SF Gerry Blakes scored 23 pts and PG Keith Smith as #4 San Bernardino won its much-anticipated showdown with #2 Chaffey to take control of the Foothill Conference race Wednesday night in San Bernardino.
In an intense, playoff-type game that featured 56 fouls, 75 free throws and a couple of second-half dust-ups, San Bernardino Valley (24-7, 8-1) held the Panthers to just 29% shooting and finished with a flourish to take a one-game lead in the conference race with just one game left on the schedule.
Blakes drained a 3-pointer with 4:23 left that gave SBVC a 49-44 lead, and that started a 12-3 run that saw the Wolverines take a double-digit lead with 2:20 left. And though the game would take another 20 minutes to play after that as both teams exhaused its supply of timeouts and, seemingly, of fouls, SBVC maintained a lead of at least 8 points over the last 2:20.
San Bernardino Valley started the game by jumping out to a 7-0 lead, thanks largely to Smith, who had two baskets and an assist in the first 2:15. But Chaffey (24-5, 7-2) rallied to cut the margin to 7-6, and Smith picked up two quick fouls and headed to the bench, where he would stay the rest of the first half.
And the game would stay close the rest of the half as well, even as each team was assessed 13 personal fouls and Smith watched from the bench. Chaffey tied the score at 11 on a 3-pointer by PG Julian Nichols and took a 20-15 lead after two free throws from SG John Gilliam midway through the half. San Bernardino took a 21-20 lead on a Blakes 3-pointer and led, 30-26, with just over a minute to go in the half. Chaffey Ctr Adom Jacko scored in the final seconds of the half to cut SBVC's lead to 30-28 at the break.
The score remained close for the first 15 minutes of the second half, with neither team leading by more than 4 points. Smith picked up his 3rd foul just 2:15 into the second half, but stayed on the floor. Chaffey held a 40-37 lead midway through the half after a short jumper by Jacko.
SBVC took a 44-42 lead on a putback basket by Dixon with about 8:40 to go, and the score was still 44-42 when the first dust-up occured with 6:19 left. Jacko and Dixon fell into a pile pursuing a loose ball, and after the whistle there were a few shoves. Several SBVC players - most if not all of the bench - spilled out onto the floor before being restrained by the coaching staff; several Chaffey fans spilled out onto the floor from the stands on the stands opposite the benches as well. After a brief moment of chaos - and a 10-minute deliberation by the three officials - double-technicals were assessed against Jacko and Dixon, the trespassing spectators were led to the exit and play resumed.
The peace lasted just over a minute. Smith intercepted a pass near midcourt and went up for a lay-up but was fouled hard by Jacko, who had been in pursuit from midcourt. In the aftermath Jacko was assessed a flagrant foul 1 and Smith made the resulting free throws to make it 46-42 with 5:07 left. SBVC kept the ball, but Jacko maintained his poise and blocked a shot on the defensive end and then scored off a pass from Nichols on the offensive end to make it 46-44.
But Blakes changed the momentum for good with his 3-pointer with 4:23 left. Then moments later a steal by Dixon led to a lay-up by Smith that made it 51-44. Chaffey got a free throw, but Blakes made two free throws with 3:47 left to make it 53-45. Chaffey got a 2-point basket by SG Charles Callison answered with a 3-point basket just before the shot clock was set to expire to make it 56-47 with just under 3 minutes left. Blakes was fouled with 2:23 left; he missed the resulting free throw, but Ctr Marcus Fuggins followed with a putback slam to make it 58-47.
SBVC maintained a lead of at least 8 points the rest of the way, but the game was far from over in terms of actual time. Each team exhausted its supply of timeouts and Chaffey used a few fouls, but the lead remained insurmountable. The SBVC students started singing "Kiss Him Goodbye" with 1:11 left but gave up long before Blakes threw down a windmill dunk in the final seconds to finally close out the scoring.
Blakes, who is headed to Arizona State next season, led all scorers with his 23 pts, which included 3 three-pointers, and added 5 rebs and 2 asts. Smith had 16 pts despite sitting out most of the first half. Dixon had 10 pts, 4 rebs, 3 asts, 2 steals and a blocked shot. Ctr Darren Smith came off the bench and had a big impact with 7 pts and a game-high 9 rebs, playing much of the first half as Fuggins sat with 2 personal fouls.
For Chaffey, Jacko had team-highs of 15 pts, 7 rebs and 3 blocked shots. Gilliam had 12 pts and 6 rebs. Nichols had 9 pts, 5 rebs and a team-high 4 asts. But the CHP shot just 29% from the floor; making 15 of 21 free throws helped minimize the damage in the first half but the shots never really started falling.
