Ventura College freshman guard Dee Pinkard is questionable for the Southern California regional playoffs after suffering a knee injury in Wednesday night's win over Moorpark.

With little more than two weeks before the Pirates should open the postseason, Pinkard may have to undergo arthroscopic surgery to repair the meniscus in the knee.

"They think that his meniscus is twisted," said Ventura coach Greg Winslow. "They're contemplating scoping it.

"It would be a pain-tolerance issue, but he might be able to come back for the playoffs, which would be a heroic effort on his part."

Without sophomore Danny Benson, Pinkard, who is averaging 8.3 points and 3.1 assists per game, and freshman Prince Abidoye have shared the point guard position.

"It's a huge loss for us," said Winslow.

With another point guard out, more will be asked of Abidoye, sophomore Robert Wright and freshman Pepe Araujo.

Title time: With wins in Santa Barbara on Saturday night, the Ventura men's and women's basketball teams can sweep the Western State Conference's North Division for the seventh straight year.

A win would give the men a two-game lead over second-place Oxnard with two games to play. The two teams play Wednesday night in Ventura.

The women, on course for their 18th straight WSC North title, would be walking into a title showdown had Santa Barbara City not lost to Cuesta Feb. 9 to fall two games off the pace.

The matchup is still interesting, considering Ventura's only two losses in WSC play since 1995 have come in Santa Barbara the past two seasons.

"Last year was last year and two years ago was two years ago," said Ventura coach Ned Mircetic. "That has no impact on me.

"What does is how we're playing. This time of year we need to be fine-tuning our skills and moving forward to accept the challenges before us."

Green is the new pink: The Ventura College women's basketball team's "Think Pink" night was a success, and not just because it brought two longtime county rivals together for the same cause.

Assistant coach Robin Hester said the event raised more than of $4,500 for Ribbons of Life, a local breast cancer foundation.

A significant portion of that figure was donated by Nick Young, the former USC basketball player who plays for the Washington Wizards.

Hester's inspiration for the event was Cherie Hampton Tsui, the wife of Hester's best friend from college, who died from cancer in November.

Hampton Tsui, Young's cousin, babysat the future NBA player as a child.

"I thought it went really well," said Mircetic. "I thought Hester and all the people who were involved did a great job.

"It was as good as it could possibly be, which sets the foundation for us to continue to do it in the future."