All five starters scored in double figures and #1 Citrus shot 57% from the floor, leading the entire second half in a 92-78 win over #17 Imperial Valley Saturday in a SoCal regional quarterfinal playoff game in Glendora.
Citrus ran its record to an impressive 26-1 and trailed only briefly and by no more than a point in the game's first ten minutes. But Imperial Valley (20-9) stayed close, shooting a sizzling 70% from the floor in the second half, and trimmed the deficit to five points before Citrus finally clinched the win with free throws in the game's final minute.
Citrus jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the opening minutes, only to see Imperial Valley rally to take a 12-11 lead on a 3-pointer by former Fairfax HS (Los Angeles) standout PF Darius Singletary. After PG Brandon Woods put Citrus back in front, 13-12, SG Brandon Newman scored to give Imperial Valley a 14-13 advantage.
That would be Imperial Valley's last lead of the game, however, and Woods hit a 3-pointer moments later to give the Owls a 16-14 lead. Singletary made two free throws to tie the score at 16 with 10:57 left in the first half, which would be the final tie score of the night.
SG James Walker broke that tie with a floater to make it 18-16. Then PF Brandon Parga split two free throws, making the first to make it 19-16, but missing the second. However, SF Kerry Carter grabbed the rebound and scored on the putback to make it 21-16. The lead reached seven when Walker scored on a driving lay-up to make it 25-18 with 8:04 left in the half.
Imperial Valley got within 3 several times late in the half, but Woods demonstrated how it was his night when he attempted an alley-oop pass with just over a minute left only to watch the ball fall through the basket for a 3-pointer that gave the Owls a 38-31 halftime lead.
Carter scored in the opening seconds of the second half for Citrus, and the Owls held a lead of between 7 and 14 points for the first fifteen-plus minutes of the second half. A 3-pointer by Woods made it 58-44, and the Owls led by 14 again after a Walker lay-up with 9:15 left that made it 67-53.
Imperial Valley cut the deficit back to single digits on a jumper by Newman with 7:10 left that made it 68-59, and got within seven points when Singletary scored after a pass from Ctr Ryan Ena with 4:32 left to make it 74-67. Then Newman scored on a lay-up after a steal with 4:11 left to get the Arabs within five points at 74-69.
Citrus scored the game's next five points, pushing the lead back to double digits when Ctr Kendrick Thomas stole a pass, was fouled and made a free throw. He missed the second, but Walker grabbed the rebound and scored on the putback to make it 79-69 with 3:33 left, seemingly putting the Owls in control again.
But Imperial Valley kept scoring, getting within eight on a basket by Ena. Then Walker fouled out on an offensive foul with 2:23 left. Even after a Parga 3-pointer for Citrus, Singletary got Imperial Valley back within eight points at 82-74 with 2:10 left.
However, that would be as close as Imperial Valley would get. Singletary fouled out with 1:41 left, and PF Tyree Harrison scored on a tip-in with 1:15 left to give Citrus an 85-74 lead. Woods made four free throws and Parga made two in the game's final minute to seal the win for the Owls.
For Citrus, Woods led all scorers with 22 pts, including 4 threes (3 of which were intentional, but they all count), and dished out 4 asts. Carter and Walker each had 17 pts, and Parga had 15. Thomas had 10 pts and a game-high 7 rebs. The Owls shot 57% for the game and 64% in the second half.
Singletary led Imperial Valley with 20 pts and added a game-high 6 asts and 3 steals. Newman had 19 pts, 3 asts and 3 steals. Ena had 13 pts and a team-high 6 rebs, and SF Travis Alexander had 10.
With the win, Citrus runs its record to 26-1 with a narrow loss at Norcal power Diablo Valley the only blemish. The Owls will host Cuesta Wednesday night in a regional semifinal.
box score
Saturday, February 25, 2012 - 7 pm
at Citrus College, Glendora
Playoffs - Regional Quarterfinal
Imperial Valley Arabs 78:
3-Travis Alexander, SF - 4/8 fg, 1 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 2 pf, 10 pts
4-Ryan Ena, C - 6/11 fg, 1/2 ft, 6 reb, 2 ast, 2 pf, 13 pts
5-Nathaniel Williams, PG - 4/8 fg, 3 reb, 2 ast, 3 pf, 8 pts
11-Darius Singletary, PF - 5/13 fg, 9/12 ft, 4 reb, 6 ast, 3 stl, 5 pf, 20 pts
21-Brandon Newman, SG - 8/10 fg, 2/3 ft, 2 reb, 3 ast, 3 stl, 4 pf, 19 pts
32-Tyler Turner, F - 3/5 fg, 5 reb, 1 ast, 3 stl, 2 pf, 8 pts
23-Shawn Jones, C - 0/2 fg, 1 reb, 1 ast, 1 pf, 0 pts
1-Kris Cook, G - 0/1 fg, 2 pf, 0 pts
team rebounds: 8
Totals: 30/58 fg (.517), 12/17 ft (.706), 30 reb, 16 ast, 0 blk, 10 stl, 21 pf, 78 pts
3-pt fg (6): Alexander 2, Turner 2, Singletary, Newman
Fouled Out: Singletary 1:41 left
Turnovers (15): Newman 7, Williams 4, Alexander, Ena, Singletary, Turner
Citrus Owls 92:
3-Kerry Carter, SF - 8/12 fg, 1/1 ft, 6 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 3 pf, 17 pts
5-Brandon Woods, PG - 7/10 fg, 4/5 ft, 4 ast, 1 stl, 3 pf, 22 pts
12-James Walker, SG - 7/10 fg, 3/5 ft, 4 reb, 3 ast, 3 blk, 2 stl, 5 pf, 17 pts
32-Kendrick Thomas, C - 4/8 fg, 2/4 ft, 7 reb, 1 blk, 1 stl, 1 pf, 10 pts
45-Brandon Parga, PF - 3/9 fg, 7/10 ft, 4 reb, 1 blk, 1 stl, 2 pf, 15 pts
10-Nolan Abernathy, G - 0/2 fg, 1 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl, 0 pts
14-Tyree Harrison, F - 4/4 fg, 6 reb, 4 blk, 1 pf, 8 pts
25-Keyon Sayles, G - 1/3 fg, 3 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 3 pf, 3 pts
23-Royal Mathews, F - 0/1 fg, 2 ast, 0 pts
team rebounds: 3
Totals: 34/59 fg (.573), 17/25 ft (.680), 34 reb, 15 ast, 10 blk, 7 stl, 18 pf, 92 pts
3-pt fg (7): Woods 4, Parga 2, Sayles
Fouled Out: Walker 2:23 left
Turnovers (14): Woods 4, Abernathy 3, Harrison 3, Walker 2, Carter, Parga
Halftime Score: Citrus 38, Imperial Valley 31
Updated Records: Citrus (#1-seed South, #2-Calif) 26-1, Imperial Valley (#17-seed South) 20-9
Citrus started the game with an 8-0 run, but Imperial Valley led 12-11 and 14-13.
Citrus went on an 12-4 run to lead 25-18 and led the entire second half.
Imperial Valley got within 5 with 4:11 left and trailed by 8 with 2:10 left.
4 FTs by Woods and 2 FTs by Parga in the final minute clinched the win for Citrus.
