Community College Southern Division Basketball Playoffs : Hiatus Is Over for Rancho Santiago

Dana Pagett, men’s basketball coach at Rancho Santiago College, has a wait-and-see approach to the Dons’ Southern Division state playoff game tonight.

The Dons (26-4) won the Orange Empire Conference, were seeded second in the playoffs and received a first-round bye, which meant 10 days off.

Rancho Santiago, one of four Orange County teams in the playoffs, meets 15th-seeded Bakersfield (19-11) at 7:30 tonight at Rancho Santiago.

Bakersfield defeated Long Beach City, 88-86, Saturday.

“We gave the players three days off and had them do some light workouts last week,” Pagett said. “It remains to be seen how we do, though. We seem ready, and practice has been better as the game has gotten closer.”

The time off has allowed center Brent Martin’s sprained ankle to heal, and he is expected to start tonight. Martin injured his ankle against Citrus Feb. 18 and played very little in the Dons’ last two games.

In other second-round games:

Antelope Valley (16-13) at Saddleback (23-7), 7:30 p.m.--The fourth-seeded Gauchos defeated West Los Angeles, 64-44, in the first round and will face the 13th-seeded Marauders, who got a first-round bye after winning the National Division of the Southern California Conference. Saddleback is 20-4 after starting the season 3-3. Three of the losses have been to Rancho Santiago.

Orange Coast (23-9) at El Camino (25-4), 7:30 p.m.--The 12th-seeded Pirates were 18-3 before beginning Orange Empire Conference play, where they slumped to 4-6. But they have won their last three games. OCC beat College of the Canyons, 99-63, Saturday in the first round. The fifth-seeded Warriors, who were champions of the South Coast Conference with top-seeded Cerritos, defeated Hancock, 78-71, in the first round.

Cypress (18-14) at Imperial Valley (22-8), 7:30 p.m.--The 11th-seeded Chargers are paced by Andy Olivarez, who led the Orange Empire Conference with a 22.2-point average. Olivarez had 36 points in Cypress’ 98-76 victory over San Bernardino Valley in the first round. He is third on the school’s single-season scoring list with 626 points--12 points behind second-place Tyrone Branyan (1976-77). Ron Davis (1978-79) holds the top spot with 656 points. Sixth-seeded Imperial Valley won the Pacific Coast Conference and received a first-round bye.