College Basketball : Valley Women Secure Share of SCC Title

Valley won a share of its second consecutive Southern California Conference women’s basketball championship with an 83-46 victory at Antelope Valley on Friday.

Traci Atkins scored 13 of her 18 points in the first half as the Monarchs rolled to a 39-18 lead at intermission. Atkins made 7 of 13 field-goal attempts and teammate Dametra Johnson was 9 of 14 (20 points) as Valley (25-3, 11-1 in conference play) made 33 of 64 shots (51.6%).

“We’re playing exceptionally well right now,” first-year Valley Coach Doug Michelson said. “We have very good balance on offense and that should help us in the playoffs.”

Bernadette Tillis scored 18 points and added 9 assists, and Ruth Aguilar had 15 points and 8 rebounds as Valley, the ranked No. 2 in the state by the JC Athletic Bureau, won its fourth consecutive game.

The Monarchs, who shared the conference title with College of the Desert, will open the first round of the Southern California regional playoffs at home next week.

Point Loma Nazarene 84, Cal Lutheran 72--Laura Mars and Ann Duffy each scored 19 points and Point Loma had five players in double figures in the Golden State Athletic Conference game at Cal Lutheran.

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Cal Lutheran 116, Point Loma Nazarene 101--Steve deLaveaga, who scored 18 of his game-high 34 points in the first half, led Cal Lutheran to a 51-39 lead at intermission and the Kingsmen held on to remain in first place in the Golden State Athletic Conference.

CLU improved to 14-12, 9-3 in conference play with two games remaining. Point Loma dropped to 10-17, 4-8.

Center Mike Demeter scored 19 points and grabbed 13 rebounds and Jeff Logsdon added 19 points and 11 assists to lead Cal Lutheran. Darren Ranck (15 points), Blake Miraglia (12) and Dave Rowlands (12) also scored in double figures for the Kingsmen.

DeLaveaga also had 7 rebounds and added 7 assists.