SF Brandon Parga had 22 pts, 4 asts, and limited his counterpart to just a single field goal as #1-ranked Citrus retained its status as California's only unbeaten team with an 87-79 win over Ventura in the championship game of the 2011 Gaucho Tournament at Saddleback College.
Parga earned tourney MVP honors, led Citrus in scoring and all but clinched the win with a steal & basket with 52.6 seconds left in the game. But he also shadowed Ventura SF Austin Ramljak, who entered the game as the Pirates' leading scorer, and held him to six points on 1-for-5 from the floor.
And yet, the game was tied at 77 before Citrus (11-0) finished the game with a 10-2 run to clinch the win and the championship. Ventura never trailed by more than the game's final margin of eight points, despite foul trouble to both of its starting guards as well as standout forward Corey Hall.
Citrus started the game by taking a 6-0 lead as Ventura got off to a ragged start with 6 missed shots and 4 turnovers from its first 10 possessions. But the Pirates settled in, tying the game 8-8 and taking a 12-11 lead on a basket by PF Brandon Edwards after a pass from Ramlijak.
Citrus led by six points again at 43-37, but Ventura battled back again to take a 47-45 lead on a basket by Ctr Dalton Francis in the final minutes of the half. However, Citrus SG James Walker was fouled just before the halftime buzzer trying a 3-point shot, and made all three free throws to give Citrus a 48-47 lead at the break.
More worrisome to Ventura than those points, however, was the fact that both Hall and PG Zalmico Harmon had picked up their third fouls of the game before halftime. Hall would eventually foul out with 4:26 left and just two points.
But Harmon stayed on the floor until the final minute, and that helped Ventura stay close throughout the second half. Citrus opened a 59-52 lead after a 9-0 run midway through the half, but Ventura rallied to ttake a 73-72 lead on Hall's one basket with exactly five minutes to play. And it was tied at 77 as the clock wound down.
Citrus took a 79-77 lead on a basket by Walker with 2:16 left, and that started the final run. A driving lay-up by PG Nolan Abernathy with 1:38 left made it 81-77. Then Parga's steal & lay-up with 52.6 seconds left make it 83-77. Pairs of free throws by Walker and Parga, sandwiched around a basket by Ventura PF Najee Salaam, clinched the win for the Owls.
Parga led Citrus with his 22 pts. SG Kerry Carter came off the bench for 16 pts and joined Parga on the all-tournament team. Walker had 15 pts and 7 rebs, and PF Tyree Harrison had 13 pts and a game-high 13 rebs. SF Royal Mathews came off the bench for 10 pts, and Abernathy came off the bench for 4 pts and a team-high 7 asts.
For Ventura, Salaam had a huge game with 33 pts, a game-high, and 11 rebs, a team-high. That earned him a spot on the all-tournament team alongside Harmon, who had 13 pts and a game-high 11 asts before fouling out wiht 27.3 seconds to go. SG Joseph Soto had a big day as well with 13 pts, 9 rebs, 6 asts and 4 steals despite dealing with foul trouble of his own in the second half.
box score
2011 Gaucho Tournament
Saturday, December 10th @ Saddleback College, Mission Viejo
Championship Game - 4 pm
Citrus Owls 87:
5-Brandon Woods, PG - 0/4 fg, 3 reb, 4 ast, 2 pf, 0 pts
12-James Walker, SG - 4/10 fg, 7/8 ft, 7 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl, 3 pf, 15 pts
14-Tyree Harrison, PF - 5/9 fg, 3/7 ft, 13 reb, 1 ast, 3 stl, 3 pf, 13 pts
32-Kendrick Thomas, C - 3/6 fg, 1/6 ft, 6 reb, 1 blk, 1 stl, 1 pf, 7 pts
45-Brandon Parga, SF - 8/15 fg, 4/4 ft, 1 reb, 4 ast, 2 stl, 2 pf, 22 pts
3-Kerry Carter, G - 6/10 fg, 2/2 ft, 3 reb, 1 stl, 3 pf, 16 pts
10-Nolan Abernathy, G - 2/4 fg, 0/3 ft, 7 ast, 2 stl, 4 pts
23-Royal Mathews, F - 3/5 fg, 2/2 ft, 4 reb, 1 pf, 10 pts
team rebounds: 1
Totals: 31/63 fg (.492), 19/32 ft (.594), 38 reb, 18 ast, 2 blk, 10 stl, 15 pf, 87 pts
3-pt fg (6): Parga 2, Carter 2, Mathews 2
Turnovers (16): Woods 4, Walker 3, Parga 3, Thomas 2, Abernathy 2, Harrison, Carter
Ventura Pirates 79:
1-Joseph Soto, SG - 3/14 fg, 4/5 ft, 9 reb, 6 ast, 4 stl, 4 pf, 13 pts
3-Zalmico Harmon, PG - 4/10 fg, 5/5 ft, 2 reb, 11 ast, 1 stl, 5 pf, 13 pts
22-Corey Hall, PF - 1/7 fg, 6 reb, 5 pf, 2 pts
32-Dalton Francis, C - 3/5 fg, 2 reb, 2 blk, 1 pf, 6 pts
41-Austin Ramljak, SF - 1/5 fg, 4/5 ft, 3 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl, 3 pf, 6 pts
23-Najee Salaam, F - 15/21 fg, 2/2 ft, 11 reb, 1 ast, 1 pf, 33 pts
25-Brandon Edwards, F - 1/1 fg, 2 pts
44-Josh Marcus, G - 1/2 ft, 2 reb, 2 ast, 1 pt
15-Steven Plantenberg, F - 1/4 fg, 1 reb, 3 pts
11-Brock Taylor, G - 1 pf, 0 pts
team rebounds: 2
Totals: 29/67 fg (.433), 16/19 ft (.842), 38 reb, 22 ast, 2 blk, 7 stl, 20 pf, 79 pts
3-pt fg (5): Soto 3, Salaam, Plantenberg
Fouled Out: Hall 4:26 left, Harmon 27.3 seconds left
Turnovers (19): Harmon 6, Soto 5, Ramljak 4, Hall 2, Francis, Plantenberg
Halftime Score: Citrus 48, Ventura 47
Updated Records: Citrus (#1-South, #1-Calif) 11-0, Ventura 5-6
It was tied 79-79 until Walker scored with 2:16 left, and Citrus led the rest of the way.
Parga (MVP) & Carter from Citrus and Harmon & Salaam from Ventura were named to the all-tournament team.
