Men’s basketball: Rams defeated in state championship game

By Bontã Hill
The Guardsman

As they headed to Thousand Oaks for the Elite Eight, the City College men’s basketball
team was considered a long shot for the state title.

The Rams were a mere two minutes away from shocking the state and winning their first California Community College Athletic Association State Championship since 1962. Those hopes were dashed in a tough loss to the Saddleback Gauchos, 63-57, in the March 14 state title game at California Lutheran University’s Gilbert Arena.

“A lot of people didn’t expect us to make it that far, so it was an accomplishment
to get to the title game,” sophomore Da’Ron Sims said. “It didn’t end the way we wanted it to, but overall it was a good run.” He finished his Rams career by making the All-Tournament team.

That run to the state title game started with two home victories. A grueling 66-59 win on Feb. 27 against College of the Redwoods, followed by a 83-68 rout of Chabot College on March 6, earned the Rams their third straight trip to the tournament.

City College opened the Elite Eight by jumping out to a 15-point halftime lead against Irvine Valley College, beating them 70-64 in a game that was not as close as the score.

The San Bernardino Wolverines, then the No. 1 team in the state, awaited the Rams in the Final Four. City College opened a 14-point lead in the second half and withstood a late rally by the Wolverines, winning 72-68 to advance to the championship.

“The good thing about this team is that they’re very good at preparing for other teams,” head coach Justin Labagh said. “We had good match ups that complimented our style.”

“Coach Labagh had us mentally prepared for this tournament,” All-Conference forward Christopher White said. “We knew what plays the other teams were running, but at the end of the day we didn’t have enough to beat Saddleback.”

In the championship game, the Gauchos jumped out to a 13-2 lead as the Rams struggled to generate anything offensively for the first nine minutes.

Sophomore guard Calvin Douglas led the Rams back as he showed off his shooting touch, scoring ten first-half points. He would finish the game with 16.

“They were leaving our wings open to shoot the ball because they were collapsing on our post players,” Douglas said. “I was feeling it and just taking what they were giving me.”

The Rams went into halftime down 27-24, and Saddleback held onto to a tight lead most of the second half.

City College would tie things up at 52 when freshman forward Jonathon Williams, who was also named to the All Tournament Team, came up with the steal and took it to the basket for a one-hand slam dunk with two minutes remaining.

That is the closest the Rams would get.

Saddleback forward Tyler McManaman hit a baseline jumper as the shot clock expired, and the Gauchos went 13 of 14 from the free throw line down the stretch, preventing the Rams from hoisting the championship trophy. City College finished its season 28-5.

Even though the Rams had a great season and Labagh was proud of his team’s accomplishments, there was still disappointment about not winning the championship.

“I thought our sophomores did a good job of using their experience, and our freshmen developed more than any other freshmen class we’ve had here,” Labagh said. “Our guys weren’t celebrating just because they got to the title game. It’s too bad it went down that way.”