Fullerton College Overtakes San Francisco for No. 1 Ranking

Fullerton College received nine of the 19 votes casted in this week's CCCMBCA poll, and in the process edged City College of San Francisco for this week's No. 1 ranking. The Hornets, winners of 10 straight, just won the Foothill College Tournament. Fullerton is 12-1 and won the Citrus Invitational and the Foothill Tournament. The Hornets have three remaining nonconference contests, including a home contest against South Mountain of Arizona(4-5) as well as Moorpark at Ventura and Ventura (January 4-5).

Meanwhile, San Francisco, the defending state champions, lost for just the sixth time in its last 109 games. The Rams, who received six first-place votes, fell to Cabrillo, 77-73, in the finals of the San Joaquin Delta Tournament. San Francisco, reportedly, had just six players available for the tournament final. Cabrillo led by 20 points at halftime and then found themselves having to fend off the Rams who outscored Cabrillo, 47-31, in the second half.

Mt. San Jacinto, ranked No. 3, and Gavilan, No. 7, received the other No. 1 votes.

Mt. San Jacinto, which has won eight straight since losing to Fullerton, 81-74, was just one vote behind San Francisco. Since losing to Fullerton, the Eagles have been on a tear, scoring 80-plus points in all but one game and twice surpassed the 100-point plateau during their eight-game wins streak.The Eagles received three top votes.

Cerritos, winners of eight of their last 10 games, comes in at No 4. The Falcons have won six of their last seven games, the lone loss a 10-point setback to No. 6 Fresno City. Cerritos has just one remaining game in 2018.

And that game is against No. 5 East Los Angeles.

East Los Angeles falls to No 5 after falling to Arizona Western and then unranked West LA. The Huskies are in the midst of a 13-day layoff after winning three games at the Riverside City Tournament. On December 21, East LA will take on No. 4 Cerritos in Norwalk.

Fresno City comes in at No. 6 this week after winning seven straight games. The Rams' losses this season have been to two of the top northern teams in San Francisco (by 9 and 4) and Santa Rosa (by 2). Fresno City is dark the rest of 2018, returning to action on January 3 to kickoff Central Valley Conference play where the Rams figure to rack up yet another conference title.

Gavilan lands at No. 7, up two slots from the previous ranking. Since losing to Allan Hancock on November 13, the Rams have won seven straight games. Gavilan, who received one first-place vote, hosts Ohlone on December 20 and then Columbia on December 29 before a showdown with No. 2 San Francisco on January 4 to close out their nonconference schedule.

Long Beach City climbs from No. 12 to No. 8 this week. The Vikings have won five of their last six. The loss was a tip-in at the buzzer by Imperial Valley on December 7. Long Beach City will close out 2018 with a home game against LA Pierce on December 21. The Vikings will have five more nonconference games in 2019 before opening conference play. Two of those games will be against ranked opponents — No. 9 Chaffey (on the road) and No. 5 East Los Angeles at home.

Speaking of Chaffey, the Panthers have recovered from consecutive losses with five straight wins, including wins over Southwestern in Chula Vista and San Bernardino Valley. In the five wins, Chaffey has held its opposition to 80 points or less in four of the games.

Allan Hancock managed to hold off San Diego Miramar for the tenth spot. Miramar has won five straight and has a higher Massey Ranking (12 to Hancock's 14), but Allan Hancock lands at No. 10. The Bulldogs will host its final tournament of the season — the AHC Holiday Classic beginning on December 28. Allan Hancock will square off against Merritt (5-4), Palomar (5-6) and San Jose City (0-9). Won't make for sleepless nights in Santa Maria, but what looms in the new year — Cuesta, Moorpark and Ventura — could provide Tyson Aye some sleepless nights in 2019.

San Diego Miramar has played some good basketball this year, but when they are bad, they are really bad — indicated by the Jets' 114-79 loss to Southwestern and 102-72 loss to San Diego City. However, Miramar has recovered from the San Diego City beatdown to run off five straight victories.

Previous unranked Columbia lands at No. 12 this week. The Claim Jumpers had its undefeated season dream blown up by Fresno City, 81-61, on December 7. Unfortunately, Columbia will have to battle Fresno City two more times in conference play. Columbia has three remaining games before opening Central Valley Conference play — road games at American River and Gavilan and home match up with Modesto on Saturday.

