By Ray Hamill — Believe it or not the local basketball season tips off this week, as both College of the Redwoods teams get set to host rare October games here on the North Coast.
The doubleheader of action takes place on Friday afternoon, with the CR women taking the court at 2 p.m. to play Lemoore and the men following at 4 p.m. and facing off against Cabrillo.
The early-season games will give local fans an opportunity to check out this year’s teams, each of which feature several new faces and a few experienced returners.
“A home game in October, that’s got to be the first time that’s ever happened,” CR men’s head coach Justin Claus said with a chuckle.
Claus has a very new-look roster, with just three players back from last year’s team, which pushed champion Feather River all the way in the race for the Golden Valley Conference championship and finished the year 19-10.
Former McKinleyville Panther Jack Clancy returns, along with Fortuna’s Donald Bickle and third-year player Trevor Dolan.
Three of the team’s freshmen will be familiar names to H-DNL fans, and in particular to St. Bernard’s fans.
Former Crusaders Owen Shanahan, Carson Costa and Rowan Cromwell, all three of whom had a big impact at SB over the last few years, are on the roster.
Among the newcomers on the 16-player roster, local fans will also recognize Fortuna’s Jace Barsanti.
Two other experienced players — Josh Neal and Ty Dahlin — missed last season because of injury, but are expected to play big roles this winter as Redwoods looks to be among the top teams in this year’s GVC once again.
And Claus likes the mix he has on the roster.
“We have a lot of freshmen and this will be their first college game, but also some sophomores that are eager and have been looking forward to this for a while,” the second-year head coach said.
Most of the players have been working together since the summer, and official practices began on Oct. 1.
“This group has been working together since mid July,” the coach said. “It’s been a long time, so it’s nice to be able to play someone else.”
And Claus is excepting a tough challenge right out of the starting gates against a Cabrillo team that was 20-10 a year ago.
“They’re usually ferocious and athletic and they want to speed the game up and make things chaotic,” he said. “It’s really a clash of styles.”
The CR women, meanwhile, also have a roster that features a nice blend of returning players and incoming freshmen as they look to build some early momentum.
Redwoods finished second to champion Butte in last year’s GVC, finishing the year 16-13 overall, while Lemoore was 20-9.
A core group of returning sophomores includes former Arcata Tigers Addison Wingate, Mayleah Jackson and Cayenne Pruter, along with St. Bernard’s Aliyah Vigil and Middletown’s Mia Hoogendoorn.
Fortuna’s Jorlynn Villalvazo and Ferndale’s Madison Gossi feature among the six freshmen.
