Folsom Lake women and Yuba College men seek California JC state basketball championships
Two Sacramento-area community college basketball teams have stretched their seasons to the final weekend with a shot to take home a championship in the California Community College Athletic Association (3C2A) championships.
The event runs Thursday through Sunday in Walnut in Los Angeles County, and the last eight teams standing are commonly known on the JUCO circuit as the Elite 8.
The Yuba College men are riding a 22-game winning streak under longtime coach Doug Cornelius and stand as the No. 3 seed from Northern California behind state-ranked No. 1 West Valley of Saratoga (30-0) and College of the Sequoias (25-5) of Visalia. The 49ers (28-2) open at 1 p.m. Thursday against Southern California No. 2 seed San Diego City College (26-4), which beat Yuba 71-69 on Dec. 3 in the finals of the Grossmont College Tournament in El Cajon.
The Folsom Lake College women are seeded No. 3 in the North behind state-ranked No. 1 Butte (29-1) and Delta of Stockton (26-4). Coached by former Sacramento State player Ali Mollet, Folsom Lake (22-8) opens against Southern California No. 2 seed Glendale at 1 p.m. Thursday.
Folsom Lake placed second to Delta in the Big 8 Conference, the strongest league in Northern California. The Falcons defeated Siskiyous 77-43 and San Francisco 60-56 in the NorCal playoffs in moving their home record to 12-0 in front of a full house in Folsom. Alysa Lopez scored 21 points and Corrie Harrison 15 in the win over San Francisco.
Lopez is a 5-foot-8 guard from San Jose. Harrison is a 5-10 forward from nearby Cordova High School who leads the team in scoring at 16.8 points per game. Lopez is second at 14.0. Freshman guard Jadyn Weaver of St. Francis High School in Sacramento averages 9.9 points, freshman guard Gianna Darte of Antelope High 8.0 points and sophomore guard Emily Ko of Cosumnes Oaks in Elk Grove 8.3 points.
Glendale, which has a 23-game winning streak, is led in scoring by guard Malia Ulery (13.1 points) and freshman forward Osanna Tirityan (10.7).
Mollet is in her sixth season as coach at Folsom Lake, helping elevate a new program into a state championship contender. The team went 23-7 last season, an 11-game improvement from 2021-22.
Yuba College in Marysville has been among the top programs in the state since Cornelius took over in 2001. He took over a team that had won nine and five games the previous two seasons and had not reached the postseason since 1985.
Yuba has made the playoffs each season under Cornelius to go with 16 Bay Valley League championships. This weekend marks the program’s seventh Elite 8 showing in 10 years. Known as Coach Corn, Cornelius won his 500th game with the 49ers in December.
Sophomore forward Devon Malcolm of Medford, Oregon, leads the 49ers in scoring at 15.6 points per game. Sophomore guard Caden Flowers of Capital Christian High is averaging 13.1 points.
In facing San Diego City, the 49ers will have to deal with sophomore guards KJay Bradley and Al Green, who lead the team in scoring at 17.3 and 13.1 points, respectively. Green is from Franklin High of Elk Grove. He had 15 points in the December win over Yuba and Bradley had 11.
For complete brackets, tickets and broadcast links, visit the California Community College Athletic Association website.
