Without a top notch point guard, a JUCO team will not have a chance to be an elite team that has a shot at the State Tournament. When the pre-season began, the was no question in my mind that the strength of of AVC’s
team was the guards. I especially liked the the depth of
the at point guard. Da’Shawn Gomez, a red shirt returnee from New Mexico State and Chris Bridges the starting point guard from Pasadena High School.
Both point guards were freshman, highly ranked, and were expected to to head up to D-1 basketball after their stay at Antelope Valley.
Both handle the ball extremely well, have the point guard vision, and have top leadership ability.
When the season started Da’Shawn Gomez was clearly the starting point guard as his experience at New Mexico State and his exceptional floor vision made him ready for the challenge. Chris Bridges showed his team mates that he was ready to step in at any time to back up Da’Shawn and that he understood his role on this team.
Gomez improved steadily over the first 8 games and then exploded into prominence in the Citrus Tournament when he led the team in scoring, assists, and leadership. He was named the tournament MVP as Antelope Valley College swept the toughest tournament in California. Bridges had a solid run at back up point and had two games in double figures.
The following statistics on both players shows that my evaluation of point guard position at AVC is extremely strong. Point Guard Stats-First 11 Games
