PCAC co-chmapion MIraCosta College sped to the women’s championship game of this year’s CCCAA basketball state tournament. Photo by Phillip Brents

The California Community College Athletic Association’s men’s and women’s basketball 2025-26 championship tournament wrapped up March 12-15 at the College of the Sequoias in Visalia.

Southern California regional top seed Fullerton defeated City College of San Francisco, the Northern California regional top seed, by a score of 67-64 in a tight matchup to close out the men’s season.

In the women’s championship game, NorCal top seed San Joaquin Delta edged MiraCosta, the Southern California regional No. 3 seed, by a likewise tight score of 76-71.

March to the playoffs
Teams were drawn into 24-team regional single-elimination brackets once regular season play was completed. Twelve teams were seeded in both the Southern California and Northern California regional brackets in each gender division.

Included were six teams from the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference — three in the men’s division (No. 5 San Diego City, No. 16 Palomar and No. 24 Southwestern) — and three teams in the women’s division (No. 5 MiraCosta, No. 12 Palomar, No. 17 and San Diego Mesa).

San Diego City completed a perfect 16-0 run to claim the PCAC men’s regular season title while Southwestern finished runner-up at 11-5 and Palomar in third place at 10-6, tied with San Diego Miramar.

Southwestern pulled off a 79-74 upset win over No. 9 Riverside City in the first round while Palomar subdued No. 17 Bakersfield 92-89. Fullerton blasted Palomar, 85-52, in the quarterfinals while Southwestern saw its season end following a 95-92 loss to No. 8 West L.A and San Diego City toppled No. 12 Saddleback 79-70.

In the semifinals, San Diego City bested No. 4 Ventura, 67-59, to nail down a berth in the state tournament.

Southwestern finished 16-14 overall following the loss to West L.A. while Palomar finished 19-11.

Southwestern College’s Derek Edmond keyed the assault with 24 points in a 121-60 win over visiting Imperial Valley on Sophomore Night on Feb. 20. Photos by Phillip Brents

Benjie Nudo keyed Palomar with 35 points in the win over Bakersfield (17-12) while Jaidyn Norman pumped in 19 points and Isaiah Pomare (14 points) and Justin White (11 points) also scored in double figures.

White and Angel Ochoa led the Comets each with 12 points in the loss to Fullerton while Pomare had 10 points.

Southwestern overcame a 38-32 halftime deficit on the road to swamp Riverside City (17-12) by a score of 47-36 in the second half. Granite Hills and Victory Christian alum Derek Edmond paced the comeback win with 33 points while two other Jaguars reached double digits: Christian Gamboa (19 points) and Tres Luzey (15 points). Edmond and Gamboa each had eight rebounds to lead SWC.

West L.A. (21-8) led by two points at halftime, 54-52, and added an extra margin of one point in a closely played 41-40 second half. Edmond and Gamboa unfurled their sails with 28 points and seven rebounds each to lead the Jags.

Edmond played two varsity seasons at Granite Hills as a freshman (2020-21) and sophomore (2021-22). In 42 games, he averaged 14.8 points per game, 6.6 rebounds per game, 2.0 steals per game and 1.7 assists per game as the Eagles compiled a 30-14 record.

Edmond played the 2023-24 season at Victory Christian as a senior by averaging 17.8 ppg with 7.5 rebounds per game, 2.1 steals per game and 1.3 blocks per game in 30 contests for the Knights.

In his second season at Southwestern, Edmond came into his own by averaging 24.5 ppg after averaging 8.7 ppg as a freshman.

Dylan Griffin (29 points, 11 rebounds) and Junior Camacho (20 points, 10 rebounds) proved to be a power-packed duo in San Diego City’s quarterfinal win over Saddleback (15-15).

Griffin logged 20 points and 13 rebounds and Camacho had 18 points in the semifinal win over Ventura (25-5).

On the women’s side, MiraCosta and Palomar tied for the PCAC title with 11-1 conference records. San Diego City and San Diego Mesa followed with 7-5 conference marks.

Palomar eliminated No. 21 Pasadena, 87-63, in the opening round while San Diego Mesa lost its opener, 51-48, to No. 16 Santa Ana. In the quarterfinals, MiraCosta eliminated Palomar 54-49.

