Saturday's end-of-season clash between the Ventura College and Oxnard College men's basketball teams promises to be one of the more unique Western State Conference showdowns.

With a win, first-place Ventura (21-7, 9-2) can complete its two-year probation with the best record in the WSC North.

"All the teams will know who was the No. 1 team this year," said Ventura sophomore James Ennis.

After losing in overtime, 93-91, Wednesday night at Los Angeles Pierce, Oxnard (16-8, 8-3) probably must win to make the postseason.

"This is not how this season is supposed to play itself out," said Oxnard coach Jason Cunningham after the Condors lost Wednesday without injured star Scooter Holmes.

At 8-3, Oxnard and Hancock enter the final day of the regular season tied for second place. Since Ventura is ineligible for the WSC North championship, a tiebreaking procedure may be needed to determine the division's automatic postseason berth.

The conference's basketball bylaws state that the coaches survey the teams' postseason criteria and determine which would be the higher seed.

"We can only send one automatic qualifier and the league decides that," said Moorpark coach Remy McCarthy. "The coaches will vote."

After suffering its two-game losing streak to fall out of first place in the WSC North, the Oxnard College men's basketball team rebounded with wins over Cuesta (105-89) and Moorpark (82-79) Saturday and Wednesday, respectively.

The obvious factor was the return of reserve guard Malcolm Pope, who returned after missing the two losses with an academic issue. The freshman from New York City had a game-high 25 points off the bench Wednesday night.

"I was trying to get to the basket the whole second half," said Pope.

Pope has provided a big lift to Oxnard's second unit in big games, especially offensively.

"He's so good you don't have to run a play for him," said Oxnard coach Jason Cunningham.

While the WSC North men's race looks like its heading to the inevitable Ventura at Oxnard clash on Feb. 19, don't look to Ventura sophomore James Ennis to provide a subplot.

Ennis, who transferred from Oxnard to Ventura in the offseason, has said his move had nothing to do with the Condors or Oxnard coach Jason Cunningham.

"I have nothing against the Oxnard coach," said Ennis last month. "He's a good coach."

Ennis, the reigning WSC North Player of the Week, has been playing some of his best ball recently, scoring 20 or more points in six straight games while shooting better than 62 percent.

The Oxnard College men's basketball team finds itself in a strange position this week.
In control of the Western State Conference race.

Wednesday's results, which included a 70-68 OC win over visiting Santa Barbara City, put the Condors two full games ahead of the chasing pack in the WSC North, the two-loss crew of Ventura, Hancock and Santa Barbara.

It's probably been a generation, since the title-winning teams of Leroy Porter in 1979, 1980 and 1982, since the Condors last wrapped their talons around the WSC in such a way.

"Last year, we knocked off some big fish," said Oxnard coach Jason Cunningham. "This year, we're trying to be the big fish."

With teams led by Chris Massie, Jeremiah Massey and others, Oxnard has had the talent to be in this position previously. But this group, led by 6-foot-4 sophomore forward Scooter Holmes, showed its mettle Wednesday night.

Santa Barbara City may have lost by 30 points at Condor Center on Nov. 27, but the Vaqueros were coming off an upset win over Ventura Saturday and built a 60-53 lead with less than seven minutes to play.

"There were more prepared for what we were trying to do," said Holmes.

With high-scoring sophomore Marc Pajund out injured and high-scoring freshman Marcus Falley limited to 13 points, Holmes, who sometimes fulfils his role as a sophomore leader by yielding some of the glory to his younger teammates, took control, sparking a key 13-3 run with a thunderous dunk in transition.

"Because everybody else is playing so well, I think Scooter sometimes takes a back seat," said Cunningham. "But we needed our all-conference player."

After Malcolm Pope's steal and layup tied the game 62-62, Holmes gave Oxnard its first lead with a put back with 2:28 to play.

"It was just one of those nights when I had to play well for us to win," said Holmes, who finished with 23 points, including 19 in the second half, and six rebounds. "It was on my back."

Santa Barbara had the ball trailing by 2 with 12 seconds to play, but Holmes' steal inside
clinched the win.

