SF Jeremy Knowles had 28 pts and PF Joe Simpson had a double-double, including a pair of huge plays in the final seconds, as #5 Los Medanos (10-6) edged #3 Yuba (11-4), 75-70, in the consolation championship of the 33rd Annual Kris Kringle Tournament Saturday afternoon in Santa Rosa.
It was the Bay Valley Conference showdown that many had expected to be for the tournament championship. But after Yuba lost to Hartnell and Los Medanos lost to Feather River in the first round, the BVC rivals ended up meeting in the first game Saturday.
The game was extremely close the entire second half. After LMC held a 43-37 lead at halftime, Yuba scored the first 5 points of the second half to get within a point at 43-42. And after that, neither team led by more than 5 points the rest of the way.
LMC held a 2-point lead at 72-70 and got the ball back with 53.9 seconds left. Yuba Coach Doug Cornelius elected to just play defense rather than to foul and extend the game, hoping to get the ball back in the final 20 seconds and still be trailing by just two points. The Mustangs managed to hold possession as the clock reached the 20-second mark, and Yuba appeared to have come up with the defensive stop it needed when SG Tyree Murray missed a shot near the end of the shot clock.
But Simpson came away with the rebound. Yuba had no alternative but to foul at that point. And Simpson made both free throws, making it 74-70 with 16.8 seconds left. Then, when Yuba got the ball into the frontcourt, Simpson stole it away with 5.7 seconds left. He was fouled again and made one of two free throws to make it 75-70 and seal the win for Los Medanos.
The Mustangs had begun the game well, building an 12-point first-half lead at 38-26. But Yuba rallied late in the half behind a pair of threes from SF Andy Newman and a FG+FT 3-pt play by PF Niko Monachini to get within 6 at halftime at 43-37. And the 49er starters continued the momentum early in the second half, taking a 51-47 lead. The lead went back and forth several times after that and Yuba held a 65-64 edge with under 4 minutes to play.
LMC got a driving lay-up from SG Philip Ledoux to take a 66-65 lead. Then first Knowles and then Ledoux grabbed steals and went in for easy baskets as the Mustangs extended the margin to 70-65 with 2:06 left.
Yuba scored the next four points on free throws - two by PG Mayse Walker and one each by Ctr Bobby Evans and PF Tyler Monroe - to get within a point at 70-69 with 1:15 remaining. LMC got a pair of free throws from Simpson with 1:07 left to make it 72-69. Then Yuba SG Keenan Prince made one of two free throws with 53.9 seconds left to make it 72-70 and set the stage for the final sequence.
Knowles led all scorers with 28 pts, and also added 6 rebs, 4 asts and 4 steals. Ledoux came off the bench and had 15 pts, 6 asts and 5 steals. Murray chipped in with 13 pts, and Simpson had 11 pts and 10 rebs for his double-double.
Walker had 13 pts, 5 asts and 5 steals to lead the way for Yuba, which defeated LMC in the championship game of this tournament a year ago. SG Cervante Burrell had 11 pts and SF Shaun Thomas had 9 pts. Monroe had 7 pts plus a team-high 10 rebs. Yuba played without SG Tristan Wilson, MVP of last year's Kris Kringle tourney (shoulder injury) and starting SF Derreck Brown (chest injury).
box score
Saturday, December 20, 2008 - 4 pm
33rd Annual Kris Kringle Classic
at Haehl Pavilion, Santa Rosa
Yuba 49ers 70:
1-Preston Bramow, SF - 2/5 fg, 6 reb, 2 ast, 2 pf, 5 pts
2-Cervante Burrell, SG - 5/13 fg, 1/1 ft, 5 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl, 1 pf, 11 pts
5-Mayse Walker PG - 4/10 fg, 4/5 ft, 3 reb, 5 ast, 5 stl, 5 pf, 13 pts
12-Bobby Evans, C - 3/10 fg, 1/6 ft, 7 reb, 1 ast, 3 blk, 1 stl, 2 pf, 7 pts
34-Tyler Monroe, PF - 3/9 fg, 1/2 ft, 10 reb, 1 blk, 4 pf, 7 pts
21-Shaun Thomas, F - 4/7 fg, 3 reb, 9 pts
24-Keenan Prince, G - 1/5 fg, 4/6 ft, 4 reb, 1 ast, 7 pts
3-Milos Milosevic, C - 0/1 fg, 2 pf, 0 pts
33-Kyle Newman, F - 2/4 fg, 2 reb, 1 pf, 6 pts
4-Josh Figueroa, C - 1 reb, 1 ast, 0 pts
11-Niko Monachini, F - 2/2 fg, 1/2 ft, 3 reb, 1 pf, 5 pts
team rebounds: 5
Totals: 26/66 fg (.394), 12/22 ft (.545), 49 reb, 13 ast, 4 blk, 7 stl, 18 pf, 70 pts
3-pt fg (6): Newman 2, Bramow, Walker, Thomas, Prince
Fouled Out: Walker 5.7 seconds left
Turnovers (27): Burrell 4, Walker 4, Thomas 4, Monroe 3, Newman 3, Bramow 2, Evans 2, Prince 2, Milosevic 2, Monachini
Los Medanos Mustangs 75:
3-Jeremy Knowles, SF - 12/19 fg, 3/6 ft, 6 reb, 4 ast, 4 stl, 3 pf, 28 pts
4-Joe Simpson, PF - 3/10 fg, 5/6 ft, 10 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 2 stl, 4 pf, 11 pts
10-Tyree Murray, SG - 4/13 fg, 2/4 ft, 3 reb, 2 pf, 13 pts
15-Nate McDaniel, C - 0/2 fg, 0/2 ft, 6 reb, 1 stl, 3 pf, 0 pts
23-Stephen Andrews, PG - 3/7 fg, 2 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 4 pf, 6 pts
21-Brian Benoit, F - 1/2 ft, 3 reb, 1 blk, 1 pf, 1 pt
24-Philip Ledoux, G - 6/15 fg, 3/3 ft, 3 reb, 5 ast, 5 stl, 1 pf, 16 pts
20-D'Angelo Williams, G - 0 pts
55-Laurence Donelson, C - 1 blk, 4 pf, 0 pts
team rebounds: 7
Totals: 28/66 fg (.424), 14/23 ft (.609), 40 reb, 12 ast, 3 blk, 13 stl, 22 pf, 75 pts
3-pt fg (5): Murray 3, Knowles, Ledoux
Turnovers (19): Simpson 5, Knowles 3, Murray 3, Benoit 3, Andrews 2, Ledoux 2, Donelson
Halftime Score: Los Medanos 43, Yuba 37
Updated Records: Los Medanos (#5-North, #9-Calif) 10-6, Yuba (#3-North, #6-Calif) 11-4
Wilson (shoulder) & Brown (chest) did not play for Yuba
