James Tonic scored 20 pts and Victor Valley borrowed a trick from the football field to hold on for an 83-82 win over Allan Hancock in a semifinal of the SBCC Classic in Santa Barbara.
Victor Valley (7-6) let a 15-point second-half lead disappear but managed to build another 9-point edge and seemed in control with 4:19 to go. But Allan Hancock (4-5) kept battling and had a chance to tie the score when Kadeem Minor was fouled trying a 3-point shot with 0.6 seconds left and the Rams clinging to an 83-80 lead. Minor made the first two free throws.
At that point, Victor Valley coach Bobby Godinez, who also coaches on the VVC football team (which went 10-0 this season) and has an extensive football background, borrowed a strategy from the gridiron and called a timeout. In effect, he was icing the kicker.
And it worked. When play resumed, Minor's free throw bounced off the heel of the rim. Max Barkeley swatted the ball away as the horn sounded, allowing Victor Valley to hold on for a hard-fought win.
That was the final act of a most entertaining and closely contested game between what seemed to be the two best teams in the tournament. Allan Hancock jumped out to an early 15-10 lead, only to see Victor Valley take a 23-21 lead on a driving lay-up by Tonic, who had scored 11 of his team's 23 points to that point.
Victor Valley built a 48-38 lead at the break after shooting a sizzling 62% from the floor in the first half, and expanded that lead early in the second half. Tonic scored on a driving lay-up to make it 50-38. Hancock got a basket from Arinze Anakwenze, but Victor Valley got a three from Steve Evans to make it 53-40. Lawrence Johnson made two free throws for the Bulldogs, but Evans drained another three for the Rams to push the lead to 14 points at 56-42 with about 18 minutes to go.
Hancock got within 5 points after three straight baskets by Ali Mohammed made it 61-56. But in the aftermath of the final basket, Mohammed was called for his 4th foul and, before AHC coach Tyson Aye could substitute for him, Mohammed picked up his 5th foul with 11:35 left.
Still, the Bulldog rally continued. Lavell White drained a three, then stole the ball back. That eventually led to a putback basket by Minor. Then Anakwenze socred off a pass from Andre Miller to tie the score at 68 with 8:15 left.
But Victor Valley answered back, re-taking the lead on two free throws by Kimani Lane with 7:44 left. Tonic scored on a driving lay-up and Barkeley made a three to push the Rams' lead to 75-69. A three by Lance Page made it 78-69 and the Rams seemed to be in the clear again.
Again, Hancock battled back. Three-pointers by White and Johnson made it 79-76. Barkeley split two free throws for Victor Valley with 56.8 seconds left. Johnson made a pair for AHC with 40 seconds left to make it 80-78. Tonic made a pair of free throws for VVC, and Minor scored on a lay-up for AHC. Barkeley had a chance to make it a two-possession game with 14.9 seconds left, but made just one of two free throws to make it 83-80. But that one made free throw ended up being the difference.
Tonic led all scorers with his 20 pts, and he also had a team-high 5 asts. Evans had 15 pts, including 4 threes, plus 5 rebs and 3 asts. Deshawn Hayes and Page each came off the bench for 11 pts. Amazingly, VVC won on a night on which Lane and Barkeley, normally the Rams' top two scorers, finished with just 7 points each.
For Allan Hancock, Minor scored a team-high 19 pts and added 4 rebs, 2 asts and a steal. White came off the bench for 16 pts and a team-high 9 rebs. Johnson had 15 pts and a game-high 7 asts.
box score
2014 SBCC Classic
Friday, December 12th @ Santa Barbara CC
Semifinal - 9 pm
Allan Hancock Bulldogs 82:
1-Lawrence Johnson, SG - 2/5 fg, 9/12 ft, 1 reb, 7 ast, 2 stl, 3 pf, 15 pts
3-Matt Willkomm, SF - 0/5 fg, 0/2 ft, 1 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl, 4 pf, 0 pts
4-Arinze Anakwenze, C - 3/5 fg, 3/3 ft, 2 stl, 1 pf, 9 pts
11-Andre Miller, PG - 2/5 fg, 3/4 ft, 5 reb, 5 ast, 3 stl, 3 pf, 7 pts
15-Kadeem Minor, PF - 6/8 fg, 7/14 ft, 4 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 2 pf, 19 pts
0-Shamel Williams, F - 1/1 fg, 2/2 ft, 1 reb, 1 stl, 2 pf, 4 pts
22-Lavell White, F - 6/17 fg, 1/2 ft, 9 reb, 1 ast, 3 stl, 3 pf, 16 pts
24-Ali Mohammed, C - 6/6 fg, 3 reb, 5 pf, 12 pts
team rebounds: 6
Totals: 26/52 fg (.500), 25/39 ft (.641), 30 reb, 16 ast, 0 blk, 14 stl, 23 pf, 82 pts
3-pt fg (5): White 3, Johnson 2
Fouled Out: Mohammed 11:36 left
Turnovers (16): Johnson 6, White 5, Anakwenze, Miller, Minor, Williams, Mohammad
Victor Valley Rams 83:
4-James Tonic, SG - 7/11 fg, 5/6 ft, 1 reb, 5 ast, 1 blk, 4 pf, 20 pts
10-Steve Evans, PG - 5/8 fg, 1/3 ft, 5 reb, 3 ast, 1 pf, 15 pts
11-A.J. Mathis, PF - 3/6 fg, 3/3 ft, 6 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk, 2 stl, 2 pf, 9 pts
13-Adream Hayes, C - 1/1 fg, 3 reb, 1 blk, 4 pf, 2 pts
22-Kimani Lane, SF - 2/6 fg, 3/4 ft, 3 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl, 4 pf, 7 pts
24-Deshawn Hayes, F - 4/6 fg, 0/1 ft, 2 reb, 1 blk, 1 stl, 1 pf, 11 pts
3-Lance Page, G - 4/5 fg, 2/2 ft, 1 stl, 4 pf, 11 pts
5-Max Barkeley, G - 2/5 fg, 2/4 ft, 3 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 1 pf, 7 pts
44-Tre Prudhomme, C - 1/2 ft, 2 reb, 2 pf, 1 pt
15-Trevonne Gates, F - 2 pf, 0 pts
team rebounds: 3
Totals: 28/48 fg (.583), 17/25 ft (.680), 28 reb, 13 ast, 4 blk, 8 stl, 25 pf, 83 pts
3-pt fg (10): Evans 4, D.Hayes 3, Tonic, Page, Barkeley
Technical Foul: Gates
Turnovers (19): Evans 6, Lane 4, Tonic 3, D.Hayes 2, Barkeley 2, A.Hayes, Page
Halftime Score: Victor Valley 48, Allan Hancock 38
Updated Records: Victor Valley 7-6, Allan Hancock 4-5
VVC led by 14 at 56-42 early in the 2nd half.
AHC had a chance to tie it when Minor was fouled attempting a 3-pointer with 0.6 secs left.
Minor made the first 2 FTs, but after a VVC timeout he missed the third.
