Chabot basketball is ready to get going

Men’s Basketball

The 2009 Chabot College men’s basketball team is extremely excited about this season. Especially since they have started the year off 3-0 and won the Las Positas Tip-Off Tournament with ease.

The team is being directed by head coach Danny Aye and assistant coach Kenny Burton. The Gladiators basketball team is looking forward to making their presence felt this season.

“I feel good about our chances this season, we have a special group of kids with some returning impact sophomores,” said Burton.

 “This season will depend on our players rising up to their potential and the coaching staff doing their job.”

During the Las Positas Tip-Off Tournament, this past weekend, the Glads took complete control and dominated with wins over Columbia and Butte College.

They also went on to beat Los Medanos in the championship and took the trophy. The most valuable player honors went to Duane Bagsby a 5-foot-10-inch shooting guard with a lot of upside. Bagsby scored 14 points in the championship game.

He was also selected to the All Tournament Team along with teammates Mark Stevenson and Derek Bruce.

Stevenson and Bruce are two of three returning sophomores to the team, along with Lonnie Brazil.

Bruce is a 6-foot-2-inch guard who is an all around versatile player and natural leader who leads by example. Brazil is a 6-foot-7-inch forward/center who is a real establishing force from last year’s team. With added depth he should again     be a contributing factor to success.

Stevenson, a 6-foot-2-inch guard, is an all-around scorer who shot 45 percent from the field and 42 percent from the 3-point line and looks to improve on those numbers this season

The domination of the tournament and the return of productive players gives the team and coaching staff high hopes and anticipation for the outcome of the season.

And while Burton knows a new season brings new challenges, it doesn’t waiver his anticipation.

“But mark my words,” said Burton, “I am excited about playing some of the top teams in California this season.”

Chabot’s next home game is Thursday Nov. 19, at 5 p.m. against West Valley College.

Women’s Basketball

Are you ready for some women’s college basketball? It is that time of year when basketball starts to take over at Chabot and the Lady Gladiators would love to pick up where they left off. Last season, Chabot made it to the playoffs before losing 86-57 to Delta College in the first round.

But this year it will be a tougher road to get there. Several of last year’s Lady Gladiators, such as Dezzirae Cafferata and Rose Thompson, will be red-shirting (sitting out) for medical reasons.

Thompson is perhaps the bigger loss because she was one of the top three shooters on the team and averaged about 19.9 points per game last season. Like all colleges Chabot is impacted by players leaving and new players coming in: That said, the Lady Gladiators have only one sophomore on the team; the rest are freshmen.

That might frustrate many coaches, but not Don Queyrel. Coach Queyrel is used to just having freshmen on his team, mentioning “That’s how it usually is. When we play the best teams in our league, we will have to be able to respond.  It will be very difficult this year and there is big a question mark as to how we are going to do.

“But if we can hold it together and not have injuries we will be able to do fine and move on.”

The Lady Gladiators will be led by sophomore Monica Garcia and freshman Charnay Bell. Queyrel had high praise for Bell, saying she is a good guard and expected to be a leader of the team along with Garcia.

 Bell will use her aggressive shooting to step up and help out with the scoring.

Other players to keep your eyes on are Stephanie Amaral from Ponderosa High School and Natalie Alvarez from Tennyson High School.

Chabot will look to Garcia to help lead them toward becoming a scrappy team, hopefully resulting in another playoff berth. Although a championship might be many years away (the last time Chabot won it all was in the 2001-2002 season), with their hard play and determination the Lady Gladiators might be able to surprise a lot of people.

The Lady Gladiators next home game is Tuesday Nov. 17 at 5:30 p.m.