By LEAH WEATHERSBY

North Seattle Community College's men's and women's basketball teams recently wrapped up their respective second-ever seasons of league competition with other Northwest community college teams.

Mark Mitsui, NSCC athletic director, said the men's team made it into the playoffs, finishing in the top 16 out of 37 teams in the league.They had a record of 19 wins and 9 losses, whereas the women's team finished with a record of five wins and 20 losses.

The NSCC men's and women's teams, dubbed the Seattle C.C. Storm, compete in the NWAACC league, comprised of teams from community colleges from throughout Washington and Oregon as well as parts of Idaho and Canada.

While NSCC served as the host school for the Seattle C.C. Storm, the teams were actually made up of students from all three of Seattle's community colleges: NSCC, Seattle Central Community College and South Seattle Community College.

Mitsui noted that both teams had improved from their first season, when the men's team had a record of 9 wins and 19 losses and the women's team had a record of 1 wins and 25 losses.

On the positive side, Mitsui said that some of the women's team's strongest players are returning next year, such as Shalynn Leonard, the team's leading rebounder (averaging 11.3 per game), and second highest scorer with 13.4 points per game.

"I thought she should have made the all-star team," said Mitsui of Leonard. "She had a great year.

Chris Wight, a former Roosevelt High School basketball standout, led the men's team in both scoring (13.1 points per game) and in rebounding (5.3 per game.)

Mitsui said that while NSCC has a long list of men who want to try out for the team, getting the word out to female players will be key. He also said that many players who visit NSCC like the idea of helping to build a new program.

"There is life after high school basketball," Mitsui said.

The men's team was coached by Billy Rodgers. In addition to Chris Wight, other players were Jason Arriaga, Scott Collins, Aaron Cossette, Ben Eaton, Terry Farmer, Zach Haley, Brian Harris, D.J. Means and Derrick Pringle.

The women's team was coached by Brad Gagne. In addition to Leonard, other players were Alicia Heathcot, Tonya Johnson,Tamara Clark, Brieah Marino,Tyisha Coleman, Sarah Aman-Merritt and Laura Fredrickson.

The teams drew a respectable attendance of between 100 and 400 spectators per game this year, said Mitsui.