Not tonight, and not in our house!
Facing the prospect of watching #4 Antelope Valley clinch the WSC-South championship on its floor, #9 Citrus rallied from a 24-point second-half deficit to post a stunning 86-83 win Wednesday night, ending AVC's 16-game winning streak and keeping the division race alive for at least another night.
Early in the second half, things looked bleak for Citrus (15-8, 8-3). After falling behind by 20 points - and shooting just 26% from the floor with 10 turnovers in the first half - the hole got deeper for the Owls as Antelope Valley (22-5, 10-1) pushed its lead to 24 points after a driving lay-up by Julius Bilbrew made it 49-25.
But then over the next 18-plus minutes the Owls made an astounding comeback, overcoming that 24-point deficit with more than four minutes to spare and, after AVC went back in front twice more, taking the lead for good with 1:10 left. A 3-point play by Ryan Wiley, who was starting in place of injured Chaunce Hill, made it 81-79. Dominique Walker made three free throws and Justin Childress made two in the final 40.3 seconds to help the Owls hold onto their hard-earned victory.
For twenty-plus minutes, it looked like a postgame celebration would be forthcoming for Antelope Valley, which entered not having lost a game since December 10th of last year. A win would have clinched the WSC-South title for the second straight season, and the Marauders led every step of the first half.
Antelope Valley dominated the first half, particularly on defense, and after scoring the game's first four points the Marauders gradually increased their lead. A basket by Kamal Holden off a pass from Shelton Boykin pushed the lead to double digits at 25-15 with 8:35 left in the half. Two free throws by Lawrence White pushed the margin to 20 at 41-21 with 1:43 left in the half, and AVC led, 43-23, at the break. Then White and Bilbrew helped increase the lead to 24 early in the 2nd half.
But Citrus caught fire from the floor, shooting 66% from the field with just 4 turnovers in the second half as the Owls scored 63 points. Wiley scored 18 of those points, John Roach scored 11 and Mark Williams scored all 10 of his points in the second half for the Owls.
Citrus got the deficit below 20 points with 15:55 left on a 3-point play by Williams, who starred alongside UCLA-bound Lonzo Ball last season at Chino Hills HS. A putback basket by Wiley cut the margin to 14 points at 60-46 with about 13 minutes left.
A powerful slam dunk by Brandon Ruffin with 12:38 left that turned into a 3-point play seemed to put things back in order for Antelope Valley. But Citrus kept rallying. Jordan McNellys answered with a 3-point basket for the Owls, and Wiley converted an old-fashioned 3-point play with 11:13 left to make it an 11-point game. Then he brought the Owls within single digits with a short jumper that made it 65-56 with 10:38 to go.
The Owls kept rallying. Williams scored off a pass from Walker and Wiley hit another baseline jumper to make it 65-60. Walker brought Citrus within three points with a pair of free throws with 7:39 left that made it 67-64. Childress hit a short jumper with 7:15 left to make it a 1-point game at 67-66.
Lawrence White scored consecutive baskets for AVC to keep the Marauders in front, and for a while it looked like the Citrus rally might have run out of steam. But then AVC's point guard Ismail Ali went to the bench with his 4th foul with just over five minutes left, and just over a minute later Roach put Citrus in front, 72-71, with a 3-pointer with 4:18 left to go.
Still, Antelope Valley fought back, with White scoring just 15 seconds later to put the Marauders back in front. Wiley scored to give Citrus a 74-73 lead and Williams scored off a pass from Childress to give the Owls a 76-73 advantage with 2:48 left. But AVC got back-to-back 3-pointers from Ruffin and Adrian Francis to take a 79-76 lead with just under two minutes to go.
Walker made a pair of free throws for Citrus to cut the AVC lead to a point with 1:45 left, and Wiley converted the 3-point play - his second of the game - with 1:10 left to give the Owls an 81-79 lead. Two more free throws by Walker gave Citrus an 83-79 lead with 40.3 seconds to go.
AVC got a little closer when Ali scored on a driving lay-up with 33.9 seconds left to make it 83-81. Walker had a chance to restore the 4-point lead for Citrus with 24.6 seconds left, but split his two free throws to make it 84-81. Then Ali scored again for AVC with 16.9 seconds left. Childress made a pair of free throws with 14.8 seconds left to push the Citrus lead back to three points at 86-83.
AVC had plenty of time to try for the game-tying shot, but the options were limited with Citrus guarding the 3-point line. Finally, Bilbrew tried a shot, but it bounced off the rim. White coralled the rebound, but by the time he passed it back beyond the 3-point line for another game-tying try, the horn had sounded and the Owls had what had once seemed like a most improbable victory.
Wiley had a huge game with game-highs of 24 pts and 13 rebs, and Roach had 20 pts including 6 three-pointers. Walker had 12 pts and 6 asts, and Williams came off the bench for 10 pts on 4-for-4 from the floor. Childress had 7 pts and a game-high 10 asts.
