The Cabrillo Seahawks (15-17) were looking for another upset in the California Community College Playoffs after beating Feather River in overtime. They upset Skyline Trojans (19-15) 68-64 on March 5.
     “They played good,” said Skyline head coach Tony Raffetto. “They played better than we did. They beat Feather River it was no accident, they beat us it was no accident. They were the better team. They played good. They hit some big shots down the stretch.”
     The victory for the Seahawks was big coming off the previous upset over Feather River.
     “It was a great win,” said Cabrillo guard Tyler Williams who scored 15 points. “We came in confident. Confidence hasn’t been a problem all year and we knew that if we played our game we had a shot.”
     Big shots they hit as late in the game with the Trojans trailing 65-63 with under one minute to play, Seahawk freshman forward Vince Inglima hit the biggest three pointer of the game to ice the victory for Cabrillo. Inglima scored a team high 19 points.
     “It was a huge shot,” Williams said. “In the playoffs a little magic will never hurt. God was on our side. It was a big shot. Vince is awesome, he is a freshman he played like a sophomore all year. He is one of our main scorers. He is someone that our team really depends on.”
     The second half proved to be exciting as both teams were neck and neck until late in the game when both teams traded leads. One of the key matchups was at the center position as Trojans center Tremaine Fuqua and his counterpart Matt Towsley did battle inside the key. Every time Towsley would get the ball the Trojan defenders would double team him and leave other Seahawk players open. Towsley scored 17 points.
     “It was a premiere matchup,” said Fuqua who scored a game high 22 points in his last home game before heading to Oklahoma State. “We worked on doubling the ball when he caught it in the post. I think we did a good job. It just didn’t work out for us.”
     Skyline up by one 46-45, Trojan forward Kevin Cockerham grabbed a loose ball and took it to the basket to increase their slim lead to three points 48-45. Cockerham then scored nine points.
     During the game Trojan guard Eldridge Henderson hit key shots during times when the game was getting tight. With Skyline leading by three 48-45, Henderson scored two of his 15 points on a jump shot to increase their lead to five 50-45 to force the Seahawks to call a time-out early in the second half.
     “He attacked the basket, he did some things for us” Raffetto said.
     The Seahawks kept on coming as they cut the Skyline lead to three 56-53 after Towsley scored on a jump hook to force Skyline to call a time out with 8:18 to play in the game.
     At one point during the second half Towsley scored seven points in a row including shooting a free throw to tie the game at 58-58. After tying the game at 58 apiece the Seahawks took the lead and held it until the end when they scored six straight points via the three pointers. Williams and Keith both hit three pointers to increase the Seahawk lead to 64-60.
     With this victory the Cabrillo basketball program have won very few playoff games before head coach Tony Marcopulous came. Under his tenure they have appeared in three straight postseason games.
     “This is the first time in the history of the school this has happened,” Marcopulous said. “So it’s kind of a big deal and gives us a chance to play in the regional final and a chance to go to the final eight, it’s big for the program.”
     In his final game at Skyline College, Fuqua is pleased for playing with the Trojans.
     “I had a good experience at Skyline,” Fuqua said. “It taught me a lot of things, I got better over the years, it was good to come here. I am glad I went to Skyline.”