COLLEGE DIVISION NOTEBOOK : Christ College Irvine Is Awarded Top Seed

The chances of the Christ College Irvine women’s basketball team winning the NAIA District 3 title received a boost this week when the Eagles were awarded the top seed in the district playoffs.

The Eagles (23-4), who finished in a three-way tie for first with Point Loma Nazarene and Fresno Pacific in the Golden State Athletic Conference, received the top seeding in a vote of district coaches, assuring them of two home games if they win the first.

“We’re really thankful to get that,” CCI Coach Kent Schlichtemeier said. “That’s going to a big boost. Just being at home and not making the long drive to Fresno or San Diego is great. We’ve got a really good home crowd--our students and faculty are real supportive.”

CCI opens the playoffs at 7:30 p.m. Friday against Cal Baptist, a 94-64 winner Wednesday over Biola. Fresno Pacific, ranked 15th in NAIA Division I, plays host to Point Loma Nazarene in the other semifinal Friday. The winners will play for the title and an automatic bid to the national tournament Tuesday at the home court of the highest remaining seed.

The home-court advantage has meant a lot to the Eagles recently. They are 25-2 at home the past two seasons. This season, CCI lost only one game at home, to Northern Montana, the undefeated, top-ranked team in NAIA Division II.

They’ve Come a Long Way: Despite defeating Fresno Pacific Friday, the Eagles still haven’t been able to break into the NAIA Top 25. With 37 points, CCI is tied with Charleston (W.Va.) in the 26th position behind No. 25 Kennesaw State (Ga.).

But Schlichtemeier isn’t complaining. Given from where the Eagles have risen, who would?

In Schlichtemeier’s first two seasons as coach, the Eagles finished 7-22 and 4-23. Last season, they were 21-7 and qualified for the district playoffs for the first time in school history.

“We sure remember where we’ve been and we’re really thankful to be where we are today,” Schlichtemeier said.

Christ College Irvine men’s basketball Coach Greg Marshall says he isn’t usually one for ultimatums, but after his team was routed in three consecutive Golden State Athletic Conference games earlier this month, he called a team meeting.

The Eagles were 2-5 in the conference after a 64-50 home loss to Westmont Feb. 4, and because their next game was against Southern California College, they were in danger of dropping out of contention for a spot in the district playoffs.

Marshall was concerned that his players weren’t playing as a team. “I didn’t sense that we had selfish players but we had selfish characteristics,” he said. In the team meeting and individual sessions with most of the players, Marshall said he told them if they didn’t want to play together, they didn’t have to stay on the team.

“The thing that scared me was these guys were all going to be back next year,” Marshall said. “I asked them, ‘Who are you waiting for? Shaquille (O’Neal) isn’t transferring in next week and I don’t think he’s coming in here next year, either.’ ”

Apparently, Marshall said something right--in their next game, the Eagles defeated SCC for the first time in the school’s history.

CCI (14-14, 5-6) has won three of its past four games and moved into fourth place in the conference. The Eagles, who play High-Five America in an exhibition game Saturday, defeated Fresno Pacific, 53-51, Tuesday and finish conference play Feb. 29 at Cal Baptist. Six of the seven conference teams probably will qualify for the District 3 playoffs, and Marshall believes the Eagles have all but wrapped up a spot.

“I don’t think there’s any way that we would be eliminated,” he said. “I think we could have got in with four victories, but this one pretty much clinched it.”

Middleton Countdown: With three games remaining in the Chapman men’s basketball season, Rog Middleton needs 57 points to surpass Bob Hamblin as the school’s career scoring leader. Middleton has 405 points this season and 1,828 in 96 games in his four-year Chapman career. Hamblin scored 1,884 points from 1955-59.

Middleton must average 19 points in the Panthers’ three remaining games to break the record. He is averaging 17.6 points, 24.2 in the past four games, but says he doesn’t think about the record while playing.

“Like I’ve said the whole year, I’ve never been concerned about the record,” Middleton said. “But all of a sudden, now that I’m close, people are asking, ‘Are you going to get the record? Are you going to get it?’ I’m just going to play hard like I have all four years at Chapman. If I get it, fine. If I don’t, it’s not the end of the world.”

Friday, Chapman (7-16, 2-9 in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn.) plays host to UC Riverside (21-2, 10-1), which is ranked No. 3 in NCAA Division II. In the teams’ first game at Riverside, the Panthers led by two points with about four minutes remaining before losing, 63-58.

College Division Notes

Southern California College guard Rick Witmer was named the Golden State Athletic Conference men’s player of the week. He scored 23 points in a 92-85 victory over Cal Baptist and 19 points in a 96-89 victory over Westmont. The Vanguards (20-6, 7-2) play at Point Loma Nazarene tonight.