LA Valley shot 61% in the first half and built a 21-point lead early in the second half, and then held off a late rally by Canyons to win a key WSC-South game Wednesday night in Santa Clarita.
LA Valley (12-12, 5-5) had three scorers in double figures, and rode their hot shooting to a 45-29 lead. Valley also held Canyons (13-12, 4-5) to just 30% from the floor in that half. In fact, it could have been much worse for COC if not for all the free throws - the Cougars made 15 of 21 in the first half alone, and 33 of 44 on the night.
Canyons narrowed the margin to 9 points at 58-49 midway through the second half, but it took them another ten minutes to get any closer. The closest the Cougars ever got in the second half was the final margin after a basket by PF Kulwinder Singh as the final horn sounded.
Canyons began the game on a 5-0 spurt, but Valley rallied to tie the game, 5-5. A basket by SF Rendon Dominguez put Canyons back in front, but Valley got a basket from Ctr Pierre Prince and a 3-point play from SG Jerome Lowe to take an 11-7 lead, and never surrendered that lead.
As the first half progressed, Valley gradually increased its lead. A driving lay-up by Lowe that included a 360-degree spin in the lane made it a 5-point game at 17-12. A 3-pointer by Lowe made it a 6-point game at 20-14. A basket by PG Robert Brown after an outlet pass from Lowe made it a 7-point game at 25-18. And a left-handed shot from the lane by Prince made it an 8-point game at 28-20 with just over six minutes left in the first half.
Then the lead expanded suddenly on back-to-back 3-pointers by Lowe and Brown 30 seconds apart that made it 36-22. A 3-pointer by SG Dominic Alires made it a 15-point game at 41-26. Then PF Chris Lenik scored on a fourth-chance putback just ahead of - or maybe just after - the halftime buzzer to make it a 16-point game. But the basket counted, making it 45-29 at the break.
When the second half started, Valley continued its surge, getting a 3-pointer from Lenik and a putback basket by SF Joel Spriggs to push the lead to 21 points at 50-29.
After that, Canyons rallied, cutting the margin to 9 points at 58-49 after a free throw by Ctr William Sams with 11:32 remaining. Better yet for the Cougars, it was Valley's 7th foul of the half, putting COC in the bonus.
But it took Canyons exactly ten more minutes to get any closer. Valley expanded the lead to as many as 14 points over that time, until the Cougars finally got the deficit down to eight points at 77-69 with 1:32 left in the game.
And by then, there just wasn't enough time to continue the rally. Single free throws by Lenik and Brown pushed the Valley lead back to 10 points at 79-69 with 1:03 left. Canyons got a basket from PF Parker Dominguez with 10 seconds left to make it 79-71. After another single free throw by Brown with 7 seconds left, Singh scored as the final horn sounded to account for the 80-73 final score.
For Valley, Lowe had a team-high 17 pts plus 5 rebs, 3 asts and 3 steals. Brown had 14 pts and 4 asts, and Lenik had 12 pts and a game-high 9 rebs. Spriggs chipped in with 8 pts while Prince had 7 pts, 6 rebs and 6 blocked shots before fouling out with 3:52 left.
For Canyons, Rendon Dominguez had a game-high 19 pts and 3 steals. Parker Dominguez had 12 pts and PG Brian Kimble had 11 plus 4 asts and 4 steals.
The win keeps Valley's playoff hopes alive, raising the Monarchs' WSC-South record to 5-5 with games against second-place Bakersfield and sixth-place Santa Monica still on the schedule. Canyons falls to 4-5 in WSC-South play and, worse yet for tie-breaker considerations, has now lost twice to Valley.
box score
Wednesday, February 10, 2010 - 7 pm
at the Cougar Cage, Santa Clarita
WSC-South
LA Valley Monarchs 80:
3-Robert Brown, PG - 5/6 fg, 3/5 ft, 3 reb, 4 ast, 2 pf, 14 pts
10-Joel Spriggs, SF - 3/7 fg, 2/2 ft, 3 reb, 3 ast, 3 pf, 8 pts
22-Jerome Lowe, SG - 6/12 fg, 3/4 ft, 5 reb, 3 ast, 3 stl, 1 pf, 17 pts
32-Pierre Prince, C - 3/4 fg, 1/2 ft, 6 reb, 2 ast, 6 blk, 1 stl, 5 pf, 7 pts
35-Chris Lenik, PF - 5/12 fg, 1/2 ft, 9 reb, 1 lbk, 1 stl, 4 pf, 12 pts
21-Javion Garner, F - 1/3 fg, 3/6 ft, 3 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 2 pf, 5 pts
12-Darius Hooks, G - 0/1 fg, 5/6 ft, 1 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 3 pf, 5 pts
33-Andrey Orlov, F - 2/3 fg, 2/2 ft, 4 reb, 4 ast, 2 blk, 2 stl, 2 pf, 7 pts
44-Cornell Lee, C - 1/2 fg, 2 reb, 3 pf, 2 pts
24-Dominic Alires, G - 1/3 fg, 3 reb, 1 stl, 2 pf, 3 pts
team rebounds: 5
Totals: 27/53 fg (.509), 20/29 ft (.690), 44 reb, 19 ast, 9 blk, 10 stl, 27 pf, 80 pts
3-pt fg (6): Lowe 2, Brown, Lenik, Orlov, Alires
Fouled Out: Prince 3:52 left
Turnovers (28): Hooks 6, Brown 5, Lowe 5, Orlov 5, Spriggs 3, Prince, Lenik, Garner, Alirez
Canyons Cougars 73:
5-Brian Kimble, PG - 1/9 fg, 9/13 ft, 1 reb, 4 ast, 4 stl, 2 pf, 11 pts
10-Rasheem Harris, SG - 3/8 fg, 2 reb, 2 ast, 5 stl, 5 pf, 7 pts
11-Rendon Dominguez, SF - 5/9 fg, 8/8 ft, 3 reb, 2 blk, 3 stl, 4 pf, 19 pts
15-Brannon Bradley, PF - 2/9 fg, 3/6 ft, 3 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 2 pf, 7 pts
35-Garry (Hakeem) Bradley, C - 1/4 fg, 4/4 ft, 5 reb, 2 blk, 1 stl, 1 pf, 6 pts
54-Parker Dominguez, F - 3/7 fg, 6/9 ft, 4 reb, 3 stl, 2 pf, 12 pts
24-Chris Knott, G - 1/1 fg, 1 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl, 2 pf, 2 pts
21-Ben Kimble, G - 2/4 fg, 2 ast, 4 pf, 4 pts
42-William Sams, C - 3/4 ft, 3 reb, 3 pf, 3 pts
41-Kulwinder, Singh, F - 1/1 fg, 1 reb, 2 pts
team rebounds: 4
Totals: 19/52 fg (.365), 33/44 ft (.750), 27 reb, 11 ast, 4 blk, 19 stl, 25 pf, 73 pts
3-pt fg (2): Harris, R.Dominguez
Fouled Out: Harris 7 seconds left
Turnovers (16): Brian Kimble 3, Knott 3, Ben Kimble 3, Harris 2, B.Bradley 2, P.Dominguez 2, R.Dominguez
Halftime Score: LA Valley 45, Canyons 29
Updated Records: LA Valley 12-12 overall, 5-5 in WSC-South; Canyons 13-12 overall, 4-5 in WSC-South
LA Valley shot 61% in the 1st half
