PG Justin Yeargin scored 19 pts, SG Connor Jean scored 15 and SF Jermaine Edmonds added 14 as #4 Diablo Valley knocked off #2 Ohlone, 80-60, in the championship game of the West Valley tournament Saturday afternoon.
It was a classic case of pace making the race, as Diablo Valley (10-2) used its methodical style to stymie the athletic Renegades. The results were Ohlone (13-2) scoring just 11 points in the first half, and the end of Ohlone's 13-game winning streak.
Diablo Valley started the game with a 3-pointer by Yeargin and a crazy fall-away jumper by Edmonds at the end of the shot clock to take a 5-0 lead. PG Casey Norris made a free throw for Ohlone to make it 5-1, but that would be the only point for Ohlone (13-2) in the first 7-plus minutes of the game.
And by the time the Renegades scored again - on a Norris 3-pointer with 12:22 left in the first half - Diablo Valley had a commanding lead it would hold the rest of the way. Ohlone briefly cut the margin to single digits, only to see the Vikings finish the first half with a 15-2 run to lead, 33-11, at the half, and Diablo Valley led by at least 13 points throughout the second half.
After Norris' free throw, Jean made three-pointers, sandwiched around another Kobe-esque jumper by Edmonds, to make it 13-1. A free throw by PF Kunle Fashola and another - more conventional - jumper by Edmonds made it 16-1.
Ohlone finally showed some life, starting with Norris' 3-pointer at the 12:22 mark, and cut the deficit to 9 points at 18-9 after Ctr Almir Hadzisehovic scored from near the basket with just over 9 minutes to go in the first half.
But that would be Hadzisehovic's only field goal of the game, and Diablo Valley finished the first half with the 15-2 run to regain control. A three by Edmonds, a basket by Ctr Keiran Moore after a steal by Jean, and a 3-pointer by Yeargin made it 26-9. Yeargin hit another three to make it 29-11, and his steal led to two free throws by Edmonds that made it 31-11 with 1:24 left in the first half. Yeargin made 2 free throws with 8.2 seconds left to make it 33-11 at the break.
Ohlone finally righted itself in the second half, but never really threatened to erase the deficit. The Renegades' first surge came when SG Andy Mitchell made a 3-pointer to make it 40-23 with 13:52 left. Then SG Isaiah Omamogho made a free throw with 12:53 to make it 40-24, and converted a 3-point play with 12:14 left to make it 40-27. But Diablo Valley got a 3-pointer from Yeargin and a traditional 3-point play from Jean to push the lead back to 19 points at 46-27.
Diablo Valley's most anxious moment after that came when Ohlone got within 14 points at 54-40 on a pair of free throws by PG Ryo Tawatari following a steal. More ominously for the Vikings, the foul was on Yeargin, and it was his 4th, and there was still 6:12 left on the clock.
But Yeargin never picked up his 5th foul, and Ohlone never got much closer. Tawatari made 2 free throws with 2:34 left to make it 64-51, and Ohlone coach John Peterson tried to extend the game by having his players foul repeatedly after that. But Diablo Valley made enough free throws to maintain its lead.
For Diablo Valley, Yeargin led all scorers with his 19 pts, which included 4 threes, while adding 4 asts and 4 steals. Jean had 15 pts, including 3 threes, and a game-high 6 asts. Edmonds had 14 pts, 9 rebs, 4 asts and 3 steals. SF A.B. Najee came off the bench for 13 pts, including 5 straight free throws in the final stages to finally put the game out of reach.
