A year after seeing a double-digit lead slip away in the state semifinals, Citrus held off a late Fresno rally this time around in a 94-84 win over Fresno, earning a berth in the state championship game.
With 9:03 left, Citrus built a 20-point lead after a pair of slam dunks by SF Garrett Jefferson. Fresno rallied late, cutting the lead to just five points with just over a minute to play, but SG Lateef McMullan answered wtih a coast-to-coast lay-up and the Owls made three free throws in the final 38.7 seconds to hold on for the win.
Last March, Citrus held a 10-point lead over eventual champion Saddleback, only to see the Gauchos rally and win on a free throw with less than 15 seconds left. And as the 20-point lead dwindled late it looked like history might repeat itself when Ctr Earl Jefferson's lay-up made it 89-84 with just over a minute to play.
But McMullan's court-length dash put Citrus back in control. Then, after a Fresno miss, PF Jacob Ranger made one of two free throws to make it an 8-point game with 38.7 seconds left. And after Fresno missed a pair of free throws, PG Donnel Phifer made two free throws with 21.5 seconds left to push the lead back to 10 and clinch the win for Citrus.
Citrus built the big lead with a combination of efficient shooting - the Owls shot 63% for the game and had a lot of lay-ups - and successfully defending the 3-point line. Fresno entered the game averaging 11 3-pointers per game but managed just 5, tying a season low, including just one in the first half.
The game was evenly-played for the first few minutes, but then Citrus started to pull away. A 9-0 spurt gave the Owls a 26-16 lead after a 3-pointer by SF Brandon Parga with 9:21 left in the first half. A putback basket by Ctr D.J. Shelton with 2:45 left pushed the lead to a 12, and Citrus led by a dozen at 44-32 at the break after PG Hakeem Washington hit a 3-pointer with just under a minute to play in the first half.
The second half saw Citrus extend its lead. A driving lay-up by McMullan made it 48-34. A steal & lay-up by Jefferson made it 62-47. A basket by Shelton after a rebound & outlet pass by Ranger made it 70-53. Then Jefferson's two dunks - off long passes from McMullan and Washington, made it 76-56 with 9:03 left.
That 20 points turned out to be enough to withstand the Fresno rally. The Rams got within 11 at 79-68 with just under five minutes left, but it took until the 2:26 mark to get any closer. Then a 3-pointer by PF Cheyanne Alcala made it 88-78. PG Quentin Watkins split two free throws to make it a 9-point game at 88-79 with 1:53 left. Then SF Percy Lemle made a 3-pointer with 1:30 left to make it 88-82. After a free throw by Phifer made it 89-82, and Jefferson's lay-up off a feed from Watkins that made it 89-84 with just over a minute left.
But McMullan's coast-to-coast lay-up steadied things for Citrus, earning the Owls a berth in the championship game for the second time in four years. And though none of the players or coaches were even born the last time Citrus played San Francisco in the championship game, Sunday will offer a bit of revenge for the Citrus program, which lost to CCSF in the 1962 championship game.
McMullan led Citrus with 19 pts, including 16 in the second half. Shelton had a double-double with 16 pts and a game-high 10 rebs. Washington had a huge game off the bench with 14 pts on 5-for-6 from the floor. Jefferson and Ranger had 10 pts each.
For Fresno, Watkins led all scorers with 31 pts. But Lemle, with 13 pts, was the only other Ram to reach double figures. PF Felix Mapanda had a strong game with 9 pts, 6 rebs, 3 asts and 2 blocked shots.
box score
Friday, March 11, 2011 - 7 pm
at Ventura College
State Semifinal #2
Fresno Rams 84:
1-Jibreel Nasir, PG - 2/3 fg, 4/4 ft, 4 reb, 5 pf, 8 pts
20-Alex Fletcher, SG - 1/5 fg, 2/2 ft, 1 reb, 2 stl, 2 pf, 5 pts
21-Cheyanne Alcala, PF - 1/4 fg, 1 reb, 2 ast, 3 pf, 3 pts
22-Earl Jefferson, C - 4/8 fg, 5 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk, 2 pf, 8 pts
35-Percy Lemle, SF - 2/5 fg, 8/12 ft, 2 reb,2 ast, 2 stl, 4 pf, 13 pts
4-Tomas Sanchez, F - 3/6 fg, 1/1 ft, 2 reb, 2 ast, 7 pts
15-Quentin Watkins, G - 11/24 fg, 7/11 ft, 4 reb, 3 ast, 2 blk, 1 stl, 31 pts
31-Brad Johnston, F - 0/1 fg, 2 reb, 2 pf, 0 pts
2-Felix Mapanda, F - 3/7 fg, 3/4 ft, 6 reb, 3 ast, 2 blk, 2 pf, 9 pts
14-Rodney Webster, G - 0/3 fg, 1 ast, 3 stl, 2 pf, 0 pts
33-Dani Lopez, C - 0/2 fg, 3 reb, 1 pf, 0 pts
team rebounds: 5
Totals: 27/68 fg (.397), 25/34 ft (.735), 35 reb, 15 ast, 5 blk, 8 stl, 23 pf, 84 pts
3-pt fg (5): Watkins 2, Fletcher, Alcala, Lemle
Fouled Out: Nasir 3:29 left
Turnovers (20): Watkins 5, Webster 5, Fletcher 2, Lemle 2, Nasir, Alcala, Jefferson, Johnston, Mapanda, team
Citrus Owls 94:
5-Lateef McMullan, SG - 6/10 fg, 4/4 ft, 3 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl, 2 pf, 19 pts
10-Donnel Phifer, PG - 1/3 fg, 6/10 ft, 2 reb, 6 ast, 1 stl, 3 pf, 8 pts
15-Garrett Jefferson, SF - 5/7 fg, 0/1 ft, 3 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 3 pf, 10 pts
20-Jacob Ranger, PF - 3/4 fg, 1/2 ft, 5 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 3 pf, 10 pts
23-D.J. Shelton, C - 6/8 fg, 4/7 ft, 10 reb, 1 blk, 2 stl, 4 pf, 16 pts
3-Hakeem Washington, G - 5/6 fg, 3/4 ft, 2 reb, 2 ast, 2 pf, 14 pts
32-Donte Archie, F - 0/4 fg, 2/2 ft, 3 reb, 5 ast, 5 pf, 2 pts
45-Brandon Parga, F - 4/6 fg, 1 ast, 1 blk, 4 stl, 2 pf, 9 pts
40-Greg McFarland, C - 2/3 fg, 2/2 ft, 4 reb, 1 stl, 1 pf, 6 pts
25-Tyree Harrison, F - 3 pf, 0 pts
team rebounds: 4
Totals: 32/51 fg (.627), 22/32 ft (.688), 36 reb, 20 ast, 2 blk, 12 stl, 28 pf, 94 pts
3-pt fg (8): McMullan 3, Ranger 3, Washington, Parga
Technical Foul: Shelton (hanging on rim)
Fouled Out: Archie 1:53 left
Turnovers (23): Phifer 5, McMullan 4, Jefferson 4, Shelton 3, Washington 2, Archie 2, Ranger, Parga, team
Halftime Score: Citrus 44, Fresno 32
Citrus led by 20 at 76-56 with 9:03 left. Fresno got within 5 at 89-84 but then a coast-to-coast lay-up by McMullan, a free throw by Ranger and two free throws by Phifer clinched the win for Citrus. The 5 threes ties a season low for Fresno.
