| Erica Whitley and her fellow
seniors have Cal Lutheran in position to make some noise in
March. Cal Lutheran athletics photo by Tracy Maple |
If Roy Dow wants to remember his first Cal Lutheran recruiting class down the road, one of the ways he can is by looking at the record books, since his current squad will have plenty of relevance there.
Cal Lutheran is on the verge of capturing a SCIAC title. Cal Lutheran could clinch a title outright by beating Redlands tonight as the Regals have a two-game lead on Redlands. The Regals (20-3) have won 13 of their last 14 including five in a row. The last loss came against the Bulldogs on Jan. 24.
Three seniors have been the core of the Regals including Starla Wright with a 16.1 average, Erica Whitley (9.5) and Channing Fleischmann (8.8).
"All three come from different family backgrounds and very different communities," Dow said. "They've combined to be the three leaders on a great class."
Wright, Whitley and Fleischmann have contributed over 2,700 points and 1,500 rebounds in their career. All of them are in the top 10 in the Cal Lutheran all-time stats in several categories.
"Three players like that built in the same class is pretty special.," Dow said. "All three are reflective of how we recruit with length and versatility and those kind of things. They fit, you can look how they complement each other."
This class of Regals has a chance of furthering their marks historically. The four year mark for wins is 77 accomplished in 2001 and the Regals have 71 and closing in on second place all time with 73. The single season mark is 23 set in 1995. The only thing on the minds of the Regals is to continue to win.
"They could care less about the individual stats," Dow said "They just want to get to NCAA tournament and see if we can host."
A year later, Spalding again without McAfee
Despite being without senior guard Dewhon McAfee, Spalding has won its last three games and six overall as the Golden Eagles are closing in on an SLIAC title. With a win Friday night against second-place Westminster, Spalding (16-7 overall, 13-1 SLIAC) will wrap up the regular season crown and host the conference tournament.
"I think the kids are really ready," Spalding coach Kevin Gray said. "This has been on radar. This is what we want to do, this is how we get there. We're really locked in on concept where we want to go by taking it one game at a time. We've still got a way to go but I think they are ready."
McAfee, who averaged 20.5 points per game, tore his ACL on Feb. 4, which ended his season.
"Losing him really hurts," Gray said. "I really wish people could see him play. He's quick, strong and could score from anywhere for us from the floor."
This is the first year that Spalding is eligible for the Division III NCAA Tournament. Last year, McAfee sat out the season, saving his senior year for a year the Golden Eagles could play in the NCAA postseason. They went 13-12 without him after going 19-9 the year before, and now Spalding will be without him again.
His ability to create and bail his team out of tough situations will also be missed.
"You can go on a drought and he can get you a basket," Gray said. "We don't have that right now. It's more by committee right now.”
Jametrius Brasher, Cody Curtsinger, Domonique Sangester and Johnell Hardin have picked up the slack for the Eagles. Brasher, a post player, is the team's second leading scorer with 11 points per game. Gray said his team is looking to him a little more and lauded the efforts of all four of his players.
"They have really stepped up and taking a load of scoring and all of the other things," Gray said.
Did you know?
Roy Dow is a 20-game winner in women's and men's basketball. His Regals have won 20 games this season and he was a 20-game winner in the men's basketball at Wheaton (Mass.). In between he coached the Caltech men to a 4-144 record.