For Ohlone, Norris had a team-high 16 pts on 6-for-7 from the floor, plus 5 rebs and 3 asts. Mitchell had 13 pts and 5 rebs. But the Renegades generated just 3 steals, and though they scored 49 points in the second half, the damage was already done by then. SF Jordan Jacotine came off the bench and threated Bubba Wells' all-time record by fouling out in just a few minutes' playing time during Ohlone's hack-a-Viking strategy.
box score
2013 West Valley Tournament
Saturday. December 21st @ West Valley College, Saratoga
Championship Game - 4 pm
Ohlone Renegades 60:
1-Casey Norris, PG - 6/7 fg, 3/6 ft, 5 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl, 4 pf, 16 pts
2-Johan Stenberg, SF - 1/2 fg, 5 pf, 3 pts
4-Andy Mitchell, SG - 4/7 fg, 3/4 ft, 5 reb, 1 ast, 3 pf, 13 pts
22-Marcelus Clay, PF - 1/2 fg, 1/2 ft, 2 reb, 1 blk, 1 stl, 4 pf, 3 pts
24-Almir Hadzisehovic, C - 1/4 fg, 1/3 ft, 2 reb, 1 pf, 3 pts
12-Isaiah Omamogho, G - 2/8 fg, 4/5 ft, 4 reb, 3 ast, 2 pf, 8 pts
3-Ryo Tawatari, G - 1/3 fg, 5/5 ft, 1 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl, 1 pf, 7 pts
30-Guru Sanghera, F - 0/2 fg, 1 reb, 1 pf, 0 pts
42-Javier De La Blanca Ausere, C - 1/3 fg, 2 reb, 1 pf, 2 pts
20-Jordan Jacotine, F - 1 ast, 5 pf, 0 pts
14-Mike Bethea, F - 2/5 fg, 1 pf, 5 pts
15-Hans Esguerra, G - 0 pts
team rebounds: 0
Totals: 19/43 fg (.442), 17/25 ft (.680), 22 reb, 11 ast, 1 blk, 3 stl, 28 pf, 60 pts
3-pt fg (5): Mitchell 2, Norris, Stenberg, Bethea
Fouled Out: Stenberg 2:23 left, Jacotine 1:19 left
Turnovers (17): Norris 4, Mitchell 4, Stenberg 2, Hadzisehovic 2, Tawatari 2, Omamogho, Sanghera, Ausere
Diablo Valley Vikings 80:
12-Connor Jean, SG - 4/9 fg, 4/7 ft, 6 ast, 2 stl, 15 pts
15-Jermaine Edmonds, SF - 5/6 fg, 3/6 ft, 9 reb, 4 ast, 3 stl, 2 pf, 14 pts
20-Justin Yeargin, PG - 4/7 fg, 7/8 ft, 2 reb, 4 ast, 4 stl, 4 pf, 19 pts
32-Devon Pouncey, PF - 1/2 fg, 4 reb, 4 pf, 2 pts
42-John Ocon, C - 2/3 fg, 1 reb, 1 ast, 2 blk, 3 pf, 4 pts
10-Eric Ellis, G - 1/1 fg, 5/6 ft, 1 reb, 4 ast, 7 pts
21-Joe McNiff, F - 1/3 fg, 3 pf, 3 pts
31-Kunle Fashola, F - 1/2 ft, 1 reb, 3 pf, 1 pt
11-A.B. Najee, F - 4/5 fg, 5/6 ft, 2 reb, 1 pf, 13 pts
33-Kairon Moore, C - 1/2 fg, 1 reb, 1 pf, 2 pt
team rebounds: 4
Totals: 23/38 fg (.605), 25/35 ft (.714), 25 reb, 19 ast, 2 blk, 9 stl, 21 pf, 80 pts
3-pt fg (9) Yeargin 4, Jean 3, Edmonds, McNiff
Turnovers (15): Yeargin 4, Edmonds 2, Ellis 2, Jean, Pouncey, Ocon, McNiff, Najee, team 2
Halftime Score: Diablo Valley 33, Ohlone 11
Updated Records: Diablo Valley (#4-North, #7-Calif) 10-2, Ohlone (#2-North, #4-Calif) 13-2
Diablo Valley started the game with a 16-1 run and led the rest of the way.
Ohlone shot 29% on 4-for-14 with 12 turnovers in the 1st half.
Yeargin (MVP) and Pouncey from DVC, and Mitchell & Omamogho from Ohlone were named to the All-Tournament team.
