On a night when state scoring leader Sam Williams struggled with foul trouble, three of his teammates took up the slack and scored in double figures as #12 Mt. San Jacinto won an absolutely critical road game 57-55 over #14 Mira Costa Friday night in PCC-North action.
Mt. San Jacinto (20-7, 4-2) moves into a tie with Palomar for first place in the ultra-competitive division that has all five teams within two games of each other with a week to go in the regular season. And Mira Costa (13-12, 3-4) falls into a tie for third place with just one division game - against division co-leader Palomar - left on its slate.
Friday, Williams, who entered the game averaging over 26 points per game, sat down midway through the first half with foul trouble and never really got in the groove. But he managed to score 13 points, and with help from Alan Palesano, Blake O'Donnell and Pee Wee Gardner that proved to be just enough.
It was barely enough, thanks to the usual outstanding performance by Mira Costa's Buddha Boyd. The 6-4 freshman forward, who spent some time in the U.S. Air Force prior to coming to Mira Costa, was the best player on the floor all night with 25 points, including 4 three-pointers, and 9 rebounds. But in the final seconds he had two chances to tie the score or give the Spartans the lead, and got good looks each time, but each time the shot bounced off the rim and out.
The game was close throughout, with neither team leading by more than 10 points and each team's largest lead of the night disappearing in just a few minutes.
Mira Costa jumped out to a 12-4 lead in the first five minutes of the game. Mt. San Jacinto cut the margin to three at 14-11 when Williams went to the bench midway through the first half, but the Eagles kept rallying. A putback basket by Isaiah Jones tied the score at 16 and a 3-pointer by Palesano put Mt. San Jacinto in front, 19-18. Those were the first two scores were the beginning of an 11-2 run that saw Mt. San Jacinto take a 27-20 lead.
Mira Costa cut the deficit to three points at 30-27, but Williams came out firing and made a three and a basket inside to help Mt. San Jacinto push its lead to ten points at 37-27 about two minutes into the second half. But Mira Costa answered with a 12-1 run, taking a 39-38 lead after a 3-pointer by Boyd with 14:35 left to play.
Mt. San Jacinto answered that run with an 11-2 run, re-taking the lead and pushing its advantage to eight points after a putback basket by O'Donnell with just over eight minutes to play. And somehow the Eagles managed to make that lead last the rest of the way.
Mira Costa got within three points at 53-50 after a reverse lay-up by Fareed Ahmed and got the ball back with a chance to tie it. But Gabe Gonzalez' 3-point try missed and Gardner, the smallest player on the floor, go the ball for Mt. San Jacinto. Then about 35 seconds later Gardner launched a desperation three as the shot clock expired. It missed, but O'Donnell grabbed the rebound and scored to make it 55-50 with 2:29 left.
Boyd scored for Mira Costa to get the Spartans within three points again, but Mt. San Jacinto used up the entire shot clock once again before O'Donnell was fouled attempting a 3-point shot just ahead of the buzzer. He made just one of the three shot, but that made it a two-possession game with 1:46 remaining. And neither team scored again for more than a minute.
Boyd hit a three with 29.8 seconds left to bring Mira Costa within a point at 56-55. Then after two missed free throws by Mt. San Jacinto's Devin Shallowhorn, Boyd got the ball back with a chance to give the Spartans the lead. But his jumper missed and O'Donnell got the rebound for Mt. San Jacinto and was fouled with 5.1 seconds left. He split the two free throws to make it 57-55. Boyd had one last chance just ahead of the final buzzer from just inside the 3-point line, but it too bounced off the rim, allowing Mt. San Jacinto to escape with the win.
Williams led the winners with 13 pts, 9 in the second half, but that is about half his average and he had just one rebound. Palesano had 12 pts on 4 three-poiinters, plus 5 rebs, 3 asts and a steal. O'Donnell had 10 pts, 7 rebs, 3 asts and 2 steals. Jones had a very solid game with 5 pts, 7 rebs and 4 blocked shots. And Gardner provided a real boost off the bench with 10 pts, a key in that Mt. San Jacinto's bench outscored Mira Costa's bench, 17-2.
