On Sunday, September 24th, Fullcourt Press held the Fall JUCO Showcase at Long Beach City College.
The teams in attendance included two teams from local community colleges, two club teams, three teams made up of players from different community colleges and a top-notch high school travel team. Each team played two games.
Aside from the two club teams, each team was given the name of a local university (just for entertainment purposes – it’s more interesting than the old Team 1, Team 2, Team 3 etc. but each team has absolutely no connection to the named university).
Here is a game-by-game summary of the event.
11 am: Long Beach State 68, San Diego State 58
Eric Williams had 25 points and 12 rebounds to lead a team made up of Long Beach City College players to the win in the day’s first game. Damon Banks added 10 points while Chris Brown just missed a double-double with 9 points and 11 rebounds. Emmanuel Grant chipped in with 6 points, 5 assists and 5 steals.
Long Beach State jumped out to a 7-0 lead, though San Diego State rallied to take a short lead a few minutes later. But by halftime, Long Beach had a 7-point lead, which was lengthened to 20 points at 62-42 in the second half before a late rally by San Diego State.
San Diego State, which was really the West Coast Academy high school travel team, was led by Jamel Brown (Warren) with 17 points. Patrick Rembert (Lakewood) had 14 points and 4 assists.
12 noon: USC 57, CS Fullerton 51
Demetrius Davis (Mt. San Jacinto) had 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting plus 5 rebounds and 4 assists while Justin Jack (Mt. San Jacinto) and Jonathan Johnson (LA Pierce) each had 12 points as USC led virtually wire to wire in posting a narrow win in the day’s second game.
USC led 23-20 at the half, extended the margin to 13 at 39-26 midway through the second half and never trailed after the opening minutes.
For CSUF, a team made up of players from Santa Ana, Tyre Thompson led the way with 12 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals despite arriving just after the start of the game. James Silvie also had 12 points while Mike Hernandez had 11 plus 3 assists.
1 pm: Compton Magic 84, Stanford 65
Keith Allen (Mt. San Antonio) made 9 of 10 shots for 18 points and Rishawn Norwood (Mt. San Antonio), last season’s state scoring leader, had 15 points as Compton led all the way after a 13-0 run midway through the first half.
For Stanford, Joshua Gordon (West LA) led the way with 20 points while Manny Fierros (Fullerton) had 15 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists.
2 pm: Pepperdine 53, San Diego Magic 50
Derek Devan (Contra Costa) had the first of two superb games with 13 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists to lead Pepperdine to a narrow win in the last game of the first rotation. Devan posted game-highs in points and assists, and his basket in the final seconds helped secure the win.
Kyle Adams (Desert) posted a double-double for the winners with 10 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Jordan Ambers (Mt. San Antonio) had 9 points, including a pair of free throws that broke a 47-47 tie with 50 seconds left, giving his team a lead it would hold the rest of the way.
David Kinder (San Diego City) had 9 points and 5 rebounds to lead the Magic. Reggie Smith (San Diego) had 9 points and 4 rebounds.
3 pm: Long Beach State 60, USC 54
Eric Williams had another strong game with 22 points and 8 rebounds, leading the team of Long Beach City players to its second win of the day.
Damon Banks added 20 points, including a three with just over a minute left that extended his team’s lead to 54-50, a pair of free throws that made it 56-52 moments later, and then drew a charging foul to help make that lead stand up.
For USC, Demetrius Davis (Mt. San Jacinto) had 22 points on a perfect 9-for-9 performance from the floor. And Anthony Pimble (Ventura) contributed 14 points, including 5 dunks, several of the highlight film variety, and 6 rebounds.
4 pm: CS Fullerton 81, San Diego State 55
James Silvie had 20 points and Charles Grey added 16 as the team of players from Santa Ana blew open a close game in the last 10 minutes for the win.
CSUF led by just 3 points at halftime, and the game was tied at 32 early in the second half. It was still a 3-point game at 50-47 midway through the second half before CSUF poured it on.
For San Diego State, the high school travel team, Patrick Rembert (Lakewood) led the way with 19 points and 3 assists. Jamal Brown (Warren) added 15 points, including 3 threes.
5 pm: Pepperdine 92, Compton Magic 80
In the most entertaining game of the day, Pepperdine shot 60% from the floor and drained 14 threes to post an upset win over the host all-star team.
Derek Devan, an unsigned sophomore from Contra Costa, poured in a best-of-the-day 30 points for the winners. Jimmy House (Mt. San Antonio) added 21 and Lawrence Robinson (Cerritos) added 19, including 5 threes, plus 8 assists. Jordan Ambers (Mt. San Antonio) had 14 plus 8 assists.
For Compton, Cornel Williams (San Diego City) had 16 points while Danny Tavares (Ventura) posted a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Ervin Dunson (San Diego City) had 14 points plus 8 rebounds.
6 pm: San Diego Magic 72, Stanford 66 (OT)
In the day’s most closely-contested game, San Diego Magic got 18 points from Shawn Brooks (San Diego City) and 14 points each from David Kinder (San Diego City) and Onani Wilson to post the win.
The game was close all the way, with the Magic holding a 4-point edge at halftime. The Magic held a 2-point lead late in the game until a pair of free throws by Josh Gordon (West LA) tied the game again with 29 seconds left.
In overtime, Ervin Dunson (San Diego City) scored 4 points and Wilson drained his 4th three of the day to propel the Magic to the win.
For Stanford, Jonathan Johnson (Mt. San Antonio) led the way with 16 points and 9 rebounds. Manny Fierros (Fullerton) added 11 points and 5 assists while Jesrael Bluntt (West LA) and Trey Mullen (West LA) each had 9 points.
