The 2011 Southern California Community College Showcase took place July 30 & 31 at Azusa Pacific University.
I attended 19 games over the two days, featuring 32 teams.
Here is a game-by-game summary for the 10 games I attended on Saturday, July 30.
Bakersfield 56, Santa Ana 50:
Bakersfield jumped out to a 17-5 lead and, when Santa Ana rallied to tie the score midway through the second half, went on an 8-0 run to go back into the lead in a wire-to-wire 56-50 victory.
Santa Ana cut the deficit to four points at 21-17 at halftime, and tied the score at 34 with 8:06 left. But then SF Duncan Schramm and PG Daniel Womack hit 3-pointers, and Ctr Andrew Garcia scored after a pass from Womack for an 8-0 run that kept Bakersfield in the lead. The Renegades led the rest of the way.
> Womack had a game-high 12 pts, including a pair of threes, plus 3 asts and 2 steals. Ctr Taevanwe Morrison had a double-double with 11 pts and game-highs of 12 rebs and 3 blocked shots. Schramm had 10 pts and 4 rebs.
For Santa Ana, PF Ashton Twine had 10 pts and 4 rebs. SF Ray Barros had 9 pts, and PG Kevin Ramirez had 8 pts, 5 rebs, 2 asts and 2 steals.
Chaffey 72, Santa Monica 62:
SF Kenny Morgan had 20 pts plus 7 rebs and 3 asts to lead Chaffey to its second of four victories for the weekend, a 10-point decision over Santa Monica.
Chaffey held a narrow one-point lead at halftime, but pushed the lead to 12 points at 50-38 midway through the second half. Santa Monica got within three points after a 9-0 run that included a 3-point field goal and a rare 3-point free throw from SF Johnell Young, but never quite caught up.
PG Kevin Harkless had 10 pts, 3 asts and 2 steals for the Panthers, which also defeated Cerritos, Porterville and San Jose in the shootout. SG Justin Long and PF Ryan Nitz had 9 pts each, and PG Alex Varner had 8 pts, 4 rebs and 3 asts.
SG Lee Lark of Santa Monica led all scorers with 21 pts. Young had 11 pts, and SF Travis Damuth had 6 pts and a game-high 10 rebs for the Corsairs.
Santa Ana 57, Canyons 55:
Santa Ana jumped out to a 9-0 lead and led wire to wire, but held on by the narrowest of margins in a two-point win over College of the Canyons.
The Dons hit three 3-pointers in the game's opening moments to open a quick 9-0 lead, and led by a dozen points at 21-9 midway through the first half. After the Cougars cut the deficit to eight points at 33-25 at halftime, Santa Ana pushed its advantage to 14 points at 48-34 early in the second half.
Canyons gradually chipped away at the deficit, getting within six points after a 3-pointer by PG Brad Wyche made it 53-47. A 3-point play by PF Wesley Bartole with 37.8 seconds left made it a 4-point game at 57-55, and a driving lay-up by PG Roman Delgado made it 57-55 with 13.1 seconds left.
Canyons got teh ball back one last time after forcing a held ball with 9.6 seconds left. But SF Rafael Love's would-be game-tying jumper bounced off the rim as the final buzzer sounded.
Santa Ana didn't have a single scorer reach double digits, but shot 50% as a team. SF Jacob Cheek had 9 pts on three 3-pointers. PF Ashton Coleman had 6 pts, 6 rebs and 3 asts, and Ctr Jesse Hazely had 5 pts and a team-high 8 rebs.
For Canyons, Bartole had a game-high 18 pts plus 7 rebs and 3 steals. Love had 12 pts, 10 rebs and 4 asts. SF Tyler Barber also had 12 pts. Despite the loss, COC had the remarkably low total of just 4 turnovers for the game.
Merritt 65, Mira Costa 57:
SG Jordan Fussler had 20 pts and PG Joshua Amey had 11 pts, 8 asts and 3 steals to lead Merritt to an 8-point win over Mira Costa.
