LA Valley saw a 15-point second half lead disappear, and watched LA Pierce send the game to overtime with a last-second basket, but took outscored the Brahmas, 13-8, in extra time to win the battle of local rivals, 74-69, in the Glendale tournament Thursday night.
The two schools are about 10 miles apart, but hadn't played each other in at least seven years. But the first round of the 2011 Vaquero Classic brought the teams together, and the teams had so much fun playing against each other that 40 minutes just wasn't enough.
Valley (5-5) jumped out to a 15-3 lead early on as Pierce struggled without starters PG Khiry Williams and SF Trey Holden, who missed the game in order to take final exams. The Brahmas were 1-for-8 with 4 turnovers in the first few minutes, and Valley pushed the lead to 17 points at 24-7 after a runner by SG Marcus Johnson with just over 8 minutes left in the first half.
Pierce (2-7) cut the deficit to eight points at the break, trailing, 35-27, at halftime, and scored the first basket of the second half to get within six points at 35-29. But then Valley scored the next six points to lead, 41-29, and led by 15 several times, the last being at 49-34 with 11:22 left in the second half.
But over the next eight minutes, Pierce finally dug itself out of the early hole, sparked by an 8-0 run to get the deficit down to seven points at 49-42. A 3-point play by PG Josh Thomas got the Brahmas within four points at 51-47, and a Thomas 3-point basket made it a 3-point game at 53-50 with just over five minutes left.
Pierce took its first lead since the opening minutes of the game on a short jumper by SF Hassan Stephens with 3:36 left that made it 54-53. A steal & 3-point play by Stephens made it 57-53 with 2:57 left in regulation time.
Then Valley rallied, tying the score at 57 on a basket by PF Eddie LaTorre with 1:06 left and taking a 59-57 lead on two free throws by Ctr Robert Looper with 30.9 seconds left.
That started a frantic final half-minute. Pierce drew even on a basket by Ctr Anthony Morton that made it 59-59. Then Looper took a pass from PG Alex Strauther and scored with 8 seconds left to give Valley a 61-59 lead. But that was enough time for Thomas to knife through the defense and score on a lay-up just ahead of the horn to end regulation time, tying the score at 61.
Valley never trailed in overtime, scoring first on a Strauther lay-up. Pierce tied the score at 63 on a lay-up by SG Arseneo Jimenez. But Valley got a free throw and a short jumper from LaTorre to take a 66-63 lead, and got two free throws from Strauther after a technical foul was called against Pierce coach Ed Babayan that made it 68-63. A driving lay-up by LaTorre with 58.8 seconds left made it 70-63.
Pierce got within 3 points at 72-69 on a Thomas free throw with 15.9 seconds left. But Thomas missed the second free throw of the pair, and Looper got the rebound for Valley. He was fouled and made a pair of free throws with 14.0 seconds left to make it 74-69 and clinch the win for the Monarchs.
For Valley, Johnson had 22 pts, including 4 threes. Looper had 16 pts on 5-for-7 from the floor and 6-for-6 from the line, and added 8 rebs and 4 blocked shots. LaTorre had a double-double with 11 pts and a game-high 12 rebs. Strauther had 10 pts and a game-high 9 asts, and also had 4 steals, but was just 3-for-13 and had 12 turnovers. Pelayo came off the bench for 10 pts.
For Pierce, Stephens led all scorers with 26 pts and added 7 rebs, 2 asts, 3 blocks and a steal. Thomas had 25 pts, 3 asts and 5 steals.
Box score
2011 Vaquero Classic
Thursday, December 15th @ Verdugo Gym, Glendale
First Round - 7 pm
LA Pierce Brahmas 69:
21-Anthony Morton, C - 1/9 fg, 1/2 ft, 7 reb, 3 blk, 1 stl, 4 pf, 3 pts
23-Javael Boykins, PF - 2/7 fg, 3 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 4 pts
24-Hassan Stephens, SF - 10/18 fg, 6/9 ft, 7 reb, 2 ast, 3 blk, 1 stl, 2 pf, 26 pts
33-Arseneo Jimenez, SG - 4/6 fg, 4 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 5 pf, 9 pts
55-Josh Thomas, PG - 9/18 fg, 5/8 ft, 3 reb, 3 ast, 5 stl, 4 pf, 25 pts
13-Josh Reveles, G - 0/2 fg, 2 reb, 0 pts
32-Cameron Broomi, C - 1/4 fg, 0/1 ft, 6 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 3 pf, 2 pts
31-Michael Claus, F - 0/2 fg, 2 reb, 1 pf, 0 pts
3-Loucious Coleman, G - 0/4 fg, 4 ast, 1 pf, 0 pts
15-Ben Burris, F - 0/1 fg, 2 reb, 1 stl, 0 pts
team rebounds: 7
Totals: 27/71 fg (.380), 12/20 ft (.600), 43 reb, 13 ast, 9 blk, 10 stl, 21 pf, 89 pts
3-pt fg (3): Thomas 2, Jimenez
Technical Foul: Coach Babayan
Fouled Out: Jimenez 46.4 seconds left in OT
Turnovers (23): Morton 6, Thomas 5, Reveles 3, Burris 3, Broomi 2, Claus 2, Boykins, Coleman
LA Valley Monarchs 74:
2-Alex Strauther, PG - 3/13 fg, 4/6 ft, 5 reb, 9 ast, 4 stl, 2 pf, 10 pts
12-Marcus Johnson, SG - 7/13 fg, 4/7 ft, 3 reb, 2 stl, 3 pf, 22 pts
20-Eddie LaTorre, PF - 5/10 fg, 1/2 ft, 12 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl, 3 pf, 11 pts
30-Javion Garner, SF - 1/7 fg, 3/4 ft, 8 reb, 1 ast, 5 blk, 1 stl, 3 pf, 5 pts
32-Robert Looper, C - 5/7 fg, 6/6 ft, 8 reb, 4 blk, 3 pf, 16 pts
24-Daryl Singontiko, G - 3 reb, 2 stl, 5 pf, 0 pts
15-Margarito Pelayo, F - 3/11 fg, 2/2 ft, 2 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl, 10 pts
4-Willie Crenshaw, G - 0/2 fg, 1 ast, 0 pts
team rebounds: 8
Totals: 24/63 fg (.381), 20/27 ft (.741), 49 reb, 14 ast, 10 blk, 12 stl, 19 pf, 74 pts
3-pt fg (6): Johnson 4, Pelayo 2
Fouled Out: Singontiko 2:57 left
Turnovers (28): Strauther 12, Johnson 4, LaTorre 4, Singontiko 2, Pelayo 2, Garner, Looper, Crenshaw, team
Halftime Score: LA Valley 35, LA Pierce 27
End of Regulation: Tied at 61
Updated Records: LA Valley 5-5, LA Pierce 2-7
LA Valley jumped out to an early 15-3 lead and led by 17 at 24-7 in the 1st half and by 15 several times in the 2nd half. Pierce rallied to take a 54-53 lead on a jumper by Stephens with 3:36 left and led, 57-53, with 2:57 left. LA Valley tied it at 57 and took a 61-59 lead on a basket by Looper with 8 seconds left. LA Pierce tied it on a lay-up by Thomas just ahead of the horn, sending it to OT. Strauther had 6 pts and LaTorre had 5 pts in OT for Valley.
