JC NOTES : Flu and Cerritos Basketball Too Much for El Camino

Tis the season to be sick is a suitable theme for the El Camino women’s basketball team, which is off to a great start despite being hit by a flu that travels quicker than its fast-break offense.

A majority of the Warriors, including Coach Kristy Loesener and assistant Steve Balais, have been out sick in recent weeks.

Practice was canceled on Monday and Tuesday because six of the team’s 10 players were in bed. On Wednesday the Warriors lost their first South Coast Conference game, 68-58, to longtime rival Cerritos, the league’s best team. El Camino (12-5 overall) is second in the eight-member conference at 2-1.

“All we can do is shoot around and watch tapes,” Loesener said on Tuesday. “But I know they’ll show up for the Cerritos game because it’s an important game.”

The Warriors showed up in the North gym, but their presence and the fact that four players scored in double digits wasn’t enough to beat a fierce Cerritos club. El Camino should have better luck against East L.A. in tonight’s 7:30 game at East L.A.

When Pasadena basketball Coach George Terzian clenched both fists and told his team “pull together! Just pull together!” during a timeout in Wednesday’s game against El Camino, a Pasadena player at the end of the bench looked at the scoreboard and responded:

“It’s too late! It’s just too damned late!”

As it turned out, there was hope for the determined Lancers. The incident occured with 16:58 to play and a 25-point El Camino lead, but Pasadena came within six points with 1:01 left in the game.

The Warriors (16-5, 1-1) better refrain from their second-half snooze against defending state champ Cerritos on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Cerritos.

Marymount Palos Verdes has the South Bay’s top junior college scorer and rebounder, but the Mariners have the worst record of the three area teams, 6-14, after Wednesday’s 68-64 loss to L.A. Trade Tech.

Despite freshman Warren Cox’s 20 points and 10 rebounds a game, Marymount got nailed on its three-game road trip to New York and in the Rancho Santiago Tournament after that.

The Mariners have also lost their first three Southern California Athletic Conference games to Compton, Barstow and Trade Tech. They play East L.A. on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Harbor College.

Four El Camino state titles were overlooked in the South Bay decade wrap-up published in The Times on Dec. 31. In 1983 and 1984 the Warriors won the men’s state cross-country championship and in 1985 and 1989 they captured the women’s track and field state titles.

Sharrette Garcia was perhaps the biggest part of last year’s championship team. The middle-distance runner from Belize won the 800-meter race and anchored the Warriors’ state champion mile relay team. She placed second in the 1,500 meters.

On Jan. 19 the sophomore will compete in the Sunkist Invitational at the L.A. Sports Arena. She’ll be the only junior college athlete in the open 880-yard field, which includes Maria Aeraka of UC Irvine, Christine Royal of San Diego State and Michelle Taylor of the Southern California Cheetahs.

Thirteen California football teams are in USA Today’s final national top 25 junior college poll. Out of 161 two-year college teams in the country, El Camino finished fifth with a 10-1 record.

Riverside and Navarro College of Corsicana, Tex., tied for No. 1. Navarro (10-0) defeated unbeaten Ellsworth, Iowa, in the Mid-American Bowl at Tulsa. Riverside (11-0) handed El Camino its only loss, 21-14, in the Orange County Bowl.

Taft and Mesa, Ariz., are the other teams that ranked ahead of El Camino. Taft (9-0-1) defeated Bakersfield, 36-21, in the Potato Bowl, and Mesa (9-0-1) beat Nassau, 28-25, in the Valley of Sun Bowl.

Quarterback Frank Dolce, a JC Grid-Wire All-American, finished as the nation’s best career passer, according to the JC Athletic Bureau.

The 6-foot-1, 200-pound sophomore did wonders for El Camino’s explosive offense with an average of 147.7 passing yards a game. In 18 games he completed 272 of 445 attempts for 3,494 yards and 32 touchdowns. Dolce will play either at Utah or Nevada Las Vegas next year.Warrior Coach John Featherstone says Dolce is leaning toward Utah.

Sixteen El Camino football players will play at Division I schools next year and two in Division II.

On offense: wide receivers David Blakes (San Jose State) and Khevin Pratt (Utah), tight end Marlon McBride (Texas El Paso) and center Ishmal Peralta (Ball State) have signed letters. Offensive lineman Derrick Deese will choose among USC, Colorado, Oregon and Pittsburgh. Lineman David Porter is considering Utah and Texas Christian, and tackle Robert Reid is considering San Jose and Cal State Fullerton.

On defense: two-time All-American back Niu Sale will probably play at Missouri, although he’s also considering Arizona. Lineman Jeff Cummins will go to either Washington State, UCLA or Oregon and defensive end Tracy Gentry will play at Fresno.