Thumb Injury Could Keep Brown Out of Valley’s Finale

Randy Brown of Valley College suffered a sprained left thumb in a Western State Conference South Division basketball game against Glendale on Wednesday and is doubtful for Saturday’s regular-season finale at Bakersfield.

Brown, a left-handed shooter, was averaging 20.3 points and 12 rebounds a game at the start of the week.

Stephens is hopeful that Brown, a 6-foot-5 forward, will be able to play in the first round of the Southern California regional, which begins Feb. 29.

Valley (17-13, 6-3 in division play) has not qualified for the 32-team tournament, but the Monarchs are expected to be included in the field when pairings are made Monday.

The Northridge men’s and women’s track teams officially will kick off the outdoor season with a quadrangular meet against Stanford, UC Irvine and host USC on Feb. 29.

Junior Cela McPherson-Taylor and freshman Teresa Stricklin are questionable for the meet, however. McPherson-Taylor sustained a strain to her right hamstring midway through a 400-meter race at the Cosby meet Saturday in Reno. Stricklin put the shot once in the meet before withdrawing because of tendinitis in her right (throwing) hand.

Reggie Bell of College of the Canyons was selected as the Western State Conference men’s basketball player of the week, and Ventura’s Cori Herman shared women’s player-of-the-week honors.

Bell had a combined total of 33 points and 12 rebounds in a pair of victories, and Herman had 52 points as Ventura won twice.