Here is a game-by-game summary of the Hoop Review JUCO Showcase, held July 30 & 31 at Azusa Pacific University.
There were 24 teams at the event, and I managed to see 20 of them in the 12 games I attended. And the other four teams were featured at the 3 Stripes event earlier in July, so nobody really got left out!
Monday 2 pm: Santa Monica 55, Long Beach 46
The first game featured a bit of an upset as Santa Monica got 13 points from PG Noah Gottlieb and 12 points plus 9 rebounds from Ctr Art Braswell to post the 9-point victory.
Santa Monica held a 9-3 lead early in the game, but Long Beach rallied to take a 3-point lead at halftime. But Gottlieb scored 11 of his points in the second half as the Corsairs pulled away for the win.
PF Dennis Twumasi also scored in double figures for Santa Monica despite twice having to leave the game with a bloody nose after getting hit in the face. Twumasi had 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting plus 5 rebounds.
For Long Beach, PF Kenny Collins led the way with 13 points. SF Matt Richards and PF Mack Collins each had 8 points while SF Chris Brown had 4 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
3 pm: Sequoias 63, West LA 41
Ctr Chepe Lara had a huge game with 20 points and 5 rebounds to lead the Sequoias to an easy win over West LA.
Lara made 9 of 12 shots from the floor, and scored 12 of his points in the second half as the Giants expanded an 8-point halftime lead into a rout.
Skywalking SG Elvis Whitelow had 14 points and 6 rebounds in the win, and SF Yunss Akinocho had 6 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals.
For West LA, SF Jerard Moret led the way with 13 points and 3 assists. SG Arnie Hollins had 8 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists.
4 pm: Desert 57, LA Pierce 48
SG D’Andre James had 14 points to lead Desert to the win in a foul-filled, turnover-plagued game.
There were 47 fouls called and the teams combined for 36 turnovers, but Desert led virtually from start to finish. SF Julius Lang had 9 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists in the win and PF Clark Ribble had 8 points and 5 rebounds.
For Pierce, PF Arash Riahi had 12 points, 4 rebounds and 2 blocked shots. PG Ever Lopez was solid as usual with 10 points, 4 assists and just one turnover.
6 pm: Irvine Valley 82, Mira Costa 35
San Diego State transfer PG Kashief Watson had 16 points and 4 assists off the bench and Ctr A.J. Kapanoske had a double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds as Irvine Valley won this one in an absolute pummeling.
IVC led by 15 at halftime, but expanded that margin throughout the second half to post the most one-sided win of the event. SF Perry Webster also scored in double figures for the Lasers with 14 points.
For Mira Costa, which had just 6 players available, Ctr Matt Shoup led the way with 11 points. PG Brian Coonradt had 6 points and a game-high 6 assists.
7 pm: Riverside 65, Chaffey 63 (OT)
Ctr Charles Garcia had a monster game with 23 points and 18 rebounds, but it was SG Josh Henderson’s only basket of the game that won it for Riverside in sudden-death overtime.
Henderson scored after a steal by PF Andrew Jenkins for the winner after regulation time had ended with the teams tied at 63.
Ctr Joshua “Byrd” Rayne scored 10 points for Riverside, and SF Keiran Nunley had 8. PG Cortez Isaac had 6 points and 5 assists for the Tigers though he also committed 10 turnovers.
For Chaffey, PF Brandon Davis had 10 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals. PG Isaac Segovia also had 10 points, including a pair of threes, plus 3 assists and 3 steals.
8 pm: Fullerton 59, Citrus (White) 58
SG Larry DeHughes’ 3-pointer at the buzzer turned defeat into victory for Fullerton, which had fallen behind in the final minute in a game that went back and forth throughout the second half.
DeHughes drained a 20-foot three from the right elbow after a steal by PG Darrian McKinstry, seemingly pulling the victory from certain defeat for the Hornets.
Fullerton had begun the game with a 17-6 lead only to see Citrus rally and tie the game at halftime, 25-25. And Citrus built a 36-29 lead early in the second half. Fullerton rallied to tie the game, but Citrus took a 58-56 lead on a free throw by Ctr Richard Frohlich with 35 seconds left. Then, after a missed shot by Fullerton, Citrus appeared to have the victory in hand until McKinstry’s steal and DeHughes’ shot.
DeHughes finished with 10 points and 3 steals in the game. McKinstry, meanwhile, was outstanding with 21 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists and one very big steal. SF Justin Carter suffered through a rough 2-for-15 shooting night but still managed a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
For Citrus, SG Buchi Awaji and SF Darren Moore each had 13 points. Frohlich posted the double-double with 12 points and a game-high 15 rebounds.
9 pm: LA Trade Tech 60, Chaffey 55
A very deep Trade Tech team used a balanced scoring attack and superiority on the boards to edge a pesky Chaffey squad in the first day’s finale.
SF Robert Summers had 11 points while SG James Lewis and Ctr Rico Myles each had 10 to lead Trade Tech. But Ctr Imari Thomas and SF Brian Tollette each had 7 points and SF Nick Pacitti had 6. Thomas and Pacitti led Tech with 9 rebounds each, as the Beavers outrebounded Chaffey, 43-32 for the game.
Trade Tech led most of the game, jumping out to a 15-5 lead early and holding a 24-19 advantage at halftime. Chaffey surged into the lead briefly at 42-41, but then Trade Tech righted itself in time for the win.
For Chaffey, PG Isaac Segovia led the way with 10 points, including a pair of threes, and 3 steals. PF Brandon Davis had 9 points, 4 rebounds and 4 steals, and SF Anthony Clayton chipped in with 8 points. The Panthers managed an amazing 20 steals in the game while forcing 24 total turnovers by Trade Tech.
