The San Diego City College women’s and men’s basketball teams have been selected to play in the 2024 California Community College Athletic Association Championships after historic weekends for both teams.
Both took sophomore night home wins Friday, followed by all-conference recognitions and the announcement of the championship regional brackets.
The Knights women (17-11) received a No. 23 seed in the Southern Region and will visit No. 10-seed Ventura College (18-10) for a first-round game Wednesday 7 p.m. streamed on YouTube.
City’s 61-48 upset victory Friday over Pacific Coast Athletic Conference second-place finisher Imperial Valley College added an important win to the women’s resume ahead of 3C2A Selection Sunday. The Knights’ 17 wins this season were the most in program history.
“This win gave us the nudge for an argument to get in because (IVC is) a top-ranked team,” City head coach Andrea Aguilar-Montalban reflected ahead of the selection. “That we beat one of the top teams gives us a really good shot of getting in.”
Ventura finished second in the Western State Conference North. Scoring leaders include Alexa Coubal (15.9 points per game) and Sam McKenzie (13.1 ppg), while Coubal leads the team in rebounding (10.6 rebounds per game) with help from Tiernan Phillips (6.9 rpg).
City’s men (24-4) were awarded the Southern Region No. 2 seed, giving them a first-round bye and possibly two home games to reach the regional championship, the 3C2A Elite Eight.
Their second-round opponent will be either No. 15 Pasadena City (18-10) or No. 18 Los Angeles Southwest (18-10), who face off Wednesday.
After securing the PCAC conference championship outright by beating second place MiraCosta College, 91-67, Friday at home before the largest crowd of the season, head coach Mitch Charlens knows it’s time to focus.
“That was such a wonderful moment,” Charlens said in an interview with City Times on Tuesday. “In front of the crowd on sophomore night and knowing all the awards that came out and then getting a top seed, it’s really easy to still be floating.”
With only 2 days to prepare for their next opponent, Charlens knows his team needs to come right back down to the hardwood to have a shot at meeting its preseason goals.
”My message today to the guys has to be ‘Okay, time to convert from joy to urgency,’” he said. “We’re not just happy with what we’ve done. It’s back to work to see how far we can go.”
Charlens and his coaching staff will be heading north Wednesday to scout their potential opponents’ first-round game and have been watching videos of both host Pasadena and LA Southwest.
“Two well-coached clubs and everything’s on the line,” Charlens said. “It’ll be a tough matchup whoever we play. (I’m) glad that our guys put us in the position to possibly have two home games to go to the Elite Eight.”
The Knights women receiving All-PCAC recognition included Cerina Nguyen and Elissa St. Julian to the first team and Cusha Landry to the second team, while D’Ajanae Lewis, A’sontee Jackson, and Christina Bowen received honorable mentions.
City men’s All-PCAC awards included MVP to guard KJay Bradley, first team honors to Al Green and Alex Crawford, Keavie Love on the second team, with Kenny Gonzalez, Kevin Moore, and Dexter Stratton all receiving honorable mentions.
Charlens is proud of the recognitions, especially the second team and honorable mention picks, who have played a part in shaping the winning team he takes into the postseason.
“Those guys (would be) starting and the best players on any other team in this conference,” Charlens said. “They made a sacrifice to be here and be a part of winning at the highest level.”