"We played like a team that's trying to be a champion is supposed to," said Cunningham.
"We were down, we had the gut check and we were committed to do the things to get ourselves back in the basketball game."

The first player off the bench has meant first-place starts for the two teams leading the Western State Conference.

The Oxnard College men's basketball team and the Ventura College women's basketball team sit atop the standings as the only unbeaten teams remaining in WSC North play.

Both have been boosted by fresh rotations in recent weeks that have seen one of their top players become the first player off the bench.

The No. 15-ranked Condors (10-6, 2-0) won at defensive WSC North champion Cuesta Wednesday night to improve to 10-2 with freshman guard Marcus Falley coming off the bench.

"He's put aside his game for the betterment of the team," said Oxnard coach Jason Cunningham. "Like Lamar Odom, he understands and accepts that role and it's made the difference in the team."

Falley, who averaging 18.2 points per game and shooting 45 percent from 3-point range, looked like Kobe Bryant in Odom's role Wednesday, when he stroked 7 of 11 from 3-point land, including a few over double teams and at NBA range, in a 32-point performance.

He has scored 20 or more points in six of his last eight games.

"This is my first time coming off the bench like this," said Falley, "but it's been helping the team. As long as it helps, I'm happy."

No. 12-ranked Ventura (14-6, 3-0) has won six of seven games by an average margin of 23.2 points since freshman Ja'Lisa Gatlin became the sixth woman. The Pirates only loss in that span was an overtime defeat to the No. 1 team in the state, San Bernardino Valley.

"She gives us a little more firepower coming off the bench," said Ventura coach Ned Mircetic. "I think we get a little bigger, a little stronger."

Gatlin, who averages 7.9 points and 7.2 rebounds, is shooting 57 percent in her new role. She's made 17 of her last 19 shots in 18-point and 20-point performances in the past week.

"I just feel like I see the game better," said Gatlin. "When the game starts, I see what has to be done and I just do it."

The Oxnard College men's basketball team is beginning to take flight.

Friday night's 103-71 win over Los Angeles Valley in the semifinals of the Santa Barbara City Classic means the Condors have won five straight and played for its second straight tournament championship Saturday night at 7 p.m.

"We got a little taste of winning and the guys have enjoyed that," said Oxnard coach Jason Cunningham.

Oxnard (5-4) had lost its first four games of the season.

"We'd rather be on this side of the coin," said Cunningham.

Marcus Falley came off the bench to score a team-high 22 points, Scooter Holmes had 17 points and six rebounds, Codye Hatcher had 16 points and 10 rebounds and Gary Johnson and Malcolm Pope added 11 and 10 points, respectively, as the Condors shot 59.4 percent as a team.

After suffering a tore meniscus last month, point guard Steven Powell has completed his comeback this weekend, playing 11 minutes Thursday and eight minutes Friday.

"He's getting better," said Cunningham.

Oxnard defeated No. 10 Barstow (8-2), which beat the Condors in last year's tournament final, 86-76 Thursday and was set to face Cypress in Saturday's final.

"We look at it like a really big game," said Cunningham. "We have to come in the game and respect them because they are a disciplined team that runs their stuff well."

Cunningham got his coaching start as an assistant under Paul Bottiaux and played with assistant coach Chris St. Clair at Cal State Fullerton.

"It's always a big game for me to try to grow as a coach against people that gave me an opportunity to get into coaching," said Cunningham.

Cypress defeated West Los Angeles, coached by former Oxnard coach Ron McClurkin, in Saturday's semifinal, 83-75. Hancock also edged Santa Barbara City, 77-75, in an All-WSC North consolation semifinal.

2010 Santa Barbara City Classic

Thursday's quarterfinals
Cypress 81, Hancock 77
Los Angeles Valley 63, Victor Valley 59
West L.A. 70, Santa Barbara City 62
Oxnard 86, Barstow 76

Friday's Championship semifinals
Cypress 83, West Los Angeles 75
Oxnard 103, Los Angeles Valley 71
Friday's Consolation semifinals
Barstow 72, Victor Valley 70
Hancock 77, Santa Barbara City 75

Saturday's schedule
Consolation final: Barstow vs. Hancock, 3 p.m.
Third-place game: West L.a. vs. L.A. Valley, 5 p.m.
Final: Oxnard vs. Cypress, 7 p.m.

