The "SoCal Splash Brothers" - Madison Higgins and Keilan Horton - combined for 55 points and 14 assists as #9 Santa Monica won its 5th straight game, 93-80, over #12 Santa Ana Saturday afternoon at the 2nd Annual Davy Fortson Classic in Santa Monica.
Like their NorCal counterparts - Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson of the Golden State Warriors - Higgins and Horton devaste their opponents with jumpers from all over the court, but manage to combine scoring with good shot selection. At one point Saturday, Higgins made 11 straight shots, and finished 12 of 15 overall. Horton, meanwhile, had 4 three-pointers and dished out a game-high 11 asts.
The game was played at a searing offensive pace early on, with Santa Monica (8-1) taking a 31-25 lead on a Higgins lay-up with 10:35 left in the first half. The lay-up pushed Higgins' point total to 16 at that point.
Santa Ana (5-5) stayed with the Corsairs for the rest of the first half. The Dons tied the score 33-33 on a driving lay-up by SG DuJuan Williams and took a 36-35 lead on a 3-point play by SF Terrence Blum with 6:53 left. The lead went back and forth the rest of the half, with Santa Monica holding a 48-47 lead at the break.
When the second half began, however, the Splash Brothers orchestrated an 11-0 run to give Santa Monica a 59-47 lead with 16:24 left, and the Corsairs led the rest of the way. The run began with 5 free throws by Horton in the first minute, and continued with three field goals by Higgins.
Santa Monica cut the margin to three points at 65-62 after a steal & lay-up by PG Erik Emanuel and later trailed by three points once again at 70-67.
But then Santa Monica pulled away for good with a 21-3 run, which started with a steal & lay-up by SG Jordan Walker. Three-pointers by Horton and SG Trey Thompson made it 83-70. PF Tyler James scored on a lay-up to make it 85-70. Then Horton capped the run with a pair of threes to push the margin to 91-70 with 3:25 left to ensure the win for the Corsairs.
Higgins led all scorers with his 30 pts, which came on a remarkable 12-for-15 shooting line and included 3 three-pointers. He added 3 rebs, 3 asts and 2 steals. Horton had 25 pts, including 4 threes, and added game-highs of 11 asts and 6 steals. Thompson came off the bench for 10 pts and PG Adam Griffin had 9 pts, all on 3-pointers. Remarkably, Santa Monica won the game despite being outrebounded, 52-26, but countered that by committing just 8 turnovers.
For Santa Ana, which dropped its 3rd straight game after starting 5-2, Williams came off the bench for a team-high 23 pts, including 3 threes, plus 4 rebs and 4 asts. Blum had 15 pts and Ctr Cameron Hill had a double-double with 14 pts and a game-high 11 rebs. SF Pedro Chavarin came off the bench for 10 pts and 6 rebs.
box score
2nd Annual Davy Fortson Classic @ Santa Monica College
Saturday, December 7, 2013 - 1 pm
Santa Ana Dons 80:
21-Erik Emanuel, PG - 2/4 fg, 5 reb, 7 ast, 3 stl, 3 pf, 4 pts
23-Chad Young, SG - 1/6 fg, 0/2 ft, 6 reb, 2 ast, 2 pts
25-Terrence Blum, SF - 6/9 fg, 3/5 ft, 3 reb, 1 ast, 1 pf, 15 pts
31-Corey Wilson, PF - 2/6 fg, 3 reb, 4 pts
33-Cameron Hill, C - 7/18 fg, 0/3 ft, 11 reb, 1 blk, 1 stl, 2 pf, 14 pts
4-DuJuan Williams, G - 6/11 fg, 8/12 ft, 4 reb, 4 ast, 3 pf, 23 pts
20-Damien Benson, G - 0/1 fg, 3 reb, 2 ast, 0 pts
35-Pedro Chavarin, F - 3/5 fg, 2/3 ft, 6 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 2 pf, 10 pts
45-Justin Johnson, C - 1/2 fg, 3 reb, 1 ast, 2 blk, 1 pf, 2 pts
32-Jeff Gomez, G - 2/3 fg, 2 reb, 1 pf, 6 pts
team rebounds: 6
Totals: 30/65 fg (.462), 13/25 ft (.520), 52 reb, 18 ast, 3 blk, 5 stl, 13 pf, 80 pts
3-pt fg (7): Williams 3, Chavarin 2, Gomez 2
Turnovers (23): Williams 5, Emanuel 4, Young 4, Blum 2, Hill 2, Benson 2, Chavarin 2, Gomez 2
Santa Monica Corsairs 93:
1-Madison Higgins, SF - 12/15 fg, 3 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl, 3 pf, 30 pts
5-Adam Griffin, PG - 3/7 fg, 1 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 9 pts
10-Keilan Horton, SG - 7/16 fg, 7/7 ft, 2 reb, 11 ast, 6 stl, 25 pts
15-Tyler James, PF - 1/2 fg, 1/2 ft, 2 reb, 3 blk, 2 pf, 3 pts
23-Laik Carter, C - 1 reb, 0 pts
22-Anthony Harris Jr., F - 0/2 fg, 1 reb, 1 ast, 3 pf, 0 pts
0-Jerry Shevlin, G - 1/2 fg, 1 reb, 4 ast, 2 pts
14-Ronny Price, G - 1/6 fg, 4 reb, 4 ast, 1 stl, 3 pts
32-Henry Anyanwu, F - 3/3 fg, 0/1 ft, 1 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 4 pf, 6 pts
11-Trey Thompson, G - 4/8 fg, 1/2 ft, 2 reb, 3 ast, 3 pf, 10 pts
3-Will Taylor, G - 0/3 fg, 1 reb, 0 pts
4-Mike Ratliff, G - 1 stl, 2 pf, 0 pts
12-Marcus Harris, F - 0 pts
2-Jordan Walker, G - 2/4 fg, 1/1 ft, 1 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 2 pf, 5 pts
21-Joziah Mallett, G - 1 reb, 0 pts
team rebounds: 5
Totals: 34/68 fg (.500), 13/17 ft (.765), 26 reb, 31 ast, 3 blk, 13 stl, 19 pf, 93 pts
3-pt fg (12): Horton 4, Higgins 3, Griffin 3, Price, Thompson
Turnovers (8): Higgins 2, Griffin 2, Horton 2, James, Shevlin
Halftime Score: Santa Monica 48, Santa Ana 47
Updated Records: Santa Monica (#9-South, #18-Calif) 8-1, Santa Ana (#12-South) 5-5
SMC started the 2nd half with an 11-0 run and led the rest of the way.
It was 70-67 when SMC went on a 21-3 run to pull away.
