Wednesday night's thrilling 94-89 overtime victory at 17th-ranked Las Positas gave Head Coach Danny Yoshikawa his 200th win at West Valley College. Yoshikawa reached this milestone in just over seven seasons at the WVC helm.
Yoshikawa won 155 games during his initial stint in Saratoga, capturing three conference titles in five seasons, along with two state final-eight berths and a state championship game appearance. In his two years since his return to WVC in 2019, Coach Yoshikawa has captured back-to-back Coast Conference championships and state playoff nods. He led the 2021-22 Vikings to the state championship game in just his second year. He currently has the 11-0 Vikings ranked #4 in California while starting four freshmen. They lead the state in both rebounding and points allowed.
"While I can try to appreciate the moment, the reality is this is less about me and more about the former players and assistant coaches who gave their blood, sweat and tears to West Valley College on a daily basis," Yoshikawa said after Wednesday's win. "They bought into our philosophy 100%. It was their attitude, coachability and work ethic that propelled our program to all of its successes."
Yoshikawa went on to credit long-time mentor and Hall of Fame Coach Bob Burton for providing the blueprint. "Coach Burton established a culture and set the bar at an incredible level for us to follow. He is an incredible teacher, mentor and coach, and without him, I would not be the same coach, and we would not be the same program."
Yoshikawa is no stranger to winning. As a collegiate player, he went to the CCCAA state final eight as a Viking point guard, won three conference titles in four years and, was named Big West Conference Player of the Year his senior year at UC Davis. After his initial five successful seasons as the Vikings head coach, it was more of the same at the NCAA Division 1 level. In just his first year at UC Santa Barbara, he captured a Big West Conference championship. As the Associate Head Coach at the University of San Francisco, he helped resurrect one of the worst programs in the country into back-to-back 20-win seasons highlighted by three consecutive wins over perennial powerhouse Gonzaga University. In his four years at Saint Mary's College, he helped to guide the Gaels to two conference championships, two NCAA tournament appearances, and two National Invitation Tournament runs. During his time in Moraga, the Gaels won more games than during any other four-year period in the storied program's history (110).
Wednesday night's game at LPC featured two of the state's top teams, with the Vikings (11-0) and the Hawks (8-3) battling back and forth for nearly 40 minutes. After WVC's Jeremiah Dargan had given the Vikings a 75-72 lead with a pair of free throws with 15 seconds left, LPC's Isaiah Victor drained a trey with :03 remaining to send it into OT at 75-75. In overtime, Elijah Mahi's assist to Ariya Briscoe for a three gave the Vikings an 80-76 lead with three minutes to play, and Briscoe's free throws at 2:34 gave the Vikings an 84-79 lead they never relinquished.
West Valley hosts #3 City College of San Francisco (7-2) Saturday (12/10) in a rematch of the 2022 CCCAA state championship. Tipoff is 1:30pm.