In 6-foot-7 point forward James Ennis, 6-foot-6 power forward Scooter Holmes and 6-foot guard Ryan McLucas, the Oxnard College men's basketball team has the best trio in the Western State Conference's North Division.

At 18.4 (Ennis), 16.0 (Holmes) and 15.3 (McLucas) points per game, they are three of the Top 5 scorers in the WSC North. At 8.4 (Ennis) and 7.8 (Holmes) rebounds per game, they include two of the Top 3 rebounders in the WSC North. Ennis leads the WSC North in blocks (1.8 bpg) and McLucas leads in steals (2.4 spg).

But the Condors (8-8, 1-0) have yet to show they have the consistency to compete with frontrunner Cuesta (16-4, 2-0) for the WSC North title.

After all, the same Oxnard team which rocked defending state champion and No. 1-ranked Riverside 89-79 at the Condor Center Dec. 12 also lost to 6-8 Compton twice, 4-11 Santa Barbara City and 6-11 Orange Coast -- a group that is a combined 16-38 (.296) against teams other than Oxnard.

So which Oxnard team will show tonight in the matchup of the WSC North's two unbeaten teams?

"We discussed that this is probably our biggest game of the year," Oxnard coach Jason Cunningham. "We're playing for something bigger than one game. We're playing for a championship.

"This is the most important game in the first half conference. We want to establish dominance on our home court.

"We want to play the best basketball that we can, play smarter, play with a level of intelligient and intensity."

There's no time for injuries and inconsistencies to get the locals down as the top-ranked team in the state comes for a visit.

The Oxnard College men's basketball team hosts the annual Condor Classic, which features Ventura College and No. 1 San Bernardino Valley.

"We want to put ourselves in a situation to play a meaningful game, like playing the No. 1 team in state," said Oxnard coach Jason Cunningham. "We feel like we have the ability to play at that level of competition."

Today's Condor Classic quarterfinals are Fullerton-West Los Angeles at 1 p.m,, No. 1 San Bernardino-Santa Barbara at 3 p.m., Ventura-Los Angeles Harbor at 5 p.m. and Oxnard-Compton at 7 p.m.

Also, the Moorpark College men's basketball team hosts local rival Los Angeles Valley Saturday afternoon and the Oxnard College women's basketball team opens the Los Angeles Pierce tournament today in Woodland Hills.

Oxnard College men's basketball guard Nick Molina will miss the rest of the season after undergoing hand surgery this week, according to Condors head coach Jason Cunningham.

The St. Bonaventure High product, who averaged 6.1 points last season as a freshman, needed a pin to anchor torn thumb ligaments.

"He's taking a medical redshirt," said Cunningham.

Molina was thrust into big minutes last year after point guard Ryan McLucas suffered a season-ending knee injury. Now without Molina in the backcourt, McLucas will be forced to shoulder a bigger load.

"It's like last year," said Cunningham. "Ryan went out last year after the fourth game at (Los Angeles) Harbor and Molina filled in. Now it's the reverse situation with Nick done after the fourth game."

Oxnard (2-3) hosts the annual Condor Classic this weekend at the Condor Center.

Oxnard College men's basketball head coach Jason Cunningham, on the Condors' virtual season-ending 76-45 loss to rival Ventura Wednesday night at Condor Center:

"If John (Johnson) isn't playing well, it's almost humanly impossible for us to beat a good team."

Johnson was held to seven points by Ventura's Eric Gray and Prince Abidoye.

The Oxnard College men's basketball team will unveil new uniforms tonight at rival Ventura.

Head coach Jason Cunningham unveiled them as a surprise in a pregame meeting Saturday, saying, "What's the matter with you guys? Maybe these will pick you up a little."

Oxnard College men's basketball coach Jason Cunningham reaches to the Condors moving within a game of first-place Cuesta in the loss column with a 75-70 win over Los Angeles Pierce Wednesday night:

"Pierce is a scrappy team, they play hard... I told our guys that it didn't bode well for our chances, considering the way we've played against sub-.500 teams."

