Glendale Men Age in Time for Regional Playoffs

Glendale College basketball Coach Brian Beauchemin no longer can pass off his team as a group of unsullied, unweathered innocents. Sure, the Vaqueros are composed entirely of first-year players, but the winter of ’89 has been their summer of ’42.

Glendale (20-11), which upset Golden West in double overtime Saturday, will play at El Camino in the second round of the Southern California regional junior college playoffs at 7:30 tonight. El Camino (21-8), the defending state champion, is seeded third.

The Vaqueros sputtered in January but have won their past five games. Glendale has a balanced attack led by guard Bruce Heicke, who averages 14.9 points a game. Heicke is complemented by forward Gary Fowler (14.3), forward Dave Swanson (14.5) and center Alex Berry (11).

El Camino guard Kevin Mixon, the South Coast Conference co-Player of the Year who has signed with Oregon, averages a team-high 19 points. Vlatko Josic (14.5 ppg and 6.5 rebounds) has played every position.

El Camino has played only one game--a loss to Pasadena 12 days ago--in the past 22 days.