MiraCosta then edged No. 13 L.A. Trade Tech, 54-49, in the semifinals to punch its ticket to state.

Palomar finished its season 21-8 overall while San Diego Mesa finished 15-14.

Ivoril Seals (18 points), ReeRee Davis (17 points) and Kami Gillis (15) paced Palomar over Pasadena City (14-15) while Kailani Flournoy grabbed 14 rebounds.

Mesa was led by Stevie Lundquist (13 points) and M.J. Johnson (11 points) in its season finale.

Faith Behrendt (22 points) and Kyla Palpallatoc (20 points) delivered a one-two punch for MiraCosta in eliminating Palomar.

Anayla Anderson led MiraCostra with 16 points in a much closer game against Trade Tech (21-10) in the semifinals.

Southwestern College’s Aliyah Perry sizes up a shot in Feb. 20 season-ending 70-65 victory over visiting Imperial Valley. Photos by Phillip Brents

Final Four
The bracket narrowed to the top four teams in each regional advancing to the state tournament for eight teams in each gender bracket (four from the SoCal regional and four from the NorCal regional). Teams played cross-bracket.

In the women’s quarterfinals on March 12:

•No. 3 NorCal seed Laney defeated No. 2 SoCal seed Irvine Valley, 78-60: Gianna Ghio and Sophia Askew-Goncalves each tallied 16 points to lead Laney while Symantha Barnett topped IVC (26-5) with 19 points.

 •No. 3 SoCal seed MiraCosta eliminated No. 2 NorCal seed Folsom Lake, 82-59: Four players scored in double figures for MiraCosta: Anayla Anderson (19 points), Melia Hinojos (18 points), Faith Behrendt (14 points) and Kiya Waters (10 points). Jada Tupou led Folsom Lake (28-3) with 19 points.

 •No. 1 NorCal seed San Joaquin Delta shaded No. 4 SoCal seed Cypress, 55-51: La’De Dunn paced San Joaquin Delta with 20 points while Christaesha Jackson (22 points) and Mariah Henderson (21 points) combined for 43 points to lead Cypress (21-10).

 No. 4 NorCal seed Fresno City topped No. 1 SoCal seed Mt. San Antonio, 77-65: Sara Shein poured in 24 points to lead Fresno City while Dylan Tse keyed Mt. SAC (29-2) with 15 points.

In the men’s quarterfinals on March 13:

•Fullerton eliminated No. 3 NorCal seed San Jose, 74-63: Yoda Oke led Fullerton with 19 points and collected 10 rebounds while Brayden Smith followed with 18 points and Donovan Pitts added 16 points. Muhammad Singleton led San Jose (24-7) with 18 points.

•No. 2 NorCal seed Santa Rosa defeated Cerritos, the No. 3 SoCal seed, 89-81: Travis Hightower poured in 26 points to lead Santa Rosa while teammate Spencer Langowski jammed in 21 points. At the other end of the court, Kamuary Washington dropped in 21 points while Elijah Gelin contributed 19 points for Cerritos (25-6).

•San Francisco bounced San Diego City, the SoCal No. 4 seed, 78-67: James Moore keyed San Francisco with 22 points while Dylan Griffin paced San Diego City (25-6) with 24 points in the setback.

 No. 2 SoCal seed Citrus eliminated NorCal No. 3 seed West Valley, 84-54: Citrus romped courtesy of 16 points each from three players: Amiri Meadows, J.J. Sanchez and Dev Hamilton. C.J. Willenborg led West Valley (24-7) with 16 points.

The men and women’s semifinals took place on March 14.

In the men’s bracket, Fullerton topped Santa Rosa, 90-65, while San Francisco nipped Citrus by a score of 73-71.

Five players scored in double figures for Fullerton: Oke (19 points), Trey Thompson (14 points),  Pitts (13 points), Jaedyn Patterson (12 points) and Smith (11 points).  Gavin Early led Santa Rosa (27-5) with 14 points.

Kenyon DeMuynck paced San Francisco with 24 points while Sanchez keyed four players in double digit scoring with 15 points for Citrus (30-2).

In the women’s bracket, San Joaquin defeated Laney, 71-62, while MiraCosta stopped Fresno City by a score of 66-54.

Aaliyah Youngblood (18 points) and Faith Cuthbertson (17 points) combined for 35 points to lead Delta while Ghio led Laney (26-4) with 15 points.

