PASADENA - In the final regular season California Community College Sports Information Association (CCCSIA) Women's Basketball State Top 20 Rankings, it was clear that after the top few the regional playoff seedings didn't necessarily reflect how pundits viewed the best teams.
San Joaquin Delta grabbed 13 of the 16 first-place votes to secure its #1 ranking going into the postseason. The Big 8 champion Mustangs carry a 20-game win streak and 27-1 overall record into the regionals as the North's rightful #1 seed. With the other three first-place votes, Moorpark once again is at #2 in the state as the Western State Conference North Divisioin champion Raiders earned the South's #1 seed at 25-1 and a 17-game win string.
Diablo Valley moved up two spots to take the #3 ranking (North #2 seed) after finishing second behind Delta in the Big 8 race. Mt. San Antonio jumped four slots and occupy the #4 state spot as the South Coast Conference North Division champs also picked up the #2 South seed. Mt. SAC was the only team to solve #1 Delta in the regular season (46-44 at the Sequoias Gilcrest Tournament in December).
The Mounties also lead the entire SCC North into the postseason with #14 Pasadena City (a low #9 seed adjusted to #10), #15 Rio Hondo (#8 seed), unranked LA Trade Tech (#12 seed) and East Los Angeles (#13) all gaining spots. ELAC handed Mt. SAC a shocking 68-50 loss last week before the Mounties recovered to win the conference title in a 50-46 triumph over Pasadena.
Irvine Valley (24-2) went undefeated at 12-0 to win the Orange Empire Conference championship and is the SIDs choice for state #5. The Lasers were given the South #6 seed. Glendale (26-2), the Western State Conference South champs, moved up three spots for #6. The Vaqueros earned the #4 South seed.
Palomar, the second place team from the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference, is at state #7 as the Comets (25-3) are a #5 seed. Interestingly, MiraCosta (20-5), the undefeated PCAC champs at 12-0, went 2-0 in conference v. Palomar, yet not only dropped five slots to #17 in the state but had to settle for the #11 seed, six behind their conference rival.
Mt. San Jacinto (26-2) fell five spots to #8 in the state, but the Eagles are soaring on a 25-game win streak after a perfect trip to win the inaugural Inland Empire Athletic Conference title (12-0). MSJC was seeded #7 in the South. Merced (23-5) dropped three spots to #9 despite an undefeated Central Valley Conference title and a current 13-game win streak. The Blue Devils are the North's #5 seed.
Butte (22-6) shared the Golden Valley Conference crown with #19 College of the Redwoods but it's strong RPI impressed voters as it landed at state #10, a climb of four spots from last week's rankings. The Roadrunners received further respect with the North #3 seed. Redwoods gained a region #8 seed. Unranked Lassen placed third in the GVC, but beat both Butte and Redwoods in conference play and it allowed the Cougars to make the playoffs as a #10 seed. In all, five of the six teams from the GVC made the postseason, including 16th seed College of the Siskious and 18th seed Feather River
Behind a state #3 RPI, Ventura (19-7), the second place team from the WSC North, earned the South #3 seed, and moved up two slots to state #11. Chabot slipped two spots to #12 and finished in a 3-way tie for the Coast North title with #16 City College of San Francisco and unranked Skyline, a team that just missed the #20 spot by a single voting point. Chabot is a North #4 seed, CCSF is #7, and Skyline is #9 in a great showing by the division.
Cypress placed second in the OEC and took the state #18 ranking as well as the South's #10 seed. Finally, Long Beach City took the state #20 final spot and rode a perfect 10-0 run to the SCC South Division title, but the Vikings received little love from the seeding committee as their #14 seed puts them in a first round game on Wednesday.
This year's CCCAA State Championship Tournament takes place March 12, 14-15 at West Hills College Lemoore. The top four regional final winners advance from the North and South.
Conference Champions
Bay Valley--unranked Yuba, Solano, Merritt Tri-Champions
Big 8--#1 San Joaquin Delta
Central Valley--#9 Merced
Coast North--#12 Chabot, #16 San Francisco, unranked Skyline Tri-Champions
Coast South--unranked De Anza
Golden Valley--#10 Butte, #19 Redwoods Co-Champions
Inland Empire Athletic--#8 Mt. San Jacinto
Orange Empire--#5 Irvine Valley
Pacific Coast Athletic--#17 MiraCosta
South Coast North--#4 Mt. San Antonio
South Coast South--#20 Long Beach City
Western State North--#2 Moorpark
Western State South--#6 Glendale
CCCSIA Final Regular Season Women's Basketball Poll (Feb. 25) |
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RK | School | Record | Pts | PR |
1. | San Joaquin Delta (13) | 27-1 | 317 | 1 |
2. | Moorpark (3) | 25-1 | 307 | 2 |
3. | Diablo Valley | 21-5 | 258 | 5 |
4. | Mt. San Antonio | 21-7 | 235 | 8 |
5. | Irvine Valley | 24-2 | 224 | 4 |
6. | Glendale | 26-2 | 211 | 9 |
7. | Palomar | 25-3 | 209 | 7 |
8. | Mt. San Jacinto | 26-2 | 205 | 3 |
9. | Merced | 23-5 | 187 | 6 |
10. | Butte | 22-6 | 185 | 14 |
11. | Ventura | 19-7 | 180 | 13 |
12. | Chabot | 22-6 | 176 | 10 |
13. | Sierra | 20-7 | 159 | 11 |
14. | Pasadena City | 18-8 | 93 | 15 |
15. | Rio Hondo | 20-8 | 92 | 16 |
16. | CC San Francisco | 20-7 | 89 | 18 |
17. | MiraCosta | 20-5 | 74 | 12 |
18. | Cypress | 20-6 | 60 | 17 |
19. | College of the Redwoods | 20-5 | 46 | 19 |
20. | Long Beach City | 20-8 | 15 | 20 |
Others receiving votes: Skyline 14, East Los Angeles 13, |