College basketball is tipping off, and the local coaches are fired up as their teams will be able to play in front of fans this season.
The UCSB men’s and women’s teams get going this week with home games in the refurbished Thunderdome. The Gaucho women play Loyola Marymount on Tuesday night, while the defending Big West-champion men’s squad opens against San Francisco State on Wednesday.
Westmont’s men’s and women’s teams are also home this week The women play Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Tuesday, and the men face La Sierra on Wednesday.
Westmont men’s coach Landon Boucher had to deal with a crazy COVID-19 season in his first year and then started his second season with his returning first-team all-conference player being told he couldn’t play basketball again due to a heart issue caused by COVID-19.
“We’ve had we’ve had a pretty interesting fall, with a lot of you could say lows and road bumps,” said Boucher at Monday’s Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table Press Luncheon at Harry’s Plaza Cafe.
Boucher explained that standout player Cade Roth caught Covid and had to get a heart check because doctors thought the infection caused his heart to become enlarged.
“They said you can never play ever again. So, as you can imagine, that’s a huge hit for him as a player but also as a person, too,” Boucher said .
Roth was sent to a renowned cardiologists in Los Angeles and was told his issue was misdiagnosed and received clearance to play.
“He was out for almost a month and now he’s back playing with us and he’s doing well,” said Boucher. “We’ve had numerous things like that, and our guys have just powered through”
The Warriors, with eight new players on the roster, are off to a 3-0 start.
“I’m super proud of our guys for trying to come together and know each other as players but also just as people and personalities,” said Boucher.
“We’re just continuing to get better every day as well as trying to have some success on the court.”
UCSB MEN’S BASKETBALL
Gaucho assistant coach John Rillie, who served as an assistant with the bronze medal-winning Australia men’s national team at the Tokyo Olympics, said it will be exciting having fans in the stands again at the Thunderdome.
The team returns several key players from a squad that went 22-5, won the Big West championship and played in the NCAA Tournament.
“We should have a good, fun squad to watch,” he said. “Wednesday night we play San Francisco State to tune us up as we go up to Washington State next Monday and get a good road win early on in the season.”
Amadou Sow, Miles Norris and Ajare Sanni were named to the preseason All-Big West team.
Another player Rillie noted was freshman point guard Ajay Mitchell from Belgium
“I think we should be a lot of fun,” he said. “I won’t promise any wins and losses yet as we get ready for the season. But any of you guys who want to come and check us out, Wednesday night will be our first hit out.”
WESTMONT WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
The last time Kirsten Moore was in the Ranchero Room at Harry’s her team was ranked No. 1 in the nation and headed to NAIA National Tournament in 2019. The tournament was canceled as the COVID-19 pandemic spread across the country.
The tournament returned in 2020 and the Warriors won the national title. But the Round Table luncheons weren’t being held at Harry’s because of the pandemic and state and county health restrictions.
“We didn’t get to do any celebrating (at the Round Table), so I’m so glad you volleyball teams get to celebrate in his venue,” said a fired-up Moore as she congratulated the Bishop Diego and Santa Barbara High girls volleyball teams for winning CIF championships.
She gave a shout-out to co-Athlete of the Week, Annie Knecht of the Santa Barbara CIF-champion girls volleyball team. Moore said Knecht is “like a big sister to my daughter (Alexis).”
Now that college basketball season has arrived, Moore is excited about the potential of her team for the new season.
“We return four of our five starters from our national championship team from last year,” she pointed out. Things are bright for this season, as well.”
Moore has tested her team early, playing Cal, a ranked NAIA team from Oregon and the University of Oregon.
“I’m never afraid to challenge my teams early,” she said.
The Warriors will play their home opener Tuesday at 5:30 p.m., against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.
Fans are welcomed.
“It’s the first one you can come to in quite some time,” said Moore.
She noted that fans will be impressed by her dynamic guard duo of Stephanie Berberabe and Iyree Jarrett, who were first-team NAIA All-Americans last season, and Berberabe was named NAIA Player of the Year.
“You want to watch these two play. They are unbelievable,” said Moore.
She said a game to mark on the calendar is next Saturday’s Golden State Athletic Conference opener at home against rival The Master’s, which has a 6-foot-6 post player who is a member of Brazil’s national team.
UCSB WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Coach Bonnie Hendrickson took a break from practice to attend Monday’s luncheon and talk about her team’s season opener against Loyola Marymount on Tuesday at the Thunderdome.
“We’re excited about that,” said Hendrickson. “Cassandra Gordon from Santa Barbara High School plays for LMU and she started in their preseason game against Biola and did a really nice job. I saw her dad and he was taunting me at the Page Center a couple of weekends ago. So we’re ready.”
Hendrickson has a full 15-player roster, headlined by the return of 6-foot-4 Ila Lane, who opted out of playing last season due to the pandemic In 2019-20, she led the nation in rebounding as a freshman.
