SG Ramon Mejia had 21 pts as #3 Irvine Valley edged south orange county rival #12 Saddleback, 68-60, in overtime in the consolation final of the 2011 Bill Brummel Classic Saturday afternoon in Mission Viejo.
The game between Orange Empire Conference rivals had the feel of a conference game, and was close all the way. Neither team led by more than 7 points in regulation, and each team had a 7-point lead. Both teams scored in the final 25 seconds to send the game to overtime.
But in the end, Irvine Valley (12-3) had too much depth with Mejia scoring 5 points and PF Zach Mills scoring 4 in overtime. And PG Jordan Hamamoto played a key role as well with two points, two assists and a steal in overtime after PG Kalob Hatcher fouled out with 1:40 left in regulation time.
After Irvine Valley took a 10-8 lead midway through the first half, Saddleback (7-6) went on a 12-3 run to take a 20-13 lead after a pair of free throws by Ctr Carlton Hayes with 5:42 left in the first half. But IVC rallied with a 3-pointer by SF Chris Taylor with about two minutes left and a long 2-point jumper by Ctr Kirill Sergeyev in the final seconds before the half to make it 26-26 at the break.
Saddleback scored 8 straight points, all on free throws, to take a 36-30 lead early in the second half. But Irvine Valley answered with a 19-6 run that gave the Lasers a 49-42 lead after a 3-pointer by Mejia with just under nine minutes left in regulation time. Saddleback rallied from that deficit, however, pulliing within two points at 50-48 on a driving lay-up by SF Darnell Taylor with exactly four minutes left.
Taylor made two free throws with 1:40 left to make it 53-51, but more importantly that was the 5th foul on Hatcher. Taylor passed to Ctr Alex Worthen-Harris for a lay-up moments later that tied the score at 53 with 59.4 seconds left in regulation time.
Irvine Valley took a 55-53 lead on a putback basket by Sergeyev with 25 seconds left. But Worthen-Harris took a pass from PG Miles Green and scored the tying basket with 9.8 seconds left. Mejia tried a desperation one-on-three fall-away jumper from the right corner in the final seconds for IVC, but it missed, sending the game to overtime.
In overtime, Mejia hit a three-pointer, his 5th of the game, to give IVC a lead it would hold the remainder of the game. A basket by Sergeyev off an inbounds play made it 62-58 with just under a minute to go. Taylor made two free throws for Saddleback with 46.4 seconds left to make it 62-60, but those would be Saddleback's final points of the game.
Mejia scored off a long inbounds pass from Mills with 43.8 seconds left to make it 64-60. Then Hamamoto made a pair of free throws with 22.5 seconds left to make it 66-60. After a Hamamoto steal, Mills made two free throws with 6.8 seconds left to make it 68-60 and finally clinch the win for Irvine Valley.
Mejia earned all-tournament honors for his performance, making 8 of 12 shots including 5 threes. Even that was deceptive, however, as two of his misses were basically desperation heaves just ahead of the shot clock buzzer and one more was his Larry Bird-like try at the end of regulation. Sergeyev came off the bench for 11 pts and Taylor had an Odom-like line of 5 pts, 11 rebs, 7 asts and 2 steals.
Taylor led Saddleback with 16 pts, 8 rebs, 5 asts and a steal, though he did have a startling total of 10 turnovers. SG Everett Osborne had 10 pts and Worthen-Harris had 9 pts, 7 rebs, 2 blocked shots and a steal.
box score
Bill Brummel Classic
Saturday, December 17, 2011 @ Saddleback College, Mission Viejo
Consolation Final - 12 noon
Irvine Valley Lasers 68:
3-Kalob Hatcher, PG - 3/5 fg, 0/1 ft, 2 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl, 5 pf, 7 pts
5-Ramon Mejia, SG - 8/12 fg, 2 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl, 4 pf, 21 pts
15-Chris Taylor, SF - 2/8 fg, 11 reb, 7 ast, 2 stl, 2 pf, 5 pts
25-Zach Mills, PF - 2/5 fg, 4/5 ft, 3 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 3 pf, 8 pts
34-Jeff Given, C - 1/2 fg, 2/4 ft, 1 reb, 1 ast, 1 pf, 4 pts
30-Michael Bolden, F - 3/6 fg, 0/1 ft, 4 reb, 1 ast, 2 blk, 1 stl, 2 pf, 7 pts
11-Jordan Hamamoto, G - 1/4 fg, 3/4 ft, 2 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl, 1 pf, 5 pts
32-Kirill Sergeyev, C - 4/11 fg, 3/4 ft, 3 reb, 3 pf, 11 pts
22-Jose Vasquez, F - 1 reb, 1 ast, 0 pts
21-Christian Scott, F - 0/2 fg, 1 pf, 0 pts
team rebounds: 3
Totals: 24/55 fg (.436), 12/19 ft (.632), 32 reb, 17 ast, 2 blk, 10 stl, 22 pf, 68 pts
3-pt fg (8): Mejia 5, Hatcher, Taylor, Bolden
Fouled Out: Hatcher 1:40 left in regulation
Turnovers (15): Hatcher 4, Mills 4, Taylor 2, Given, Hamamoto, Sergeyev, team 2
Saddleback Gauchos 60:
11-Miles Green, PG - 2/3 fg, 5/5 ft, 5 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl, 4 pf, 9 pts
23-Darnell Taylor, SF - 4/7 fg, 8/11 ft, 8 reb, 5 ast, 1 stl, 1 pf, 16 pts
25-Everett Osborne, SG - 3/10 fg, 4/4 ft, 2 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 10 pts
32-Alex Worthen-Harris, C - 3/5 fg, 3/4 ft, 7 reb, 2 blk, 1 stl, 5 pf, 9 pts
41-Josh Smith, PF - 2/3 fg, 1?4 ft, 4 reb, 2 pf, 5 pts
24-Aaron Brevard, G - 1/3 fg, 1 reb, 3 pts
33-Daren Hechanova, G - 1/5 fg, 1 stl, 4 pf, 2 pts
21-Devin Golston, C - 2/2 ft, 1 ast, 2 pf, 2 pts
20-Josiah Thropay, F - 0/1 fg, 2/2 ft, 2 reb, 1 pf, 2 pts
34-Carlton Hayes, C - 2/3 ft, 2 reb, 1 pf, 2 pts
30-Nathan Marsing, F - 1 pf, 0 pts
team rebounds: 3
Totals: 16/37 fg (.432), 27/35 ft (.771), 34 reb, 10 ast, 3 blk, 7 stl, 21 pf, 60 pts
3-pt fg (1): Brevard
Fouled Out: Worthen-Harris 6.8 seconds left in OT
Turnovers (23): Taylor 10, Osborne 3, Smith 3, Green 2, Worthen-Harris 2, Golston, Hayes, Marsing
Halftime Score: Tied at 26
End of Regulation: Tied at 55
Updated Records: Irvine Valley (#3-South, #6-Calif) 12-3, Saddleback (#12-South) 7-6
Neither team led by more than 7 points in regulation; Saddleback led by 7 in the 1st half (20-13) and Irvine Valley led by 7 in the 2nd half (49-42). Mejia had 5 pts and Mills had 4 pts in OT for IVC.
Mejia was named to the all-tournament team.
