cougars come into the game as the second-highest scoring team in the state, averaging 80.4 points per game; however, they are among the worst defensively, giving up 65 points per game. Shasta, meanwhile, averages 70.6 points per game and allows only 55.3 points per game. On its last trip to state, 1997, COC lost in the championship game. In 1995, COC was a fourth seed but lost in the first round. In its bid to finally break through and win a state championship, COC will rely on Tasha Allen, a 21-point-per-game scorer, sixth best in the state, and playmaking guard Natalie Avanecy, who averages 6.6 assists per game, fourth in state. However, it could be up to a player such as forward Siosi Tuli to put the Cougars over the top. Tuli, a 6-foot-1 freshman forward, has improved her play dramatically this season. After averaging eight points and eight rebounds per game during the regular season, Tuli scored 19 in the regional finals. She had 18 points in the semifinal game. Jennifer Kern Kern, river, 155 mi (249 km) long, rising in the S Sierra Nevada Mts., E Calif., and flowing south, then southwest to a reservoir in the extreme southern part of the San Joaquin valley. The river has Isabella Dam as its chief facility. , Shasta's top player, averages 16.4 points and 12.9 rebounds per game. However, in Shasta's 83-66 win over Siskiyous in the North regional finals, she failed to score in double figures for only the only second time this season. --Finally, some games: After struggling to get any games or outdoor practices in, the COC softball softball, variant of baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Invented (1888) in Chicago as an indoor game, it was at various times called indoor baseball, mush ball, playground ball, kitten ball, and, because it was also played by women, ladies' team has been on a nice streak. However, the real test comes next week when COC (11-3, 4-0) could play as many as three games before leaving Friday for the Fresno tournament, where it would play all day Saturday and part of Sunday. Should today's game at Allan Hancock be canceled - and coach Ray Whitten said that is a strong possibility - Western State Conference rules dictate that make-ups take place the following Monday. With a rainout rain·out n. An event, such as an athletic contest, that has been rained out. Radioactive material in the atmosphere brought down by precipitation. today, COC would have to play at Hancock on Monday, at Glendale on Tuesday and home against Citrus on Thursday before leaving for Fresno. ``Sometimes playing four games in a week is better than practice,'' Whitten said. ``Obviously, it's a game situation and there's a little more concentration.'' At the forefront of COC's inspired play is its middle defense, which features shortstop Chantal Pershing and second baseman second baseman n. Baseball The infielder who is positioned near and to the first-base side of second base. Noun 1. second baseman - (baseball) the person who plays second base second sacker Valerie Reyes. Pershing has continued her spectacular ways at shortstop, where she surprised Whitten on a regular basis by making difficult plays look routine. ``Last year, it amazed a·maze v. a·mazed, a·maz·ing, a·maz·es v.tr. 1. To affect with great wonder; astonish. See Synonyms at surprise. 2. Obsolete To bewilder; perplex. v.intr. me, but now you expect the amazement,'' Whitten said. ``You almost expect the spectacular, the sliding play and so on. And she continues to deliver those plays.'' Another factor has been the pitching of freshman Stephanie Blaire, who is 6-0 with two saves. Reyes is batting .667 and leads the team with four RBI RBI abbr. Baseball runs batted in Noun 1. rbi - a run that is the result of the batter's performance; "he had more than 100 rbi last season" run batted in . CAPTION(S): photo Photo: (color) Playmaking guard Natalie Avanecy (10) leads College of the Canyons into the state tournament tonight. Eric Grigorian/Special to the Daily News |
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