Citrus Men's Basketball: Season In Review

The Citrus College Men's Basketball team set off the 2017-18 season with one word on its collective mind: winning. After finishing the 2016-17 season as the Co-WSC East Champions and falling out of the playoffs earlier than anticipated, the Fighting Owls embarked on one of its most successful seasons in Citrus's illustrious basketball history. 

Back-to-back WSC East Coach of the Year Coach Brett Lauer, who captured his first conference title as a head coach last year, came at the new season with the same mindset: getting student athletes in the program that would continue to focus on maintaining a never-waning fire to win. And not just win for the sake of winning, but to do it for their teammates. "Every team is different, but what is the same from year to year is that we get the kind of guys that want to be here, and they want to compete and have fun and have genuine excitement for each others' success. They have each other's back when things get tough. If you aren't all in on the team and excited, then you probably wont make it here." said Lauer. 

The Owls have further galvanized their position as a top Junior College program in California, capturing their second consecutive conference championship under Coach Lauer, and advancing to the playoffs twice in his tenure. The 2017-18 season saw several big wins throughout the year, knocking off defending State Champs San Diego City College, topping highly ranked East Los Angeles, and imparting revenge on Chaffey after an untimely loss late in December. All in all, Citrus was one of THE teams to beat in California. With the best three point shooting in the state as a team, and a defensive intensity unparalleled in the region, Citrus continued to make its mark as a premier program that must be taken seriously. "Defensively we defend the same way with every team that we have here. That's the staple of what we do on the court, and its our culture…we're going to pressure on defense because that's what we do here." Added Lauer

Citrus went undefeated at home on the season, excepting the season ending loss to fiery hot and feisty Orange Coat College, who would advance in Citrus' stead to the state playoffs in Ventura. The Owls boasted some of the best individual players around, including highly rated point guard and WSC East Player of the Year Jeremy Smith, who provided steady ball control and relentless competitive energy to the team throughout the year. Smith ranked amongst the best in the state in many statistical categories, but most notably points, points per game and assists, leading in each of those categories at different points in the season.  

Standing shoulder to shoulder with Smith was a cast of characters with so much depth, at any time there were 7-10 players on the Citrus roster who could easily be a starter on any team in the region. But the Citrus reserves unfailingly showed unconditional support for their teammates, resulting in an extremely tight bond amongst the team, a bond Coach Lauer takes great pride in. "What we always talk about, is that whenever anybody took a shot, everyone in our entire program was excited about the shot. So when we were excited about it every time someone would shoot, it created a belief in each other."

Time and time again, the Owls would rely on the depth of their bench to wear their opponents down. In fact, it became a common occurrence to see the Owls go into the halftime locker room trailing, only to come out grinding, bumping, banging and willing their way to victory with hard-nosed competitive grit. "If we pressure for 40 minutes," said Lauer, "if we play the way we do on offense for 40 minutes, with the depth that we have, it'll eventually wear the other team out. That's what our ultimate goal was, every game, is that we need to wear this team out with our depth, with our excitement, our energy, our defensive pressure. That's what I think had a lot to do with our big time second halves." So many different players shined during these epic games that it was hard to tell where the starters ended and the reserves began. Citrus indeed epitomized what it means to play for your teammates first, and to never relent in their intense desire to win. 

Coach Lauer summed up the season like this, "Looking back, an overall recap of the season, there will be no negative moments, no 'what ifs', no 'I wish we could have did this, did that', our guys gave everything they had to each other and to this school." 

As Coach Lauer and his Assistant Casey Norris move into the off season, the focus undoubtedly will be on finding the right crew to replace what was a very talented group of matriculating Sophomores. One of the key ingredients for Lauer's recruiting class will be what we have come to expect from Citrus Basketball, the personality trait that leads to an intense desire to win, no matter what the circumstances, and no matter the adversity that stands before them. Look for Citrus Men's Basketball to continue its winning ways, and beyond.