When Oxnard fell behind by 11 in the first half, it still didn't look good, until Jonathan Johnson and Marc Pajund started hitting 3s, combining for 27 first-half points.

"Somehow we got right back in it. J.J. hit a 3. Pajund hit a 3. I guess it just clicked and these guys picked it up."

Of course, Pierce didn't go away.

"They fought to get back in the game, but we hit our free throws down the stretch."

(on Hancock handing Cuesta its first loss in WSC North play, rather than Oxnard)

"I was very upset about it. We truly felt that we had the talent and were good enough to beat them."

(On Saturday's trip to local rival Ventura)

"We know (the rivalry) from the three times we played them last year. It's going to be the same thing. We're going to play well for 20 minutes and the second half is a crapshoot.

"That's the scary thing. Even this week, I was more worried about playing (last-place) Pierce than (second-place) Ventura.

"We know the rivalry. We know these kids know each other. When we got into the van after the game tonight, we've got (Ventura's Will Faiivae) texting our guys talking about the game."

(On his memories from the three games against Ventura last season)

"Remember what I told you before the game over there (in conference). 'We're going to win tonight.' At halftime, when we were up by 20 (points), you could hear a pindrop over there."

The Cuesta College men's basketball team has edged out in front in the Western State Conference's North Division race.

In a first-place showdown of the two teams who opened WSC North play 2-0, the host Cougars (18-7) rolled over Santa Barbara City Wednesday night, 96-70, by jumping out to a 53-29 halftime lead.

Freshman guard Tom Schumacher, whose 23- and 15-point second halves led to wins over Ventura and Moorpark, exploded for a career-high 37 points, including 7-for-10 shooting from 3-point land.

Ventura coach Ned Mircetic isn't quite ready to call Cuesta the team to beat.

"It's too early to call," said Mircetic. "Right now they're 3-0 and they beat up on Santa Barbara pretty well, which is impressive considering how well Santa Barbara was playing.

"But I'm trying not to get caught up in the rank order... We've got Moorpark Saturday night and that's all that's on my mind."

The WSC North men's basketball race may be its most competitive in years.

The conference campaign's first three games Wednesday were decided by a combined seven points.

Veteran coaches like Remy McCarthy of Moorpark and rookie coaches like Jason Cunningham of Oxnard had already agreed that a 9-3 season may be enough to win the division.

"It'll be three losses that wins this league," said McCarthy Tuesday.

When the Star published the local schedule today, it included a community college men's basketball game between Oxnard and No. 4 Riverside tonight at Condor Center.

According to Oxnard coach Jason Cunningham, that game was canceled earlier this season, at Riverside's request, because the Tigers had played too many preseason scrimmages.

That disappointed Cunningham and the Condors, who would have loved a chance to take down a top team in the Condor Center.

But, in return for canceling the game, Riverside coach John Smith offered to visit Oxnard in each of the next two seasons.

"It's a good situation for us," said Cunningham. "They're usually ranked up there and we'll get a chance to beat a top team at home."

Despite losing coach Jeff Theiler and 7-foot center Josh Crawford, The Oxnard College men's basketball team doesn't look like missing a beat.

Assistant coach Jason Cunningham has taken the reins and isn't missing a beat. A stellar sophomore group revolves around point guard Jonathan Johnson and shooting guard Ryan McLucas.

"Jon John(son) has slimmed down and improved his jump shot," said Cunningham. We want to get more out of him defensively."

The Condors already get plenty out of McLucas defensively.

"He allows us to come into every game with the belief that we can win," said Cunningham. "He changes every game with the ability to defend the other team's best player."

High-scoring forward Bernard Burrell, who missed nearly all of last season with a back injury, is ready to go.

"For us, it' s a blessing," said Cunningham. "His leadership helps everyone else on the floor. When he's on the floor the ball never stagnates."

Stepping in for Crawford is 6-foot-11 center Matt Dewaal, who is already getting Division I recruiting interest.

"Matt is obviously an X-factor of a guy," said Cunningham. "If he can be a presence for us and rebound, we can be a very good team.

"We have a very powerful four guys there."