Santa Rosa falls hard this week — from No. 3 to No. 13. The Cubs have lost two of its last four — to No. 2 San Francisco and No. 15 Canada, in the second round of Santa Rosa's Kris Kringle Tournament last's weekend. Santa Rosa needs to forget quickly because on Friday, Santa Rosa hosts 6-4 San Joaquin Delta for the two team's conference opener.

Things have gotten a tough in Chula Vista as Southwestern falls to No. 14 after losing two of its last four games. The Jaguars, however, are 7-2 in their last nine contests. Southwestern has four remaining nonconference contests — including a never-seen home-away set with Palomar (home, tomorrow, December 18 and in San Marcos on January 9). But even more interesting will be its January 5 game in San Jacinto against No. 3 Mt. San Jacinto at 3 pm. Might be worth a drive!

Canada lands at No. 15 despite its 11-2 record. The Colts do carry the lowest Massey Ranking in the Top 20 – at 29 — and that is up five slots this week. Canada has won seven of its last eight contests, highlighted by its overtime win over Santa Rosa last weekend. Only blemish was a 12-point loss to Sequoias in the run. Saturday, Canada hosts Cabrillo, which upset San Francisco City and is No. 19 this week, at San Mateo College. It will be Canada's home opener, if you count playing at San Mateo College — the Colts' home?

San Bernardino Valley lands at No. 16. Hasn't been the type of year you expect out of a Quincy Brewer team. The Wolverines have lost four of its last six games. On Wednesday, Brewer will square off against Phil Mathews and the Riverside City Tigers in a 6 pm contest. Be interesting to see what Riverside team shows up — the one blown out by Mt. San Jacinto or the one that blew out Cuesta.

Can't remember the last time, I type LA Trade Tech in a CCCMBCA poll. Head coach Richard Wells faced adversity out of the gate in 2018, losing its first two contests to LA Southwest (4-6) and LA Valley (7-6). However, since then, LA Trade Tech has run off eight straight wins – seven on the road. By the time the Beavers return to the court on December 28 against Orange Coast in Bakersfield, LA Trade Tech will have been dark for 20 days. Do Beavers rust?

Citrus, by far, suffered the largest fall as the Owls dove to No. 18 after being No. 5, previously. Citrus has lost three of its last four contests. The Owls will compete in the Chaffey Challenge on December 19 and 21st to close out 2018.

In the last poll, Cabrillo was holding on to the North's No. 15 slot. This week, thanks to its huge upset of San Francisco, the Seahawks come in at No. 19. The win also did a number on its Massey Ranking as Cabrillo climbed 14 spots this week to No. 26. The win was actually the Seahawks' sixth straight. Cabrillo has three remaining nonconference games — and they are good ones — vs. No. 15 Canada (at San Mateo College), at Foothill and then home to No. 10 Allan Hancock.

Copper Mountain edges out three other Orange Empire Conference teams for the final spot in this week's poll. The Fightin' Cacti are 9-5, after losing three of its last five contests. Two of those losses were to highly ranked teams — Mt. San Jacinto and East Los Angeles. In its final game of 2018, Copper Mountain travels to San Monica tonight (December 17).

State Poll
1. Fullerton (9)/463 points
2. San Francisco (6)/442
3. Mt. San Jacinto (3)/441
4. Cerritos 383
5. East Los Angeles 355
6. Fresno 346
7. Gavilan (1)/342
8. Long Beach 320
9. Chaffey 253
10. Allan Hancock 242
11. San Diego Miramar 226
12. Columbia 212
13. Santa Rosa 209
14. Southwestern 204
15. Canada 178
16. San Bernardino Valley 175
17. LA Trade Tech 159
18. Citrus 140
19. Cabrillo 126
20. Copper Mountain 120

Northern California
1. San Francisco
2. Fresno
3. Gavilan
4. Columbia
5. Santa Rosa
6. Canada
7. Cabrillo
8. Sequoias
9. Yuba
10. Las Positas
11. Mendocino
12. San Joaquin Delta
13. American River
14. Feather River
15. Sacramento City

Southern California
1. Fullerton
2. Mt. San Jacinto
3. Cerritos
4. East Los Angeles
5. Long Beach
6. Chaffey
7. Allan Hancock
8. San Diego Miramar
9. Southwestern
10. San Bernardino Valley
11. LA Trade Tech
12. Citrus
13. Copper Mountain
14. Riverside City
15. Santiago Canyon/Saddleback