Sean Lynch: Blue Devils have come a long way

The Merced College men's basketball team was never going to be competing for the Central Valley Conference crown.

Even a spot in the postseason would have been ambitious.

The Blue Devils just never had the firepower to consistently compete with co-conference leaders Fresno City College or College of the Sequoias.

If anything, though, those facts make the team's accomplish-

ments all the more remarkable.

MC (5-5 CVC, 8-15) can lock up sole possession of third place in the CVC with just one win in its last two contests this week.

The Blue Devils already have at least a share of third, sitting two games ahead of Reedley (3-7 CVC), Columbia (4-7) and West Hills (3-7) in the loss column entering the final week of the regular season.

MC will try to accomplish the feat tonight as it hosts Reedley in its final home game of the season. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.

The game is the nightcap of a doubleheader with the Lady Devils, which are hosting Taft at 5 p.m. in their final home game of the season.

The potential is there for a big night on the MC campus with women's coach Allen Huddleston going for his 300th career win.

While men's coach Bill Russell is far more concerned about his team's continued development, third place is a nice showing after back-to-back campaigns on the bottom half of the standings.

"We didn't jell as quickly as I thought we were going to," Russell said. "But the coaches and players kept turning out and giving maximum effort until we were able to find a formula that worked.

"We weren't in the same class as Fresno and COS, but there's a lot of parity among the rest of the teams.

"We've been able to be pretty successful against the rest and it's nice to finish better than last year."

MC's conference showing is particularly gratifying after its struggle through the nonconference schedule.

The Blue Devils opened up the season 0-8 and strained to find on-court chemistry.

The only silver lining through the first two months of the season was that Russell's squad took away some valuable lessons.

"There's no replacement for experience and we entered the season without a lot of it," Russell said. "The nonconference was very rocky, but part of it was the caliber of team we played.

"Yuba, Foothill, San Francisco City and Delta have all been ranked. They're battling for their conference titles and could all make the playoffs.

"They're good teams with veteran players and it exposed our inexperience."

Still, this particular Blue Devil team is one you want to cheer for.

It's a group that must literally win as a team every single night.

Logan Wiens (10.2 points per game) has led the team in scoring from start to finish, but has had his share of off nights.

Six players have averaged at least six points per game and a different hero seems to emerge on any given evening.

"None of our kids are heads and tails better than anyone else," Russell said. "Some may be more offensively gifted or defensively gifted, but their overall skills are pretty much the same."

What MC lacks in star power, it makes up for in grit.

The Blue Devils compensate for lack of overwhelming, speed or athleticism with hustle and determination.

And even if you beat them, it's a grind.

MC cracked the 70-point threshold just three times this season. It compensated with defensive effort.

Russell's kids have routinely held opponents well below their scoring average.

"Defense is the universal equalizer when you're a team that doesn't score well," Russell said. "This group has come a long way with its defense and we're starting to see some really good moments in spurts.

"It's about attitude and hustle and our kids have embraced those things."

While MC has already overachieved with a third-place conference showing, sole possession of third would be all the more meaningful.

The Blue Devils will get two tries to make that happen, but hopefully they'll need just the one at home tonight.

Sean Lynch is a Sun-Star sports writer. He can be reached at 385-2476 or via e-mail at slynch@mercedsun-star.com.