#3 LA City (27-3) jumped out to a 6-0 lead and led wire-to-wire over a stubborn #14 San Diego City (18-10) team in a foul-filled game in the first round of the playoffs Saturday night at LACC. The teams combined for 49 fouls and 67 free throws, but in the end LACC had the win, setting up a spirited showdown with regional rival Ventura next Saturday for the right to advance to the state tournament.
Chad McKenzie, LACC's 6-7 point guard, led the Cubs with 22 pts, 9 rebs and 6 asts. PF David Cornwell posted a double-double with 18 pts and 10 rebs, while SG Casey Gordon added 14 pts. And on a night that both of LACC's standout Centers, Clarence Matthews and Shawn Simpson, fouled out midway through the second half, PF/C Joseph Taylor came up huge for the Cubs. Playing the last 9 minutes-plus at Center, Taylor posted totals of 12 pts and 9 rebs while allowing LACC to hold onto its lead and advance to the second round of the playoffs.
McKenzie got LACC started with a pair of baskets in the early going, and Matthews scored on a putback to make it 6-0. San Diego hung around, trailing just 12-8, when PG Everett Morgan made the first of his 3 threes to push LACC's lead to 15-8.
After LA had pushed its lead to 10 at 24-14, SG Anthony Palmer spurred a San Diego run to cut LA's lead to 6 when he grabbed a long rebound, drew a foul and made a pair of free throws. Then he stole the ball in LA's backcourt and went in for a lay-up to make it 24-18. But the Cubs responded with a pair of free throws from Cornwell, a basket by Taylor and a loud jam by Cornwell to push their lead to 12 at 30-18.
San Diego rallied again, cutting the margin to 26 after a long jumper and a three by SG Packy Conway-O'Neill. But then McKenzie responded for LACC, going coast-to-coast for a lay-up and then passing to SF Torrance Tucker for a three to push the lead to 11 at 37-26. A pair of free throws from Taylor made it 39-26. LA maintained that 13-point edge at the half after Morgan canned a three just before the horn sounded for intermission.
In the second half, LACC pushed its lead to 17 almost immediately after baskets by Cornwell and McKenzie. The lead stayed in double digits and the fouls started piling up; both teams were in the penalty by the 14-minute mark.
San Diego rallied to cut the lead to 11 by scoring 3 baskets in less than 10 seconds. First SF Adrian Johnson scored. Then on the inbounds pass, Conway-O'Neill stole the ball and scored. Then on the next inbounds play, Johnson stole the ball and scored. That made it 63-52.
LACC pushed its lead back to 16 on a basket by Gordon on a feed from McKenzie, followed by a FG+FT 3-point play by McKenzie. But San Diego hung tough, briefly cutting the margin to single digits after an unusual 5-point play. Just as SF Tommy Arnold released the ball on a 3-point shot, a foul was called. The shot was good, and PF Radee Tutler was sent to the line. He made 2 free throws (that's the way it was called) to make it 70-61.
But that's as close as San Diego would get. A basket by McKenzie followed by a three from Tucker pushed LACC's lead to 14 at 80-66. After a three by PG Tito Littleton and a FG+FT 3-point play by Tutler cut the lead back to 11 at 83-72, LACC pulled away again. A pair of free throws by Taylor made it 88-72 and a basket by Gordon made it 90-72 with just over 2 minutes left, basically ending any remaining suspense as to the outcome.
San Diego lost despite a huge game from Tutler, who posted game-highs of 27 pts and 12 rebs. But Palmer was the only other Knight to score in double figures, and SD City was outrebounded on the night by 16 (55-39). Plus, LA City shot 50% from the floor while SD City shot just 31%.
With the win, LA City improves to 27-3 and will host Ventura in the regional final next Saturday. There is a bit of bad blood in the air between the programs as Ventura claims someone affiliated with LACC illegally recorded Ventura's game with Mt. San Jacinto friday night. In any case, it should be a great game between two excellent teams.
San Diego finishes 18-10, but it was quite a year for first-year coach Mitch Charlens. The Knights posted their best record in memory and tied for the Pacific Coast Conference championship. And though they never really threatened LA City, they hung tough and represented themselves well.
----------
box score
Saturday, February 26, 2005 - 7 pm
at LA City College
Playoffs - 1st Round
San Diego City Knights 80:
00-David Kinder, C - 1/7 fg, 6/8 ft, 3 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 8 pts
1-Tito Littleton, PG - 1/5 fg, 1 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 3 pts
3-Anthony Palmer, SG - 3/9 fg, 4/4 ft, 3 reb, 3 stl, 12 pts
21-Adrian Johnson, SF - 3/10 fg, 2/2 ft, 4 ast, 2 blk, 3 stl, 8 pts
32-Radee Tutler, PF - 7/19 fg, 13/16 ft, 12 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk, 3 stl, 27 pts
30-Tommy Arnold, F - 2/7 fg, 5 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 5 pts
55-Josh Hudson, C - 3/7 fg, 1/2 ft, 4 reb, 1 ast, 7 pts
2-Packy Conway-O'Neill, G - 3/8 fg, 2 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 7 pts
4-Cody Gatton, F - 0/1 fg, 1 reb, 1 ast, 0 pts
5-Will Knighton, G - 1/4 fg, 3 pts
team rebounds: 8
Totals: 24/77 fg (.312), 26/32 ft (.813), 39 reb, 14 ast, 3 blk, 13 stl, 80 pts
3-pt fg (6): Palmer 2, Littleton, Arnold, Conway-O'Neill, Knighton
Fouled Out: Johnson 6:16 left
Turnovers (130: Palmer 3, Johnson 3, Tutler 3, Kinder, Arnold, Hudson, Conway-O'Neill
Los Angeles City Cubs 95:
2-Casey Gordon, SG - 6/11 fg, 2/2 ft, 6 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 14 pts
10-Torrance Tucker, SF - 2/4 fg, 4 reb, 4 ast, 2 stl, 6 pts
13-David Cornwell, PF - 5/14 fg, 8/11 ft, 10 reb, 3 at, 2 blk, 1 stl, 18 pts
15-Clarence Matthews, C - 6/8 fg, 0/3 ft, 4 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 12 pts
30-Chad McKenzie, PG - 7/16 fg, 8/9 ft, 9 reb, 6 ast, 1 blk, 22 pts
33-Shawn Simpson, C - 1/4 fg, 4 reb, 1 stl, 2 pts
12-Everett Morgan, G - 3/4 fg, 4 reb, 2 ast, 9 pts
20-Joseph Taylor, F/C - 2/3 fg, 8/10 ft, 9 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl, 12 pts
team rebounds: 5
Totals: 32/64 fg (.500), 26/35 ft (.743), 55 reb, 19 ast, 4 blk, 7 stl, 95 pts
3-pt fg (5): Morgan 3, Tucker 2
Fouled Out: Simpson 14:40 left, Matthews 9:05 left
Turnovers (23): Morgan 5, Cornwell 4, Taylor 4, Tucker 3, McKenzie 3, Simpson 3, Matthews
Halftime Score: LA 42, SD 29
Updated Records: LA 27-3, SD 18-10