Mira Costa jumped out to a 10-point lead in the first half and led, 25-20, at the break. But Merritt shot 63% from the floor in the second half, led by Fussler's 5-for-7 as he scored 16 of his game-high 20 pts after halftime.
Merritt started the second half with a 6-0 spurt to take a lead. The lead went back and forth for the next few minutes, but finally Merritt pulled away for the win.
SG Baptiste Boucharel led Mira Costa with 16 pts, 4 rebs, 3 asts and 2 steals. SF Michael Laird and Ctr Andre Warren had 11 pts each. PF Dominique Moreno had 4 pts plus game-highs of 6 rebs and 6 steals plus a team-high 4 asts.
Desert 66, The Bucs (Ventura) 62:
College of the Desert overcame a 14-point early deficit, and SG Dreu Johnson hit a key 3-pointer with 15 seconds left to help the Roadrunners post a 4-point win over The Bucs, a team of players from Ventura College.
The Bucs made 9 of their first 11 shots from the floor to jump out to a 23-9 lead midway through the first half. But Desert cut the margin to seven points at 37-30 at the half, and took a 40-39 lead early in the second half.
It was close the rest of the way, with The Bucs leading, 62-61, until Johnson's go-ahead 3-pointer. SG Quynten Pio made a 2-pt free throw with 1.9 seconds left to make it 66-62, and his older brother, SG Chaz Pio, intercepted The Bucs' final inbounds pass moments later to seal the win.
Ctr Joel Johnson led Desert with 11 pts, 9 rebs and 3 blocked shots. C. Pio and PF Jovan Maze had 10 pts each, and D. Johnson had 9 pts and a team-high 4 asts. COD's scrambling defense forced 26 Buc turnovers.
For The Bucs, SF Austin Ramljak led the way with 11 pts, including three 3-pointers. PF Najee Salaam had 10 pts and just missed a double-double with 9 rebs and 3 blocks. PG Zalmico Harmon had 10 pts, 4 rebs and 3 asts, and SG Eric Mitchell had 10 pts, 3 rebs, 2 asts and 2 steals. Ctr Corey Hall had 8 pts and a game-high 12 rebs.
Irvine Valley 62, LA Southwest 37:
SF Jose Vasquez had 16 pts as Irvine Valley pulled away late for a surprising 25-point rout of LA Southwest.
IVC held a modest 26-18 lead midway through the first half. But then the Lasers pushed the lead to 15 points at halftime and continued to pull away in the second half as the Cougars struggled to score. IVC held Southwest to just 18% shooting from the floor in the second half.
Vasquez scored his 16 pts on just 9 shots from the floor. PF Zach Mills had 10 pts, and PG Kalob Hatcher had 9 pts, 5 rebs, 4 asts and 4 steals. Ctr Austin Loeb had 6 pts and a team-high 8 rebs.
Ctr Shannen Garner was one of the few bright spots for Southwest, posting a team-high 13 pts and a game-high 9 rebs. But no other Cougar scored more than 5 points.
Cosumnes River 53, Mt. San Jacinto 52:
Cosumnes River began what would become a 4-0 sweep of the weekend with its closest game, a one-point squeaker over Mt. San Jacinto.
Cosumnes River jumped out to a 24-12 lead in the first half, but Mt. San Jacinto closed the half with a 10-0 run to make it a two-point game at the break. It was close the rest of the way, with the score tied at 50 after a jumper by Mt. San Jacinto SF Anthony Dees with 42.2 seconds left.
PG A.J. Bridges scored on a driving lay-up with 19.9 seconds left and was fouled on the play with the extra point making it 53-50. That proved to be the winning score as Mt. San Jacinto got a lay-up from PF Josh Gouch late in the game but that only brought the Eagles within a point before time ran out.
The winning lay-up capped a marvelous game for Bridges, who finished with 13 pts on 4-for-6 from the floor plus a game-high 8 asts as well as 2 steals and just one turnover.
PF J.J. Mina led the Hawks with 15 pts. Ctr Tony Gill had 7 pts and a game-high 11 rebs.
