The article below originally appeared in the San Mateo Daily Journal and is being reprinted with permission.
San Mateo County basketball teams bring pacesetting non-league records into the official start of Coast North Conference play this week.
The Skyline College men (13-3) and College of San Mateo women (13-4) compiled leading non-conference records among Coast North teams.
The Skyline men, ranked No. 24 in the state, has the same record as No. 19 Las Positas-Livermore. Those two will face off in the conference opener at 5 p.m. Wednesday in San Bruno, before going on the road to Fremont to take on Ohlone (10-6) at 7 p.m. Friday.
Skyline and Las Positas come into Wednesday’s game riding modest winning streaks — the Trojans have won their last two over both Feather River and 24th-ranked Monterey Peninsula. Meanwhile, the Hawks have won four straight.
Cañada College (9-7) is coming off a narrow 81-80 loss to third-ranked Cabrillo (14-1). The Colts open Coast Conference North play by hosting No. 13 Chabot (12-4) at 5 p.m. Wednesday.
The first county showdown takes place at 7 p.m. Friday when Cañada visits College of San Mateo (7-9). CSM faces a tough opener on Wednesday at No. 7 City College of San Francisco (12-4) at 7 p.m. CCSF dropped its non-league finale with unbeaten and state top-ranked West Valley, 77-65. The two Coast divisions (north and south) feature eight teams ranked in the top-30 in the state.
CSM won its final conference crossover game at Hartnell in Salinas, 79-59, on Saturday.
The County series continues next week, with Skyline visiting Cañada Jan. 17 at 5 p.m.
Women’s basketball
CSM, ranked No. 21 in the state and No. 8 in Northern California by state coaches, opens Coast North play Wednesday at 11th-ranked City College of San Francisco (11-5) at 5 p.m.
The Lady Bulldogs played a strong non-conference schedule, faltering just a bit at the end. Seventh-ranked Fresno took a 73-62 win at College Heights on Saturday, despite 23 points and seven rebounds by Jayonnah Carter, who increased her career scoring total to 625 points. She leads CSM with a 14.4 scoring average, just ahead of fellow sophomore Joslyn Moore (14.0), who shoots with a 49.2 field goal percentage. Moore rebounds at an 8.8 pace (No. 4 in the Coast North).
The Skyline women bring a 7-11 record into conference play after dropping a crossover contest with visiting Hartnell last Saturday, 82-73, a game that saw three Trojans score 20 points or more. Enika Zurita and Jazmynn Sciancalepore-Garcia each had 21, while Marley Langi with 20. Zurita is averaging 16.6 points per game (No. 5 in the Coast North) and Langi is just a step behind at 16.2.
Skyline hosts Las Positas (3-11) at 7 p.m. Wednesday and joins the men’s team at Ohlone Friday for a 5 p.m. tipoff against Ohlone.