#15 Glendale's frontcourt duo of Ctr Gor Plavchyan and PF Emmett Duvall combined for 45 points and 26 rebounds as the host Vaqueros topped #12 Victor Valley in a first-round match-up of the two ranked teams in the field of the 17th Annual Vaquero Classic at Verdugo Gym.
The 6-7 Plavchyan had 24 pts and 16 rebs, and the 6-6 Duvall added 21 pts and 10 rebs, more than compensating for yet another outstanding performance by the state's scoring lead, SG Kevin Lawson of Victor Valley, who poured in a game-high 34 pts.
Glendale (7-2) led virtually the whole game, taking a 12-6 lead early on after a 3-pointer by PG Jalen Etienne. Victor Valley (10-4) tied the score at 16, but Glendale pulled away to lead, 24-16 after a putback dunk by Duvall. Victor Valley rallied to tie the score one more time at 26 after 3-pointers by Lawson and PF Kimani Lane.
But then then Glendale finished the first half with a 20-4 run to take control of the game. The Vaqueros even managed a rare 5-point play when SG Vahe Aristakessian drained a 3-point basket just as Plavchyan was run into while seting a screen. The officials ruled the foul came after the shot, and Glendale was in the bonus, so Plavchyan then made a pair of free throws to make it 44-30. A lay-up by PG Jason Moore after a steal by SF Sammy Darling made it 46-30 at the half.
When the second half started, Glendale continued to extend its lead. Moore scored off an outlet pass from Plavchyan to push the Vaquero advantage to 20 points at 58-38. The lead reached as many as 24 points midway through the second half when Glendale lead, 64-42.
Victor Valley used its fullcourt pressure to rally, cutting the deficit to 15 points at 72-57 when SG John Brown scored, then stole an inbounds pass and drained a 3-pointer. But then Glendale called timeout, and during the timeout Victor Valley SG Ali Jabalameli was assessed a techincal foul following a short discussion with one of the game officials. SG Emerson Castaneda made the 2 technical free throws, and then Glendale pushed its lead back to 21 points when Moore scored on a backdoor pass from Plavchyan to make it 78-57.
But then Victor Valley went on a 14-0 run to cut the Glendale lead to a mere 7 points with 3:38 remaining. Lawson converted a traditional 3-point play, and then he and Lane made 3-point field goals to make it 78-67. Two free throws by Lawson with 3:56 left made it 78-69. Then after a steal by SF Max Barkeley, Lawson made two more free throws with 3:28 left to make it 78-71.
But that was as close as the Rams would get. Darling hit a baseline runner with 2:31 left that pushed Glendale's lead back to 80-71, and Duvall made a pull-up jumper from the top of the key to make it 82-71 with 1:40 remaining. The Vaqueros maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the way, supplemented by a bank-shot 3-pointer by Moore at the end of the shot clock in the final seconds of the game that closed out the scoring.
Plavchyan led the Vaqueros with his 24 pts, and he had a game-high 16 rebs in addition to 2 asts and 2 blocked shots. Duvall also had a double-double with 21 pts, 10 rebs, 3 asts and 4 steals. Etienne had a very strong game with 8 pts, 6 asts, 4 steals and just 1 turnover. Moore came off the bench for 15 pts on 6-for-9 from the floor, and Darling had a very active game with 8 pts and 7 rebs.
For Victor Valley, Lawson scored his game-high 34 pts on 12-for-22 from the floor and 8-for-10 from the line. He also had 8 rebs, 2 asts and 3 steals. He entered the game leading the state in scoring at 26.2 points per game. Lane had 14 pts, including 3 threes, and 5 rebs. Brown came off the bench for 14 pts, all in the second half, including 3 threes, plus 3 steals. But the smaller Rams shot just 38% from the floor, compared to 47% for Glendale, and were outrebounded by a commanding 54-31 margin.
The win advances Glendale to the second round of the tournament, and the Vaqueros will face Cuyamaca Friday afternoon at 4 pm. Victor Valley will face Moorpark, also on Friday, in the first game of the day at noon.
box score
17th Annual Vaquero Classic
Wednesday, December 18, 2013 - 7 pm
at Verdugo Gym, Glendale
Victor Valley Rams 72:
3-Justin Knowles, PG - 1/6 fg, 4 reb, 5 ast, 1 stl, 1 pf, 3 pts
5-Max Barkeley, SF - 2/6 fg, 6 reb, 2 ast, 4 stl, 4 pf, 5 pts
13-Kevin Lawson, SG - 12/22 fg, 8/10 ft, 8 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk, 3 stl, 2 pf, 34 pts
24-Kimani Lane, PF - 5/19 fg, 1/2 ft, 5 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 3 pf, 14 pts
44-Nigel Plunkett, C - 1/1 fg, 2 reb, 1 blk, 1 pf, 2 pts
2-D'Myrian Robinson, C - 1 reb, 3 pf, 0 pts
21-Ali Jabalameli, G - 0/4 fg, 3 pf, 0 pts
11-John Brown, G - 5/10 fg, 1/2 ft, 1 reb, 1 ast, 3 stl, 14 pts
23-Anthony Carter, F - 0/2 ft, 1 reb, 1 pf, 0 pts
team rebounds: 3
Totals: 26/68 fg (.382), 10/16 ft (.625), 31 reb, 11 ast, 3 blk, 11 stl, 19 pf, 72 pts
3-pt fg (10): Lane 3, Brown 3, Lawson 2, Knowles, Barkeley
Technical Fouls: Coach Godinez, Barkeley, Jabalameli
Turnovers (13): Knowles 5, Barkeley 3, Carter 2, Lawson, Lane, Robinson
Glendale Vaqueros 88:
10-Jalen Etienne, PG - 2/6 fg, 3/5 ft, 3 reb, 6 ast, 4 stl, 3 pf, 8 pts
22-Emerson Castaneda, SG - 1/8 fg, 4/4 ft, 3 reb, 4 ast, 1 stl, 1 pf, 7 pts
30-Sontiago Grady, SF - 0/3 fg, 2 reb, 3 pf, 0 pts
35-Emmett Duvall, PF - 7/12 fg, 7/12 ft, 10 reb, 3 ast, 1 blk, 4 stl, 3 pf, 21 pts
45-Gor Plavchyan, C - 9/18 fg, 6/6 ft, 16 reb, 2 ast, 2 blk, 4 pf, 24 pts
24-Sammy Darling, F - 4/7 fg, 7 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 3 pf, 8 pts
11-Jason Moore, G - 6/9 fg, 1/2 ft, 4 reb, 2 stl, 3 pf, 15 pts
40-Nick Kahn, F - 1/1 fg, 2 reb, 2 pts
20-Vahe Aristakessian, G - 1/1 fg, 2 reb, 1 pf, 3 pts
team rebounds: 5
Totals: 31/65 fg (.477), 21/29 ft (.724), 54 reb, 17 ast, 3 blk, 12 stl, 21 pf, 88 pts
3-pt fg (5): Moore 2, Etienne, Castaneda, Aristakessian
Turnovers (18): Plavchyan 4, Moore 4, Duvall 3, Darling 3, Grady 2, Etienne, Castaneda
Halftime Score: Glendale 46, Victor Valley 30
Updated Records: Glendale (#15-South) 7-2, Victor Valley (#12-South) 10-4
Glendale broke a 26-26 tie with a 20-4 run to finish the 1st half.
Glendale's lead reached 22 points at 64-42 midway through the 2nd half.
Victor Valley went on a 14-0 run to get within 7 at 78-71 with 3:28 left but got no closer.