The win gives San Bernardino a one-game lead in the Foothill Conference, and the Wolverines can clinch the title outright with a win Saturday afternoon at Rio Hondo. And a conference championship would likely mean a high seed, perhaps as high as a #2 seed, in the playoffs that begin next week. SBVC had a 24-7 record but is 23-5 against California teams. Chaffey, meanwhile, would seem to be in line for either a #4 or #5 seed by finishing second.
box score
Wednesday, February 19, 2014 - 7 pm
at Snyder Gymnasium, San Bernardino
Foothill Conference
Chaffey Panthers 56:
1-Adom Jacko, C - 3/9 fg, 9/11 ft, 7 reb, 3 blk, 1 stl, 5 pf, 15 pts
5-Roderick Evans-Taylor, PF - 2/5 fg, 1 reb, 3 pf, 4 pts
10-Julian Nichols, PG - 2/9 fg, 4/6 ft, 5 reb, 4 ast, 3 pf, 9 pts
11-John Gilliam, SG - 2/8 fg, 7/10 ft, 6 reb, 1 stl, 1 pf, 12 pts
35-Jeff Nibo, SF - 1/5 fg, 3/6 ft, 2 reb, 4 pf, 5 pts
32-Andre Wilson, G - 1/4 fg, 2/3 ft, 3 reb, 4 pf, 4 pts
24-Devyn Sampson, F - 0/4 fg, 1/2 ft, 3 reb, 5 pf, 1 pt
14-Pape Automane Seck, C - 2 reb, 1 stl, 1 stl, 1 pf, 0 pts
12-Cassie Hough, G - 2/2 fg, 2 reb, 2 pf, 4 pts
34-Tyler Shea, C - 1 pf, 0 pts
2-Chris Fowler, G - 1/2 fg, 2 pts
team rebounds: 6
Totals: 14/48 fg (.292), 26/38 ft (.684), 37 reb, 6 ast, 3 blk, 3 stl, 29 pf, 56 pts
3-pt fg (2): Nichols, Gilliam
Flagrant Foul: Jacko (FL-1)
Technical Foul: Jacko
Fouled Out: Jacko 48.1 seconds left, Sampson 18.3 seconds left
Turnovers (14): Jacko 5, Gilliam 5, Gilliam, Wilson, Seck, Hough
San Bernardino Valley Wolverines 68:
3-Keith Smith, PG - 4/8 fg, 7/10 ft, 2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 5 pf, 16 pts
4-Gerry Blakes, SF - 6/14 fg, 8/11 ft, 5 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk, 2 pf, 23 pts
5-Tymarieh TA Dixon, PF - 2/8 fg, 6/9 ft, 4 reb, 3 ast, 1 blk, 2 stl, 2 pf, 10 pts
21-Marcus Fuggins, C - 2/4 fg, 1/2 ft, 3 reb, 1 ast, 3 blk, 1 stl, 4 pf, 5 pts
24-Charles Callison, G - 2/6 fg, 2/2 ft, 3 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 3 pf, 7 pts
32-Trayvon Bashir, F - 0/1 fg, 2 reb, 4 pf, 0 pts
2-Austin Daniels, G - 0/2 fg, 4 reb, 1 ast, 2 pf, 0 pts
34-Darren Smith, C - 3/4 fg, 1/3 ft, 9 reb, 2 blk, 1 stl, 4 pf, 7 pts
20-Paul Evans, G - 0 pts
0-Darren Lockett, G - 0/1 fg, 1 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 0 pts
team rebounds: 9
Totals: 19/48 fg (.396), 25/37 ft (.676), 42 reb, 11 ast, 8 blk, 6 stl, 27 pf, 68 pts
3-pt fg (5) : Blakes 3, K.Smith, Callison
Technical Foul: Dixon
Fouled Out: K.Smith 42.1 seconds left
Turnovers (15): Blakes 4, Dixon 3, D.Smith 3, K.Smith, Callison, Bashir, Evans, Dockett
Halftime Score: San Bernardino Valley 30, Chaffey 28
Updated Records: San Bernardino Valley (#4-South, #7-Calif) 24-7, 8-1 in conf; Chaffey (#2-South, #4-Calif) 24-5, 7-2 in conf
Chaffey led 40-37 midway through the 2nd half.
There were 2 dust-ups at 6:19 (double technicals) and 5:07 (flagrant foul) when it was 44-42.
Blakes' 3-pointer with 4:23 left spurred a 12-3 run for SBVC that pushed the lead to 58-47, and SBVC led the rest of the way.