Anderson keyed MiraCosta with 24 points to lead the Lady Spartans to the state championship game while Alyssa Kem paced Fresno City (24-8) with 15 points.

Southwestern College finished the season 16-14 overall in second place in the PCAC men’s basketball standings with an 11-5 record. Photo by Philip Brents

All-tournament
The men’s all-tournament team included Fullerton’s Oke and Pitts, Santa Rosa’s Hightower, Citrus’s Leo Ricketts, and San Francisco’s James Moore and DeMuynck. Oke was named tournament MVP.

Fullerton (32-1) recorded its third state championship behind 25 points from Jaqari Miles while Thompson had 17 points and Oke had 14 points 10 rebounds. The Hornets also won state titles in 2019 and 2023.

Four players scored in double digits for San Francisco (31-2): DeMuynck (13 points), Jaylen Wheeler (12 points), Shane Lincoln (12 points) and Vitor Oliveira (12 points).

The women’s all-tournament team included Delta’s Youngblood, Cuthbertson and Dunn, MiraCosta’s Anderson and Palpallatoc, Fresno City’s Shein and Laney’s Ashanti Dias.

Youngblood, who was named tournament MVP as the Lady Mustangs won their first state title. keyed Delta (28-5) in the final with 20 points while Cuthbertson tacked on 19 points. Palpallatoc paced MiraCosta (31-2) with 21 points while Anderson added 19 points.

Jaguars Nation
Gamboa (12.7 ppg) ranked second in men’s scoring, followed by Luzey (11.5 ppg), Aaron Owens (8.2 ppg), Emmanuel Barnett (7.1 ppg) and Keoni Henson (5.7 ppg).

Women’s scoring leaders included Ari Mason (18.3 ppg), Aliyah Perry (16.0 ppg) and Angelica McBride (15.1 ppg).

Pacific Coast Athletic Conference 2025-26 Basketball Standings

Final 2025-26 Season

Men’s Standings

Conference/Overall

San Diego City        16-0         25-6

Southwestern         11-5           16-14

Palomar                    10-6          19-11

SD Miramar             10-6          15-13

Grossmont               8-8           11-17

SD Mesa                   6-10          11-17

Cuyamaca                6-10          10-18

MiraCosta                5-11           10-18

Imperial Valley        0-16          0-28

Wednesday, Feb. 18
San Diego Mesa 73, Grossmont 70
Cuyamaca 83, Imperial Valley 69
San Diego City 83, Southwestern 66
Palomar 74, MiraCosta 66

Friday, Feb. 20
Grossmont 74, Cuyamaca 64
Southwestern 121, Imperial Valley 60
San Diego City 96, Palomar 83
San Diego Miramar 61, MiraCosta 52

State Regional Playoffs

Wednesday, Feb. 25
(16) Palomar 92, (17) Bakersfield 89
(24) Southwestern 79, (9) Riverside City 74

Saturday, Feb. 28
(1) Fullerton 85, (16) Palomar 52
(8) West L.A. 95, (24) Southwestern 92

(5) SD City 79, (12) Saddleback 70

Saturday, March 7
(5) San Diego City 67, (4) Ventura 59 (San Diego City advances to state tournament)

Women’s Standings

Conference/Overall

MiraCosta                11-1             31-2

Palomar                    11-1             21-8

San Diego City        7-5           15-13

SD Mesa                   7-5           15-14

Southwestern         4-8           10-16

Cuyamaca                2-10          4-20

Imperial Valley        0-12          4-23

Wednesday, Feb. 18
San Diego Mesa 68, Imperial Valley 51
Palomar 82, San Diego City 36
MiraCosta 98, Southwestern 60

Friday, Feb. 20
San Diego City 57, Cuyamaca 48
Palomar 76, MiraCosta 61
Southwestern 70, Imperial Valley 65

State Regional Playoffs

Wednesday, Feb. 25
(16) Santa Ana 51, (17) SD Mesa 48
(12) Palomar 78, (21) Pasadena 40

Saturday, Feb. 28
(5) MiraCosta 87, (12) Palomar 63

Saturday, March 7
(5) MiraCosta 54, (13) L.A. Trade Tech 49 (MiraCosta advances to state tournament)

Please follow and like us: