MOVING ON UP

Upsetting one of the biggest programs in the country had the anticipated affect on Ventura's rankings.

The Pirates (1-0) rocked up the polls this week, rising to No. 3 in Southern California, No. 8 in the state and No. 13 in the JC Grid-wire/JCFootball.com national poll, one spot ahead of Riverside.

Mount San Antonio (1-0), San Francisco (1-0) and East Mississippi (1-0) top the three rankings, respectively. Mount SAC and CCSF, which met in last year's state title game, are No. 2 and No. 3 in the national poll. American River, coached by Ventura High and Ventura College alumni Jerry Haflich, is No. 3 in the North and No. 4 in the state.

With its overtime win, Moorpark (1-0) rose three spots to No. 16 in the regional poll ahead of Saturday's home opener against No. 15 Citrus (1-0).

The Ventura College football team was ranked No. 25 in the final JCFootball.com national poll released Monday.

The Pirates finished 7-4, tied for second in the SCFA Northern Conference and beat College of the Desert, 17-16, in the SCFA Beach Bowl, sponsored by Joe Kapp Real Estate.

There were five other Southern California teams in the poll, including SCFA champion Mount San Antonio at No. 4, 11-0 Riverside at No. 5 and Northern Conference champion Cerritos at No. 13.

City College of San Francisco, which held off defending champion Mount SAC 52-42 for the state title Saturday, earned the No. 1 ranking and mythical national title.

Print coverage: Ventura County Star, Palm Desert Patch, Daily Breeze, Long Beach Press-Telegram, Chico Enterprise-Record, Napa Valley Register

November 19

Southern California Football Association

Semifinals

National Bowl
No. 6-South El Camino (8-2) at No. 1t-S Mt. San Antonio (9-1), 1 p.m.

Southern California Football Association Bowl
No. 4-S Cerritos College (7-3) at No. 3-S Palomar (7-3), 5 p.m.

Division championship games

Central Championship Bowl
No. 8-S Golden West (6-4) vs. No. 18-S Long Beach City (5-5) at Orange Coast College, 6 p.m.

American Championship Bowl
No. 16-S East Los Angeles (7-3) at No. 15-S Santa Monica (8-2), 1 p.m.

Bowls

Beach Bowl, sponsored by Joe Kapp Real Estate
No. 10-S College of the Desert (6-4) at No. 7-S Ventura (6-4), 6:30 p.m.

Golden State Bowl
No. 5-S Saddleback (8-2) at No. 1t-S Riverside (10-0), 6 p.m.

Western State Bowl
No. 11-S Los Angeles Harbor (7-3) at No. 8-S Hancock (6-4), 4 p.m.

Northern California Football Association

Bowls

Bothman Bulldog Bowl
No. 8-North Diablo Valley College (8-2) at No. 7-North College of San Mateo (7-3), 1 p.m.

Capital City Bowl
No. 5-N Chabot (9-1) at No. 3-N American River (10-0), 1 p.m.

Graffiti Bowl
No. 4-N Butte (9-1) at No. 6-N Modesto JC (8-2) , 1 p.m.

Living Breath Foundation Bowl
No. 14-N Solano (6-4) vs. No. 11-N Hartnell (7-3) at Cabrillo College, 1 p.m.

Sierra Central Credit Union Bowl
No. 12-N Monterey Peninsula (7-3) at No. 14-N Yuba (6-4), 1 p.m.

Togo's Delta Bowl
No. 10-N De Anza (7-3) at No. 9-N San Joaquin Delta (6-4) , 1 p.m.

November 26:

Regional championship games

Northern California Football Association Championship at Hawaiian Punch Bowl
No. 2-N Fresno City (10-0) at No. 1-N City College of San Francisco (10-0)

Southern California Football Association Championship at TBD

December 10:

California Community College Athletic Association Football State Championship at TBD

After two years in Ventura County, the California Community College basketball championships will return to Northern California next March at Consumnes River College in Sacramento.

Anyone present at the Ventura College Athletic Event Center for the state finals March 12 will remember the sight of the City College of San Francisco men's basketball team turning down the ladder during the postgame net-cutting ceremony.

Instead, the Rams opted to cut down the nets as a team, supporting themselves on the shoulders of teammates to cut down the nets.

California Community College men's basketball

State semifinals, Selland Arena, Fresno

Riverside 61, San Francisco 57
Saddleback 62, San Joaquin Delta 59 (OT)

How entertaining was Friday's state quarterfinals? The state's eight best teams by nearly every measure were separated by just 13 points.

And good luck picking the Game of the Day. Pasadena City's 95-93 overtime thriller over San Francisco was every bit as good as Ventura's riveting 60-59 nailbiter over mammoth Foothill.

And somehow, those four teams were in the same four-team grouping, which means
Ventura plays Pasadena today.

Plenty of onlookers were convinced that four of the top five teams in the tournament were in the Ventura-Foothill-San Francisco-Pasadena grouping.

Scouting the Ventura-Foothill quarterfinal to see which team his Lancers would play Saturday, Pasadena coach Joe Peron couldn't decide which team he wanted to win.

"It came down the wire really good," said Peron. "I'm looking at my team and saying, 'I really don't want to play either one of those teams.'

"Foothill is too big. It's ridiculous. They were humongous. They are a Division I-looking team.

"Ventura has one big kid, but they use up so much of the width of the court with their passing."

The game I felt would be the best of the day had a great first half, as Melia Basavand's 30-foot 3-pointer gave Pasadena City College a 45-44 halftime lead over the North's top seed, San Francisco.

Tied at 82-82 after regulation, the teams will head to overtime. The first men's quarterfinal yesterday went to three OTs.

Pasadena builds a six-point lead in the extra session, only to have San Francisco knot the score at 93-93 with 10 seconds to play. Forward Allegra Kohley tips in a miss for Pasadena to win the game, 95-93.

What a way to get the tournament started.

Kinyada Johnson had 19 points in the first half for Pasadena, followed by 11 for Basavand. Johnson had 34 points in regulation and had to be carried off the court after suffering an injury in overtime, but did return.

The Lancer gets the winner of the 5 p.m. game between Ventura and Foothill in tomorrow's 7 p.m. semifinal.

City College of San Francisco (33-2)
No. 1 North
Location: San Francisco
Nickname: Rams
Head coach: Jamie Wong (8th year, 167-47)
How it got here: Seeded No. 1 in regional, def. No. 16 Sacramento City 63-45, def. No. 9 Skyline 70-59.
Conference finish: Coast North, runner-up (8-2)
RPI: 1st
Vs. Great Eight: 4-1
Team offense: 71.6 ppg (13th)
Team defense: 54.5 ppg (13th)
Leading scorers: G Jazmin Holmes 15.0 ppg, C Courtney buster 12.8 ppg, G Brittney Allen 12.0 ppg.
Leading rebounders: Buster 8.9 rpg, F Monique Cavello 8.6 rpg.
Great Eight history: Second trip in four years.
Note: After winning the first 23 games of the year, the Rams were upset at home in the conference opener by Chabot and finished second to Foothill.
Strengths: Balance. Intelligent guards. Size. Speed.
Weaknesses: Inexperience. Inefficiency. Momentum.
Scouts say: "They're the type of team that can beat anybody, but someone can get them."
Outlook: An eye-popping start was burst by a second-place conference finish. Probably remain the second favorite. They have all the pieces, but have they peaked?