“There are a lot of rebounds to be had when you lose the nation’s leading rebounder,” said Hendrickson. “So, we got small really fast when she made the decision.
“She’s back and she’s on Lisa Leslie Preseason Watch List, which makes her one of the top 20 post players in America.
“I don’t look tall in our program anymore. We’re 6-4, 6-3, 6-3, 6-2. I look like a point guard.”
The other key returnee is a point guard, Danae Miller, who is back for her fifth year.
“She is a Covid senior now — we have all these words that we never used before: fluid and Covid senior.”
SANTA BARBARA HIGH GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
The Dons won the CIF Division 7 title with a sweep of El Rancho at J.R. Richards Gym.
The team will be recognized at next week’s luncheon.
Coach Kristin Hempy brought the Athlete of the Week, setter Annie Knecht.
“She had an amazing game on Saturday,” said Hempy. “She was really getting targeted by El Rancho. They were hitting a lot at her, so she had to step up and dig a lot more than maybe in previous matches. She did a really great job adjusting and really pulling through for us as well as mixing up her sets all over our front row.
“She’s just really a strong and solid athlete of character and leadership as well. She’s one of our captains as a junior, so I’m proud to coach her this season and look forward to all the amazing things she’s going to do in volleyball in the future. And, she’s a stud on the track as well.”
Hempy was the same when she was in high school at San Marcos.
SANTA BARBARA HIGH FOOTBALL
Coach JT Stone acknowledged the performance of senior Nathan Barrios in the 36-20 CIF playoff win over Campbell Hall last Friday. Barrios was named the Athlete of the Week.
“He just played a hell of a football game,” said Stone.
The coach brought defensive back Danny Panossian, who is “the coolest senior on campus,” said Stone. “He’s a kid that came up to me and sort of demanded to play football. He said he can play and he came out and worked his butt off.”
Stone admitted that Panossian has faced some challenges in games, but he’s continued to work hard to get better.
“For a kid that really didn’t play football to come to us and put forth the effort to start the past two years and work hard as he has, it’s been a blessing,” said Stone.
“And the thing I love about Danny is he loves to compete and he has passion in what he does. You can see the passion in his eyes, and he wants to get better.”
The Dons get to play a home quarterfinal game against a 4-7 Newport Harbor team on Friday. Newport Harbor beat Sunny Hills in the first round.
Stone questioned how a team with a 3-7 regular-season recorded got into the playoffs, but he knows Newport Harbor will be a good team.
He noted this will be the first playoff game in the new Peabody Stadium.
“This is big for our program to be able to play a playoff game at home,” he said. “Our kids are excited, the community is excited, our school’s excited.
“I tell these guys to cherish the moment. They’re not going have a moment like this.
“We expect to pack the house Friday. This is going be a very good game.”
SBCC FOOTBALL
The Vaqueros snapped a two-game losing streak with 27-24 win at Moorpark last Saturday night.
Coach Craig Moropoulos said offensive lineman Donovan Davis played a key role in the Vaqueros rolling up more than 200 yards rushing. Davis is a freshman guard from Houston.
SBCC won the game on a field goal by Jorge Figueroa in the final seconds.
Moropoulos has given Figueroa the nickname “Clutch.”
“We decided just to call him “Clutch” because he’s won two games for us as a kicker, and in the past we’ve lost conference championship games by missed kicks, so I know how difficult it is,” said Moropoulos. “But I have a lot of confidence in this guy.”
The Vaqueros (5-3) are home Saturday against Santa Monica at 1 p.m.
UCSB WOMEN’S SWIMMING
Jaclyn Rosen made her luncheon debut as the new swimming coach at UCSB.
“We have really high hopes this year of winning the MPSF Championship and also getting some guys to NCAAs,” she said.
Kian Brouwer is a Gaucho with NCAA aspirations, she pointed out. His best events are the 200 freestyle and 100 butterfly,
“We’ve had a really good year. We’re swimming faster than we did two years ago when they won a championship, so that’s really nice,” said Rosen.
The Gauchos have had five meets. Their next competition will be at Dixie State just before Thanksgiving. The first home meet is Jan. 8.
SAN MARCOS GIRLS BASKETBALL
Coach Tiffany Simms didn’t have much of voice after coaching in a fall season tournament in Burbank over the weekend. One of the games was against perennial powerhouse Sierra Canyon.
She said her 5-foot-10 forward Riley Welch was going up against players 6-4 and 6-5.
“The girls put up a good fight, and if they can put up a fight against a ranked team like Sierra Canyon, when we play teams in our league it’ll be much easier,” said Simms.
She introduced returnees Natasha Stapf, Piper Nielsen and Welch.
CARPINTERIA CROSS COUNTRY
After being unsure about running cross country, Marvin Lujano joined the team and was fastest freshman at the Santa Barbara County Championships, said assistant coach Noe Gomez.
“We’re really happy that this freshman was able to be part of the team. And I look forward to seeing his development through the future years that he’s with us,” said Gomez.