For Antelope Valley, the UC Davis-bound White had a superb game with 18 pts on 6-for-7 from the floor and 6-for-6 from the line, plus 8 rebs, 2 asts, 3 steals and a blocked shot. Bilbrew had 12 pts, 6 rebs and 2 asts, and Ruffin came off the bench for 10 pts on 3-for-3 from the floor. Boykin had 9 pts and 9 rebs, and Ali had 8 pts and a team-high 6 asts. Tim Gilmore also scored 8 pts and made a pair of 3-pointers.
The odds of Citrus winning the WSC-South are still long, but tonight's win - combined with a December 31st victory over otherwise-unbeaten Mt. San Antonio - significantly improves the Owls' postseason outlook.
Meanwhile, Antelope Valley now has the chance to reward its fervent fan base by clinching at least a share of the WSC-South championship at home this Saturday when the Marauders host Santa Monica.
box score
Wednesday, February 11, 2015 - 5 pm
at Citrus College, Glendora
WSC-South
Antelope Valley Marauders 83:
1-Julius Bilbrew, SG - 4/11 fg, 2/2 ft, 6 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk, 3 pf, 12 pts
2-Lawrence White, PF - 6/7 fg, 6/6 ft, 8 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk, 3 stl, 3 pf, 18 pts
20-Ismail Ali, PG - 4/10 fg, 0/4 ft, 3 reb, 6 ast, 2 stl, 4 pf, 8 pts
21-Tim Gilmore, SF - 3/5 fg, 1 reb, 2 pf, 8 pts
23-Shelton Boykin, C - 2/7 fg, 4/4 ft, 9 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 2 pf, 9 pts
5-Adrian Francis, G - 2/6 fg, 1 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 1 pf, 6 pts
32-Tajee Shaw, C - 3/4 fg, 0/2 ft, 1 reb, 1 ast, 1 pf, 6 pts
3-Brandon Ruffin, F - 3/3 fg, 3/3 ft, 3 reb, 1 ast, 10 pts
10-Kamal Holden, G - 1/1 fg, 2/2 ft, 1 ast, 1 blk 2 pf, 4 pts
33-Aaron Jones, C - 1/2 fg, 3 reb, 1 blk, 2 pf, 2 pts
11-Kenneth KJ Moffett, G - 1 pf, 0 pts
4-Brandon Wade, G - 0 pts
team rebounds: 3
Totals: 29/56 fg (.518), 17/23 ft (.609), 38 reb, 16 ast, 4 blk, 7 stl, 21 pf, 83 pts
3-pt fg (8): Bilbrew 2, Gilmore 2, Francis 2, Boykin, Ruffin
Turnovers (20): Ali 8, Bilbrew 4, White 2, Ruffin 2, Holden 2, Gilmore, Boykin
Citrus Owls 86:
3-Justin Childress, PG - 1/6 fg, 5/6 ft, 4 reb, 10 ast, 1 blk, 2 stl, 7 pts
5-John Roach, PF - 6/13 fg, 2/2 ft, 2 reb, 2 ast, 4 pf, 20 pts
10-Dominique Walker, SF - 1/6 fg, 10/13 ft, 3 reb, 6 ast, 1 stl, 2 pf, 12 pts
20-Jordan Jefferson, SG - 1/8 fg, 1/2 ft, 4 reb, 1 stl, 2 pf, 3 pts
23-Ryan Wiley, C - 11/16 fg, 2/2 ft, 13 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 2 pf, 24 pts
34-Tyler LaCour, F - 1 ast, 2 pf, 0 pts
30-Jordan McNellys, G - 3/6 fg, 2 reb, 4 pf, 8 pts
25-Edgardo Campos, C - 0/1 fg, 1 reb, 0 pts
15-Bishop Hardy, G - 1/1 fg, 0/2 ft, 2 pts
32-Mark Williams, F - 4/4 fg, 1/1 ft, 1 reb, 1 ast, 2 pf, 10 pts
14-Steven Polee Jr., F - 0/2 fg, 1 ast, 1 pf, 0 pts
team rebounds: 4
Totals: 28/63 fg (.444), 21/28 ft (.750), 34 reb, 22 ast, 1 blk, 5 stl, 19 pf, 86 pts
3-pt fg (9): Roach 6, McNellys 2, Williams
Turnovers (14): Walker 3, Childress 2, Roach 2, Wiley 2, Jefferson, LaCour, Hardy, Williams, team
Halftime Score: Antelope Valley 43, Citrus 23
Updated Records: Citrus (#9-South, #19-Calif) 15-8, 8-3 in WSC-S; Antelope Valley (#4-South, #7-Calif) 22-5, 10-1 in WSC-S
AVC entered with a 16-game win streak and would have clinched the WSC-South with a win.
AVC led 49-25 early in the 2nd half.
Citrus rallied to lead 72-71 after a Roach 3-pointer with 4:18 left. The lead changed hands 4 more times.
Wiley gave Citrus an 81-79 lead with a 3-pt play with 1:10 left and Citrus led the rest of the way.
Bilbrew's would-be game-tying 3-pointer missed in the final seconds.
