AREA COLLEGE NOTEBOOK

Although featuring only one returning starter from a squad that reached the semifinals of the men’s basketball state championships last season, Valley College is close to winning a second consecutive Western State Conference Southern Division title.

The Monarchs (18-10, 7-1 in conference play) lead second-place Glendale (17-9, 5-3) with four games to play. Valley, ranked No. 17 in the state, hosts the No. 20-ranked Vaqueros on Saturday at 5:30 p.m.

Valley Coach Doug Michelson said the Monarchs have been on a roll since 5-foot-7 sophomore Song Cun became the starting point guard, winning eight of 10 games.

“He’s a very, very stable presence on the floor,” Michelson said. “He’s a very intelligent player.”

Valley’s only division loss was to last-place Citrus, 68-65, on Jan. 20. The Monarchs blew a 15-point halftime lead.

“I still got a bitter taste in my mouth about that one,” Michelson said.

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Moorpark sophomore guard Devin Montgomery, formerly of Alemany High, is on a scoring tear.

Montgomery is averaging 29 points in the last three games after scoring 35 to help the Raiders defeat Hancock, 93-89, on Saturday.

“It’s really an amazing story because the kid couldn’t play a lick when he came here and we turned him into a superstar,” Coach Remy McCarthy quipped.

Montgomery transferred to Moorpark after starting at Duquesne last season.

“He’s playing with an exceptionally good backcourt mate [T.K. Reed], who is very good at getting him the ball,” McCarthy said.

“People ask me if there’s anything negative about having T.K. and Devin in the same backcourt. I say, yeah, not having them next [season].”

The Raiders (18-5, 5-1), ranked No. 5 in the state, lead second-place and No. 9-ranked Ventura (19-7, 4-2) in the WSC Northern Division race. Moorpark, a state semifinalist last season, is aiming for its second consecutive division banner.

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Talk about making an impact right off the, er, bat.

Glendale catcher Evan Shahak, a 5-11, 185-pound freshman from Arcadia, belted four home runs in the team’s first four games.

Shahak smashed a two-run blast to help the Vaqueros upset Santa Ana, 8-7, on Saturday in the South Coast tournament. Santa Ana is ranked No. 2 in the state.

He hit two homers in Glendale’s 13-3 pounding of No. 4-ranked East L.A. and one in a 5-4 victory over No. 5-ranked Cerritos in 10 innings.

Glendale (3-1), under first-year Coach Jon Strauss, is not ranked.