Tuesday, 3 pm: Citrus (White) 89, Compton Magic 76
The second day began with a bit of an upset as Citrus knocked off the star-studded Magic team, 89-76, in a wide-open, end-to-end affair.
Ctr Richard Frohlich again excelled, pouring in 22 points and grabbing 9 rebounds, both game-highs. SG Buchi Awaji had 14 points, PF Ralph Monday had 12 points and PF Valentine Ike, seeing double duty with the sophomore team, had 10. And PG Virgil Buensuceso had a very solid game with just 2 points but game-highs of 8 assists and 3 steals and no turnovers.
Citrus jumped out to a 30-20 lead midway through the first half and was never really threatened. By halftime it was 45-27, and Compton never got closer than 9 points in the second half.
For the Magic, SG Aaron Thompson (Cerritos) had a huge game with 19 points and 4 assists. SG Travon Harmon (Pasadena) had 17 points and 6 rebounds, and Ctr Zach Atkinson (Feather River) had 14 points and 6 rebounds. PF Josh Guillory (Marshalltown) had 12 points and 7 rebounds. But USC-bound PG Donte Smith suffered through a nightmarish 2-for-13 shooting game though he did manage 8 points and a team-high 6 assists for the Magic.
4 pm: Citrus (Blue) 51, Santa Monica 49
The Citrus success continued as the Owl freshman team got past a strong Santa Monica team, 51-49, in sudden-death overtime after a putback basket by Ctr Troy Payne.
Payne, who ended the game with a double-double on 12 points and 12 rebounds, rebounded a miss by SG A.J. Gaspora after Santa Monica had missed a pair of shots in the sudden-death extra session.
PG Steven Bennett also had 12 points for Citrus. And Gaspora, who spent much of the game engaged in a spirited matchup against SMC standout SG Noah Gottlieb, had 10 points.
Gottlieb managed a game-high 15 points plus 3 assists in the game despite sitting down for good with about 3 minutes left after receiving a technical foul, which seemed mostly a matter of frustration, largely as a result of Gaspora’s annoying style of defense.
PF Lawrence Weatherall came off the bench to score 11 points and grab 7 rebounds for the Corsairs.
5 pm: Reedley 62, Victor Valley 53
Reedley got 16 points from PF Cliff Hodge and a double-double from Ctr Asim Demmin and overcame a 16-point deficit to post the win over VVC.
Hodge had 16 points, 8 rebounds and 4 blocked shots for the winners, while Demmin had 10 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. SG Kellan Carter had 14 points and 4 steals for the Tigers, which trailed 30-14 late in the first half.
For Victor Valley, which led 30-23 at halftime, SG Dwight Gordon led the way with 14 points and 5 rebounds. SG Cliff Knox chipped in with 8 points.
7 pm: Antelope Valley 67, LA Southwest 64:
Antelope Valley won on the most unlikely of last-second shots by SG Robert “Reggie” Arnold, whose 25-foot 3-pointer just ahead of the buzzer allowed the Marauders to escape with the win after surrendering an 8-point lead in the final 2 minutes.
After Southwest tied the game on a free throw by PG Donte Maddox with 24 seconds left, Arnold got the ball in the frontcourt and bounced it aimlessly near midcourt as the clock ticked down. Either oblivious to the pressure of the final seconds of a tie game, or perhaps unaware that the score was tied, Arnold waited until coach Dieter Horton screamed that it was a tie game and there were only a few seconds left before making his move. But after several more dribbles, Arnold pulled up from well beyond the 3-point line and let sail a perfect jumper that swished through the net as the horn sounded, much to the delight of his Marauder teammates.
Southwest had rallied from a 12-point halftime deficit and still trailed by 8 points until a steal & basket by SG Kendrick Harris with 1:55 left in the game. Then 3-point plays by SG Chris Smith and SG Jenero Jefferson brought the Cougars to within a point with just over a minute left. After an Arnold free throw made it 64-60, Jefferson made a free throw with 29 seconds left and Maddox made his with 24 seconds left to tie the game.
Arnold finished with a team-high 19 points, one of four scorers in double figures for AVC. PG JaVaughn Espritt had 11 points while SF Deno Anderson and SG Durrell Norman had 10 points each. Ctr Mahmoud Diakite had an interesting statistical line with just 4 points and 4 rebounds but also 5 assists and 3 blocked shots.
For Southwest, Smith was just outstanding with a phenomenal 30 points (an almost-unheard-of total in a running-time game) on 11-of-16 shooting, including 4 threes. Maddox also had a strong game with 11 points, 5 assists and 3 steals.
8 pm: Citrus (Blue) 83, El Camino 73:
In the event finale, the Citrus freshman got a monster game from Ctr Troy Payne, who played in every Citrus game of the showcase, and led the entire second half to post the 10-point victory.
Payne, showing no effects from the possible fatigue of playing in 6 showcase games in two days, posted totals of 22 points, 17 rebounds and 5 blocks. And PF Valentine Ike, who likewise saw some double duty with the Citrus sophomores, had a solid game as well with 15 points and 8 rebounds.
Citrus began the second half on a 10-2 run to take control of a foul-filled game (49 total fouls were called) that saw an amazing total of 132 shot attempts (in a 40-minute running time game!).
SG A.J. Gaspora also had 15 points for the Owls, and SF Bryant Taylor (who incidentally has the same name as my 6th grade teacher) had 12 points and 4 assists. PG Kelly Johnson had a solid game with 5 points, 5 assists and just 1 turnover.
For El Camino, which managed to get an amazing total of 16 player into the game, four players scored in double figures. SG Jarrod Carroll, Ctr Jeremy Owens and SG Kelvin Wilson (an unsigned sophomore who is available right now) each had 11 points while PF Chris Benton had 10 plus a team-high 9 rebounds.