Belen Herrera qualified for the CIF Prelims at Mt. San Antonio College.
“I’m really happy that Belen stuck with cross country and I’m hoping to continue seeing her in track in a few months,” said Gomez.
Senior Kate Cooney is also headed to the CIF Prelims.
“She’s one of our team captains, and I’m really happy to see her not only right now finishing cross country with us, but also hopefully to continue on even further. She has soccer coming up and then track and field in the spring time.”
CARPINTERIA BOYS WATER POLO
The top-seeded Warriors are in the Division 5 semifinals and will play Downey on Wednesday at Santa Barbara High’s pool at 3:30 p.m.
Assistant coach Stephen Kim introduced sophomore Asher Smith and senior Reyn Clayton, two players who have be key to Carpinteria’s success.
He said Smith is the “heart of the offense” for the Warriors. He’s scored 15 goals in two playoff games.
“He is just a wrecking machine,” said Kim.
Clayton has peaked at the right time, noted Kim. “He’s actually developed a quick shot or one-timer, and he’s been scoring very well.”
He added that Clayton also plays exceptional defense.
UCSB CROSS COUNTRY
Coach Shayla Houlihan brought five members of the Big West-champion UCSB men’s cross country team: Brandon Cobian, TJ Bryson, Ryan Koepnick, Zach Parker and Zane Golpaviani.
Parker was named the Big West Freshman of the Year.
“I just feel pretty grateful to have these guys backing me and following my crazy race plans early on in the season and it really came to fruition at the Big West Championships,” said Houlihan. “You know, anytime you’re going against Cal Poly it’s going to be tough. And these guys are tougher. So, pretty cool.”
The Gauchos head to the NCAA West Regional in Sacramento this weekend.
DOS PUEBLOS BOYS BASKETBALL
Assistant coach John Slavin brought senior standouts Kael Rillie and Joaquin Riker, both three-year varsity players.
On Riker: “He’s very calm on the court and he applies what he does in practice in the games. He’s a very tough defender. He’s got a high basketball IQ and he’s become a really proficient scorer.
“He’s a 4.0 GPA and part of our leadership team,” said Slavin.
On Rillie: “He’s leader and he looks to involve everybody around him. During practices and games, he has a natural ability to see the floor and he makes tremendous passes for easy baskets. Over the offseason, he’s really improved to become a better rebounder and scorer. He has a 3.9 GPA.”
Slavin said the Chargers will play 27 games this season after playing just 12 last season. The schedule includes games with powerhouse programs like Mater Dei, Santa Margarita and St. John Bosco.
The team will also play in St. Joseph’s strong tournament in Santa Maria and in the Santa Barbara Holiday Classic.
SANTA BARBARA CROSS COUNTRY
Assistant coach Moki Nacario brought Madeleine Van Bebber and Arielle Feinberg from the girls team and Nico Tassos and Jack Garza from the boys squad.
The boys will be running at the CIF Prelims at Mt. SAC this weekend.
DOS PUEBLOS CROSS COUNTRY
The girls and boys teams will be headed to the CIF Prelims at Mt. SAC.
Coach Jen Brown said 29 personal bests were set out of 65 kids running at last week’s league finals on the DP course.
“That’s a great way for us to end our league play at home,” she said.
As for CIF, the girls head into the Prelims ranked fifth in Division 3. The top five teams in three heat races advance to the finals.
Brown said DP is ranked second in their heat.
The boys will have five ranked teams in their heat.
“But the boys are running the best they have all season. They seem to have really come together,” she said.
Brown introduced senior captain London Wahlburg from the girls team who ran a PR of 19:50 at the league finals.
“She’s definitely the heart and soul of our team,” said Brown. “And she’s not only the best singer in the van, but now I know why — she’s also taking voice lessons at Music Academy of the West. So, we’re going to go ahead and let her keep DJing for us while we travel.”
Wahlberg is a member of the DP Engineering Academy and she has a 4.29 GPA.
Junior Orlando Ye ran a PR of 16:34 at league finals.
“He is an absolute natural athlete,” said Brown. “I could talk to you today about all of his skateboarding tricks, but he has the week off before playoffs. I’ve told him no more skateboarding this week.
“He’s been running actually this whole season on a sprained ankle and he still runs crazy fast.”
WESTMONT SWIMMING
The Warriors are ranked in the top 10 of the NAIA for the first time and are undefeated against NAIA competition,” Westmont Sports Information Director Ron Smith said.
Olivia Garrison is ranked No. 1 in the 1650 freestyle and Ella Chaisson is No. 2 in the 200 IM and 400 IM.
WESMONT WOMEN’S SOCCER
The Warriors will host the the GSAC Tournament on Thursday and Saturday. Westmont faces The Master’s in one semifinal on Thursday at 1:30. The final is Saturday at 1 p.m.
Westmont also will be a host site for the NAIA Opening Round Tournament on Nov. 18 and 20.
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