In the championship game of the 3rd Annual West Valley Holiday Classic, #7 Ohlone (10-3) rallied from a 14-point first-half deficit to edge #6 Foothill (11-3), 56-52, Sunday afternoon at Mission College in Santa Clara.
Ohlone used suffocating defense, holding the Owls to 20% shooting in the second half, to come back from a 31-21 halftime deficit. Foothill had led, 31-17, late in the first half before the Renegades socred the final 4 points of the first half.
Ohlone initially tied the game, 42-42, on a 3-pointer by PG Demetris Love, the Renegades’ only 3-pointer of the game. Foothill went back in front, 46-42, but then Ohlone went on a 10-2 run to take its first lead since the opening minute of the game, and led the rest of the way. Foothill trailed by just 2 points until Ctr Lavon Gray scored the clinching basket on a dish from PG Quaran Johnson with 28.1 seconds left, making it 56-52 and closing out the scoring.
In the first half, Foothill shot 50% from the floor in building the big lead. After PF Isaiah Moore game Ohlone a 2-0 lead, Foothill got 3-pointers from PF Marseilles Stewart and SG Matt Christman to take a 6-2 lead, and another Christman three made it 9-3.
Ohlone tied the score, 9-9, but then Foothill scored the game’s next 7 points to take a 16-9 lead. Then the Owls continued to build the lead, pushing the margin to 10 points at 23-13 on a driving lay-up by PG Bobby Macias, to 12 on a scoop shot by SG Josh Scheibley that made it 25-13. Ohlone cut the margin to 8 at 25-17, but then Foothill pushed the lead to 14 points when Christman and M. Stewart hit back-to-back 3-pointers that made it 31-17.
Ohlone scored the final four points of the first half to trail, 31-21, at the break, and continued the rally in the second half, drawing to within a point at 33-32. Foothill maintained a slim lead until Love’s game-tying 3-pointer with 7:30 left, and then went back in front, 46-42, after a free throw by SF Tim Williams and another 3-pointer by Christman with 6:40 left.
But the Renegades would not be denied, rallying again to tie the score at 46 and then going in front, 50-48, on a pair of free throws by Johnson with 3:47 left. The Renegades continued to lead the rest of the way, but Foothill cut the margin to 2 points at 54-52 and had a chance to take the lead, but Christman’s 3-point try missed with about a minute left. Neither team scored again until Gray’s lay-up with 28.1 seconds left that clinched the win for Ohlone.
For Ohlone, Johnson had 12 pts, SG Ronnie Sawyer had 11 and Gray had 10 pts plus 5 rebs and 3 steals. Sawyer also had a game-high 11 rebs and a team-high 4 asts. Moore had 9 pts, 6 rebs and 3 steals.
For Foothill, M. Stewart led all scorers with 16 pts, including 4 threes, and posted the double-double with a team-best 10 rebs. Christman had 12 pts on 4 threes. Macias had 8 pts and a game-high 6 asts.
box score
3rd Annual West Valley Holiday Classic
Sunday, December 20, 2009 @ Mission College, Santa Clara
Championship Game - 4pm
Ohlone Renegades 56:
3-Quaran Johnson, PG – 3/8 fg, 6/8 ft, 4 reb, 2 ast, 3 pf, 12 pts
4-Ronnie Sawyer, SG – 3/8 fg, 5/6 ft, 12 reb, 4 ast, 1 blk, 2 pf, 11 pts
11-Scott Clark, SF – 2/6 fg, 0/3 ft, 3 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 1 pf, 4 pts
33-Reggie Jones, C – 2/6 fg, 1/4 ft, 3 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl, 4 pf, 5 pts
44-Isaiah Moore, PF – 4/12 fg, 1/2 ft, 6 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk, 3 stl, 1 pf, 9 pts
21-Lavon Gray, C – 5/7 fg, 0/2 ft, 5 reb, 1 blk, 3 stl, 10 pts
12-Charles Barnes, G – 0/4 fg, 5 reb, 1 stl, 1 pf, 0 pts
23-Or Steiner, G – 1 stl, 0 pts
24-Cyleb Burton, F – 0/2 fg, 1 pf, 0 pts
2-Demetris Love, G – 2/3 fg, 2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 5 pts
15-Jamaal Blalock, G – 2 reb, 0 pts
team rebounds: 3
Totals: 21/56 fg (.375), 13/25 ft (.520), 45 reb, 11 ast, 3 blk, 12 stl, 13 pf, 56 pts
3-pt fg (1): Love
Turnovers (19): Clark 5, Sawyer 4, Gray 3, Moore 2, Steiner 2, Love 2, team
Foothill Owls 52:
4-Bobby Macias, PG – 3/12 fg, 2/2 ft, 3 reb, 6 ast, 1 stl, 3 pf, 8 pts
5-Matt Christman, SG – 4/11 fg, 3 reb, 3 ast, 12 pts
10-Austin McQuay, C – 1/3 fg, 0/1 ft, 3 reb, 1 ast, 4 pf, 2 pts
22-Jake Poppen, SF – 0/3 fg, 2/2 ft, 2 reb, 1 blk, 1 stl, 3 pf, 2 pts
33-Marseilles Stewart, PF – 5/13 fg, 2/4 ft, 10 reb, 1 stl, 3 pf, 16 pts
21-Tim Williams, F – 1/1 fg, 1/2 ft, 1 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 4 pts
23-Dominic Stewart, F – 1/6 fg, 0/2 ft, 4 reb, 1 ast, 1 pf, 2 pts
3-Josh Scheibley, G – 2/2 fg, 3 reb, 1 stl, 4 pts
12-Kyle Hypes, F – 1/3 fg, 2 reb, 1 stl, 1 pf, 2 pts
44-Jason Dandridge, C – 1 blk, 2 pf, 0 pts
team rebounds: 4
Totals: 18/54 fg (.333), 7/13 ft (.538), 35 reb, 12 ast, 2 blk, 6 stl, 17 pf, 52 pts
3-pt fg (9): Christman 4, M.Stewart 4, Williams
Turnovers (20): Scheibley 5, Macias 4, M.Stewart 3, McQuay 2, D.Stewart 2, Hypes 2, Christman, Williams
Halftime Score: Foothill 31, Ohlone 21
Updated Records: Ohlone (#7-North, #13-Calif) 10-3, Foothill (#6-North, #12-Calif) 11-3
Foothill led 31-17 late in 1st half but shot just 20% in the 2nd half.
