For the third time this season, #3 Antelope Valley faced a team it had lost to previously, and for the third time the Marauders exacted revenge, going on a 23-5 run early in the second half en route to an 83-56 rout of #15 Citrus Wednesday night in Lancaster.
Antelope Valley (23-4, 8-1) suffered its only defeat in its last 17 games in overtime against Citrus in Glendora on January 18th. And for a little more than a half, it looked like the Owls, and particularly Ctr Chris Reyes, had a chance to repeat that outcome.
But early in the second half, AVC took control of the game with the 23-5 run, taking a 58-36 lead midway through the second half and continuing to pull away as the clock wound down. A slam dunk by Ctr Zachary Hollis pushed the Marauder lead to 30 points at 77-47 with just over 4 minutes remaining.
For a half, the Marauders nursed a short lead, taking a 14-8 advantage in the first few minutes and holding it the rest of the way. But Citrus (13-8, 6-4) never let the lead grow beyond six points, mainly due to the outstanding play of Reyes, until the 23-5 run, and trailed by just three points at 29-26 at the half. It was 35-31 early in the second half.
A fast-break basket by SG Lucciano Gamiz off a pass from PG Ismail Ali started the run for Antelope Valley. Gamiz hit a 3-pointer moments later to make it 40-31. Ali split two free throws with 16:38 left to push the AVC lead to double digits at 41-31.
PG Justin Childress made a 3-pointer for Citrus, but that couldn't stop the Marauder momentum as Gamiz answered with a 3-pointer just a few seconds later. Two free throws by SF Lawrence White made it 46-35. Gamiz scored on a driving lay-up and SF Kamal Holden scored on a putback to make it 50-35. A steal by PG Adrian Francis led to a slam dunk by Holden that made it 52-35 with 12:09 remaining.
A Citrus timeout did little to stop the onslaught. PF Daviyon Draper made a step-back jumper to make it 54-35. Then Draper took a pass from Ali and threw down a dunk to push the lead to 20 at 56-36. Ctr
Gamiz led the victorious Marauders with his 19 pts, which included 6 straight made shots at one point; he also had 4 rebs and 3 steals. Draper had 14 pts, 5 rebs and 4 blocked shots. Ali had 7 pts and dished out a game-high 11 asts and grabbed 3 steals. Wright came off the bench for 13 pts and 8 rebs. AVC shot 54%from the floor in the second half, and registered 18 steals while forcing 24 Citrus turnovers for the game.
For Citrus, Reyes had a tremendous game with game-highs of 28 pts, 20 rebs and 8 blocked shots. But Childress was the only other player to score in double digits for Citrus; he finished with 11 pts and 3 steals. SF Daniel Cheek came off the bench for 7 pts and 6 rebs. The rest of the Owls combined for just 10 points on 3-for-26 from the floor.
The win increases AVC's lead in the WSC-South to a full game over Glendale, whose coaching staff was in the stands Wednesday night. The Marauders take on the Vaqueros next Wednesday in Glendale with a chance to clinch the WSC-S championship outright.
And the win avenges AVC's loss at Citrus last month. The Marauders also beat Chaffey and Canyons in re-matches after losing to each of those teams early in the season. Only Saddleback remains unavenged, but the Marauders will have to wait until the playoffs to settle that score.
box score
Wednesday, February 12, 2014 - 7 pm
Citrus Owls 56:
3-pt fg (4): Childress 2, Jefferson, Reyes
Antelope Valley Marauders 83:
3-pt fg (4): Gamiz 3, Gilmore
Halftime Score: Antelope Valley 29, Citrus 26
Updated Records: Antelope Valley (#3-South, #5-Calif) 23-4, 8-1 in WSC-S; Citrus (t-#15-South) 13-8, 6-4 in WSC-S
AVC went on a 23-5 run in the 2nd half to lead 58-36 and take control of the game.
at Marauder Gym, Lancaster
WSC-South
3-Justin Childress, PG - 3/8 fg, 3/4 ft, 2 reb, 1 ast, 3 stl, 4 pf, 11 pts
10-Dominique Walker, SF - 0/4 fg, 1/2 ft, 2 reb, 4 ast, 2 stl, 3 pf, 1 pt
14-Steven Polee Jr., PF - 0/9 fg, 0/1 ft, 5 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 2 pf, 0 pts
20-Jordan Jefferson, SG - 2/6 fg, 1/2 ft, 3 reb, 1 stl, 2 pf, 6 pts
23-Chris Reyes, C - 11/20 fg, 5/13 ft, 20 reb, 8 blk, 1 stl, 2 pf, 28 pts
12-Daniel Cheek, F - 3/9 fg, 1/4 ft, 6 reb, 1 ast, 2 pf, 7 pts
34-Shaquille Barker, G - 1/3 ft, 2 reb, 1 ast, 1 pt
5-Therique Card, G - 0/1 fg, 2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 2 pf, 0 pts
30-John Roach, F - 1/4 fg, 3 reb, 1 ast, 2 pts
32-Edgardo Campos, C - 0/2 fg, 1 reb, 3 pf, 0 pts
team rebounds: 5
Totals: 20/63 fg (.317), 12/29 ft (.414), 51 reb, 10 ast, 9 blk, 8 stl, 20 pf, 56 pts
Turnovers (24): Childress 6, Barker 5, Polee 4, Wallker 3, Jefferson 2, Cheek 2, Reyes, Card
2-Lawrence White, SF - 0/4 fg, 2/2 ft, 5 reb, 2 ast, 2 blk, 4 stl, 1 pf, 2 pts
4-Lucciano Gamiz, SG - 8/15 fg, 0/1 ft, 4 reb, 1 ast, 3 stl, 2 pf, 19 pts
11-Daviyon Draper, PF - 5/15 fg, 4/6 ft, 5 reb, 1 ast, 4 blk, 1 stl, 3 pf, 14 pts
12-Zachary Hollis, C - 2/4 fg, 1/2 ft, 4 reb, 1 ast, 2 blk, 2 stl, 4 pf, 5 pts
20-Ismail Ali, PG - 0/3 fg, 7/8 ft, 2 reb, 11 ast, 3 stl, 3 pf, 7 pts
32-Tajee Shaw, C - 3/6 fg, 0/1 ft, 8 reb, 2 stl, 3 pf, 6 pts
22-Kamal Holden, F - 3/6 fg, 3 reb, 1 blk, 1 stl, 2 pf, 6 pts
5-Adrian Francis, G - 2/5 fg, 3 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 1 pf, 4 pts
10-Tim Johnson, G - 0/3 fg, 0/2 ft, 2 reb, 1 ast, 1 pf, 0 pts
24-Ryan Wright, C - 6/11 fg, 1/3 ft, 8 reb, 1 stl, 2 pf, 13 pts
1-Darren Tooke, F - 1/1 fg, 1 reb, 2 pf, 2 pts
21-Tim Gilmore, G - 2/4 fg, 5 pts
team rebounds: 8
Totals: 32/77 fg (.416), 15/25 ft (.600), 53 reb, 19 ast, 9 blk, 18 stl, 24 pf, 83 pts
Technical Foul: Draper
Turnovers (14): White 5, Johnson 3, Ali 2, Francis 2, Shaw, Wright
