By Pete Borello

Two days before the season opener, coach Shanan Rosenberg couldn’t help feeling optimistic about what lay ahead for his Foothill College men’s basketball team.

Ranked 15th in a preseason poll of Northern California community college coaches, the Owls seemed primed to build on the success of 2003-04 when they made the playoffs and won 10 more games than the year before.

But the next day, Rosenberg’s rosy outlook took a hit. Actually, two hits: starters Sam Obando and Victor Pannu informed the coach they were going to sit out the season as redshirts.

“I was heartbroken,” Rosenberg said. “That ripped the confidence out of our team and guys had to play new positions. We practiced seven weeks with them; Sam was our point guard and our best player. The confidence of the team just shattered.”

It showed on the floor. Foothill dropped four of its first five games and promptly joined the ranks of the unranked. Two of the losses came on buzzer-beating shots.

The Owls regrouped, however, over Thanksgiving weekend at the Napa Classic. Instead of whining in wine country, Foothill uncorked its frustrations and took them out on the opposition. The Owls followed an 84-73 win over Redwoods with an 84-50 thrashing of Marin in the championship game. Foothill made a season-high 16 three-pointers in the final.

“We have a good group of guys and they keep fighting,” Rosenberg said of his 3-4 squad.

Pannu recently rejoined this group, deciding not to redshirt after all. The missed time put Pannu behind the rest of the team, Rosenberg said, and the 6-foot-4 wing player from Eastside Prep is still trying to catch up.

Foothill has another guard/forward who is thriving, though, in 6-foot-5 sophomore Travis Harris. The Fremont High graduate tops the team in scoring with an average of 16 points per game. Rosenberg said Harris is being recruited by several Division II colleges and has even drawn interest from a few Division I schools.

Shooting guard J.J. Cannizzaro is the Owls’ second-best scorer, averaging almost 14 points per contest.

“He’s a good passer,” Rosenberg said of the 6-foot-2 freshman from Serra, “and he’s a solid all-around player.”

The job of replacing Obando - the team’s second-leading scorer last season - has fallen to Jermell Rowland. Rosenberg has seen steady improvement from the 5-foot-10 sophomore from Woodside High.

“He’s a good athlete and a strong kid,” Foothill’s third-year coach said. “He works hard; he just doesn’t have a lot of experience.”

The focal point of the Owls’ inside game is 6-foot-6 Erion Moore. The sophomore from East Union High (Manteca) is averaging a team-high 11 rebounds per game and close to 10 points.

Stephen Waller, a 6-foot-4 freshman out of Eastside Prep, plays alongside Moore in the post.

Rosenberg also relies on two other freshmen: guards Kevin White (Palo Alto High) and Jonathan Moe (Serra).

Experience is at a premium on this team, with Moore and Harris the only players who took the court for Foothill a year ago. Four other members of the 15-man squad watched from the sidelines as redshirts last season when the Owls went 13-14 and lost to top seed Fresno in the opening round of the playoffs.

Despite the early season turmoil, Rosenberg has high hopes for his team. The St. Francis High graduate said his goal is a top-three finish in the Coast Conference North Division. That won’t be easy in a division with three ranked teams (Ohlone, San Francisco and Chabot), but Rosenberg’s optimism is on the rise again.

“I like where we’re at and where we’re heading,” he said.

Foothill, which took last week off for finals, hosts Marin at 7 p.m., Saturday, in non-conference play.

Women’s basketball

Foothill’s rapid rise in the rankings should continue when the coaches poll comes out today.

Ranked fifth in the region and 11th in the state last week, the Owls helped themselves by winning the Shasta Tournament over the weekend. Foothill went 3-0, beating Sierra 65-57 in the final, to improve to 8-1 on the season.

Coach Jody Craig said her Owls are winning with depth.

“We’re getting a lot of contributions from a lot of different people,” she said. “… We’re consistently playing 10 kids - and it’s not always the same 10.”

One player almost always on the floor is Armina Jusufagic. She was voted tournament MVP after totaling 54 points, 22 in the semifinals. Fellow sophomore Alexis Aguirre made the all-tourney team for her leadership and clutch foul shooting, Craig said.