For Mira Costa, Boyd's 25 pts and 9 rebs were both game-highs, as were his 4 three-pointers. Punter had 11 pts and 4 asts, and Ahmed had 11 pts, 7 rebs and 2 blocked shots. Travell Hector had a rough night shooting, going 1-for-9, but he dished out a game-high 7 asts and also grabbed 2 steals.
box score
Friday, February 13, 2015 - 5 pm
at Mira Costa College, Oceanside
Pacific Coast Conference - North Division
Mt. San Jacinto Eagles 57:
0-Isaiah Jones, C - 1/5 fg, 3/4 ft, 7 reb, 4 blk, 4 pf, 5 pts
2-Blake O'Donnell, SF - 4/12 fg, 2/5 ft, 7 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl, 10 pts
12-Nikko Turner, PG - 0/2 fg, 4 reb, 2 ast, 0 pts
22-Alan Palesano, SG - 4/9 fg, 5 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl, 1 pf, 12 pts
33-Samuel Williams, PF - 5/8 fg, 2/2 ft, 1 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 3 pf, 13 pts
14-Pee Wee Gardner, G - 4/11 fg, 2/3 ft, 3 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 2 pf, 10 pts
44-Austin Klug, C - 2/5 fg, 3 reb, 1 stl, 3 pf, 4 pts
24-Roosevelt Adams, F - 1/4 fg, 4 reb, 4 pf, 3 pts
15-Devin Shallowhorn, G - 0/1 fg, 0/2 ft, 2 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 2 pf, 0 pts
11-Tre Hunter, F - 2 reb, 1 ast, 0 pts
team rebounds: 5
Totals: 21/57 fg (.368), 9/16 ft (.563), 43 reb, 12 ast, 6 blk, 5 stl, 19 pf, 57 pts
3-pt fg (6): Palesano 4, Williams, Adams
Turnovers (19): O'Donnell 4, Williams 4, Gardner 3, Shallowhorn 2, Jones, Turner, Palesano, Klug, Adams, Hunter
Mira Costa Spartans 55:
1-Travell Hector, SG - 1/9 fg, 1 reb, 7 ast, 2 stl, 2 pf, 2 pts
2-Donny Punter, PG - 4/6 fg, 3/5 ft, 1 reb, 4 ast, 1 pf, 11 pts
11-Buddha Boyd, PF - 9/22 fg, 3/4 ft, 9 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl, 2 pf, 25 pts
23-Willie Owens, SF - 2/3 fg, 4 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 2 pf, 4 pts
43-Fareed Ahmed, C - 3/8 fg, 5/6 ft, 7 reb, 2 blk, 1 stl, 1 pf, 11 pts
10-Travon Tucker, G - 0/3 fg, 1 reb, 1 stl, 2 pts, 0 pts
32-Ryan Somers, F - 0 pts
33-Brennan Merchant, C - 1/1 fg, 1 reb, 1 blk, 3 pf, 2 pts
3-Gabe Gonzalez, G - 0/1 fg, 1 ast, 1 pf, 0 pts
22-Trevor Monahan, F - 0/1 fg, 1 reb, 0 pts
20-David Morgan, G - 1 pf, 0 pts
team rebounds: 7
Totals: 20/54 fg (.370), 11/15 ft (.733), 32 reb, 15 ast, 3 blk, 7 stl, 15 pf, 55 pts
3-pt fg (4): Boyd 4
Turnovers (15): Punter 5, Boyd 3, Tucker 3, Hector 2, Merchant 2
Halftime Score: Mt. San Jacinto 30, Mira Costa 27
Updated Records: Mt. San Jacinto (#12-South) 20-7, 4-2 in PCC-N; Mira Costa (#14-South) 13-12, 3-4 in PCC-N
Mira Costa led 12-4 early but Mt. San Jacinto led 27-20 after an 11-2 run late in the 1st half.
Mt. San Jacinto led 37-27 early in the 2nd half.
Mira Costa went on a 12-1 run to lead 39-38. MSJC went on an 11-2 run to lead 49-41.
Boyd had 2 good looks in the final 10 seconds to tie it or give Mira Costa the lead, but they both missed.