For Mt. San Jacinto, Dees led all scorers with 19 pts. Gouch had 8 pts and 3 asts. Ctr Greg Dixon had 5 pts plus game-highs of 8 rebs and 4 blocked shots.
Chabot 66, Fullerton 62:
PG Kurtis Ong had 18 pts and SF Leroy Anderson had 15 pts in a 66-62 win over Fullerton in an emotionally charged game that saw four players ejected.
There was plenty of trash talking on both sides, and a couple of dust-ups that saw technical fouls assessed; one technical meant automatic ejection in this event.
And the game was close all the way. Chabot led, 14-9, early on, but Fullerton went on a 13-2 run to take a 22-16 lead late in the first half. The Hornets led, 32-28, at the break, but Chabot rallied to tie it at 37 early in the second half and took a 55-48 lead later in the half.
Fullerton rallied to within two points after a 3-pointer by SG Willie Stallworth in the final minute. But 2-pt free throws by SF Joshua Delatorre and Anderson in the final 25 seconds sealed the win for the Gladiators.
SF Chris Nelson led Fullerton with 18 pts. Stallworth had 9 pts and PF Ramez Michel had 8 pts and a game-high 7 rebs. SF Greg Bewernick had 6 pts, 5 rebs and 3 steals, and SG Julian Caldwell had 5 pts, 6 rebs and 5 asts.
East LA 41, LA Pierce 38
East LA went on a key 10-0 run in the second half, breaking a 24-all tie and going on to hold on for a 3-point win over LA Pierce.
The game was supposed to start at 8:30, but because other games on the same court had gone long, tipped off at 9:12 pm. And because there was one more game scheduled on the court, which had to start before 10 pm (per NCAA regulations), the East LA-Pierce game was played with a running clock.
East LA held a 24-19 halftime lead, but Pierce rallied to tie the score at 24 early in the second half. Then came the 10-0 run, highlighted by a 3-pointer by SG Michael Carabes and a steal & jam by SF Elson Vessel.
Pierce got within three points in the final minute and got the ball back one last time with a chance to tie the score, but PG Khiry Williams' 3-pointer rimmed out as the final horn sounded.
Carabes had 9 pts on three 3-pointers, and Vessel had 9 pts plus 3 rebs and 2 steals. Ctr Rafael Morelos had 7 pts and a team-high 8 rebs.
Williams led all scorers with 14 pts for Pierce. His onetime Taft HS teammate PF Javael Boykin had 6 pts and a game-high 9 rebs.
Compton 57, San Jose 43:
SG Steve Pickens had 16 pts on 7-for-11 shooting as Compton ended the first day of the Southern California Community College Showcase with a 57-43 win over perennial Northern California power San Jose City College.
Most of the drama in this one took place before the game. Though the game was scheduled for a 9:30 pm start, things were running late, and the clock was creeping ever closer to the NCAA-mandated 10 pm cutoff time.
The clock in the upper deck of the Felix Center showed 9:59:42 as the ball went up, starting the game just in time. And for a few minutes, the drama continued on the court as the score was tied 7-7 at one point.
Then the frenzied Compton defense took over the game. The Tartars went on an 8-0 run highlighted by a pair of 3-pointers by SG Jabbari Green and led the rest of the way.
Compton led, 30-22, at halftime, and pulled away throughout the second half. A Pickens 3-pointer made it 35-22. The margin reached 17 at 46-29 after a 3-point play by SF Sylvester Thomas and a basket by PF Andre Blanding, and Compton led by double figures the rest of the way.
Pickens was the only player in the game to score in double digits. Ctr Dashawn Revels had 8 pts, 6 rebs and 3 steals. Compton totalled 20 steals for the game and forced a staggering total of 32 San Jose turnovers.
For San Jose, SG Paul Hester had 9 pts and 2 steals. SG Christopher Pender had 7 pts while SF Rodney Black and Ctr Keith Martin each had 6 pts and 5 rebs.
