Matching up two conference foes in the first round of a 10-team postseason tournament may undermine conference play.

But Mark Schmidt didn't mind that the seeding committee pitted his Ventura College men's water polo team against WSC foe Los Angeles Valley in the first round of the Southern California regional playoffs today.

"It's familiar, it's nothing new," the Ventura coach said. "But, for my guys at least, it's not a bad matchup."

Ventura lost to the WSC champions twice, 11-10 on Sept. 15 and 10-9 in WSC play Oct. 17.

"We've got motivation to play Valley again," Schmidt said. "We lost to them twice by one goal each and both times we were pretty disappointed."

The winner of the No. 8 vs. No. 9 matchup, hosted by Fullerton College at 3:45 p.m., gets top-seeded Golden West (23-0) Friday.

The California Community College Women's Basketball Coaches Association's banquet is held annually the night before the state championships to honor the participating teams.

It also honors the CCCWBCA Hall-of-Fame class. This year, the coaches inducted Los Angeles Valley players Ruth Aguilar Seja '89 and Sylvia Casteneda '90, as well as Cypress player Sara Works '95.

Aguilar Seja, the former L.A. Valley coach, now works in the neonatal intensive care unit at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles.

Thursday night, the 1989 state co-Player of the Year offered perhaps the best advice for the four teams on Final Four eve.

"Enjoy this," said Aguilar Seja on the dais, her young daughter at her side. "It's going to go one of the best times of your life."

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.

The Oxnard College men's basketball team beat Los Angeles Valley, 82-72, in the quarterfinals of the Santa Barbara City tourney late Thursday night.

James Ennis had 25 points and 6 rebounds. Scooter Holmes had 23 points and 9 rebounds.
Ryan McLucas had 15 points and seven assists.

Attempting to defend its tournament title, Oxnard plays Victor Valley in tonight's semifinal at 9.

The Oxnard College women's basketball team improved to 7-3 by edging Saddleback, 63-61, at the Hancock tournament in Santa Maria.

Oxnard reached the finals of the Hartnell tournament in Salinas last weekend with wins over Cerros Coso and Hartnell, before dropping the final to Merced 53-43.

The Ventura College women's basketball team will play its 13th Gilcrest Invitational final in 15 years today.

The Pirates are 6-6 in the final of the top regular season tournament in the state.

Ventura defeated host Sequoias in 1995, Sacramento City in 1997 and 1999, San Jose City in 2000 and Mount San Antonio in 2001 and 2008 and fell to San Jose City in 1996 and 1998, Los Angeles Valley in 2002, Mount San Antonio in 2003 and 2007 and Riverside in 2004.

Ventura is also 7-0 against its opponent Sunday against Cerritos under coach Ned Mircetic.

UPDATE: Ventura College women's basketball team leads Cerritos 48-28 at the half, shooting 21 of 39.

Chanelle Brennan has 17 points and three rebounds. Kris King and Amanda Padilla have 10 points each. Padilla and Erika Ward have five assists each. Ventura also outrebounding Cerritos 24 to 11.

Ventura College football team's season-opening 35-13 win over Los Angeles Valley was a collective effort.

Especially on offense, where two different quarterbacks gave the ball to 13 different ball carriers (including the two quarterbacks) and threw the ball to eight different receivers.

"That's something we're really stressing," said Ventura coach Jon Mack. "There are no individuals, just the team.

"What I really liked, offensively. There wasn't anybody saying 'I need more touches.' It was a collective unit. Everybody was excited and involved. We probably played 50 or 60 guys."

As a group, the Pirates rushed for 306 yards on 43 attempts. Sophomore Kraig McPherson rushed for 87 yards on 11 carries. Sophomore Dominic Morris rushed for 70 yards on nine carries. Sophomore Gabriel Bostic earned 51 yards on five carries.

First-year quarterbacks Greg Jimenez and Antavius Sims seemed perfectly happy to alternate snaps on offense.

Sims, who both threw and ran for touchdowns, said he was "real comfortable" with the "good rotation."

Asked how he expects to keep two quarterbacks happy, Mack responded, "You just get unselfish kids who care as much about the team as they do themselves."

Click the jump for the full unofficial box.

Valley nearly tied the score with 6:45 left in the third quarter, but Brandon Lluis missed the extra point following Brent Visciglia's 30-yard touchdown pass to Travion Odom.

The kicker had also had a 20-yard field goal blocked and a 27-yard field goal strike the right upright and bounce out.

Ventura went on to take a 21-13 lead on Rafael Washington's 4-yard touchdown pass from Greg Jimenez, which was set up by an interception by Ryan Panapa.