PG Ron Howard scored 4 of his 18 pts and dished out a key assist in the final 1-1/2 minutes to help visiting San Bernardino Valley (9-4, 4-0 in Foothill) get past Chaffey (9-8, 2-2) in a thriller Saturday afternoon. Chaffey had overcome an 18-point halftime deficit to send the game into overtime, and had briefly led early in the OT, before SBVC came back to get the victory.
It was an intense, well-played game between two of the better teams in the state. Chaffey was coming off a 106-101 win over #2-ranked Antelope Valley on Wednesday, while the win moves SBVC into first place in what is almost certainly the toughest conference in California. In the last 6 days, Chaffey has faced Mt. San Jacinto, AVC and now SBVC.
Early on, it looked like SBVC would win in a romp. The Wolverines hit 9 of their first 10 shots to jump to a 21-7 lead in the first 5:10. SG Bobby Bowlin fed PF Kiare Mims for three dunks, and Ctr Gerald Garner hit his first 2 shots as SBVC looked unstoppable. Though Chaffey rallied to cut the deficit to 40-30 late in the first half, thanks to 14 first-half points by PG Sheldon Pace and 3 threes by SG Kevin Dillon, SBVC pushed the lead back to 18 at 52-34 at the half.
But in the second half, Chaffey rallied, sparked by its defense. The Panthers closed the gap to 55-50 five minutes into the second half before Ctr Jabbar Young got SBVC's first FG of the second half moments later. That helped slow the Chaffey rally, and a three by SF Johnny Dukes followed by a pair of FTs by Mims and a putback FG by Garner pushed the lead back to 12 at 66-54 a couple of minutes later.
However, Chaffey still had plenty of time to rally, and rally they did. Trailing 71-63 with just under 7 mins left, Chaffey got a three and a putback FG by SF Jason Harris to make it 71-68. SBVC refused to relinquish the lead and a putback FG by Bowlin followed by 2 FTs by Howard made it 81-74 with 2:20 to play. But then came a pair of quick SBVC turnovers, and Chaffey got a FG+FT 3-point play from Pace to make it 81-77. Then Harris stole the ball, and was fouled, and made 1 of the 2 FTs to close the gap to 81-78. When SBVC got the ball back, Howard was fouled and made 1 of 2 FTs to make it 82-78, but moments later Chaffey's Tony McFadden was fouled and also made 1 of 2 FTs to cut the margin back to 3.
And when Howard missed a shot for SBVC, Chaffey got the chance to tie. The ball went to Pace, who missed, but Harris grabbed the rebound and got the ball to PG Gerald DeVance. Standing in the left corner, DeVance let it fly, and the good 3-pointer tied the game at 82 with 22.1 seconds left, marking the first tie of the game (since 0-0) and completing Chaffey's comeback. Bowlin had a last-second shot to try to win it for SBVC, but missed, sending the game into OT.
Less than a minute into OT, Pace scored a bucket that gave Chaffey its first lead of the game at 84-82. But moments later, Dukes nailed a three to give SBVC the lead back at 85-84. Following single FTs by Howard (SBVC) and Ctr LaRon Williams (Chaffey), the Wolverines still led by a point until Williams scored a FG on a nice feed from Harri sto put Chaffey up 87-86 with just over 2 minutes left in OT.
But then SBVC came back again. Bowlin put SBVC back ahead on a putback with 1:52 left to make it 88-87. Then a Howard bucket made it 90-87. A Pace runner cut it to 90-89, but a nifty feed from Howard to Mims restored SBVC's margin to 3 at 92-89 with 56 seconds left.
Still, Chaffey wasn't done yet. DeVance missed a three, but Harris grabbed the rebound, went back up and scored the basket to make it 92-91. Plus, he was fouled on the play, and his FT with 31.6 secs left could tie the game.
But he missed. And SBVC's SG Shawn McAllister grabbed the rebound before getting the ball into Howard's hands. Chaffey fouled Howard, who knocked home both FTs, making it 94-91 with 19.3 secs left. Still, Chaffey could tie with a three and they had plenty of time.
But the magic was over. SG Kevin Dillon's three bounced off the rim, and Dukes rebounded for SBVC. Dukes got the ball to McAllister, who was fouled with 2.4 secs left. When he made 1 FT, SBVC had a hard-fought victory.
SBVC was led by Mims, who had 24 pts and 9 rebs. Howard finished with 18 pts and 6 asts, and came up big when the game was on the line. Dukes posted a double-double with 11 pts and 14 rebs. Bowlin had a strong all-around game with 13 pts, 10 asts and 6 rebs. And Garner was perfect from the floor - 8 for 8 - en route to 17 pts and 6 rebs. Though SBVC cooled off a little from their torrid start, they show 52% from the field, which offset their 30 turnovers.
Chaffey was led, as usual, by Pace who had 29 pts and 4 asts. Harris had 18 pts and 11 rebs. DeVance had 9 pts and a team-best 5 asts. Though the Panthers shot just 35% from the floor, they committed just 15 turnovers and generated 16 steals (and forced 30 SBVC turnovers). And of course they overcame an 18-point lead to force OT.
All in all, it was very much worth the hour-and-fifteen minute (each way) drive!
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Saturday, January 10, 2004 - 3 pm
at Chaffey College, Rancho Cucamonga
San Bernardino Valley Wolverines 95:
1-Johnny Dukes, SF - 4/11 fg, 1/4 ft, 14 reb, 2 ast, 2 blk, 2 stl, 11 pts
3-Ron Howard, PG - 4/8 fg, 9/15 ft, 3 reb, 6 ast, 2 stl, 18 pts
14-Bobby Bowlin, SG - 5/10 fg, 3/3 ft, 6 reb, 10 ast, 1 blk, 13 pts
30-Kiare Mims, PF - 10/15 fg, 3/4 ft, 9 reb, 2 stl, 24 pts
44-Gerald Garner, C - 8/8 fg, 1/2 ft, 6 reb, 1 blk, 1 stl, 17 pts
4-Jabbar Young, C - 2/3 fg, 2/3 ft, 5 reb, 1 blk, 6 pts
31-Isaiah Bryant, F - 2/5 fg, 4 reb, 5 pts
5-Sam Funn, G - 0/1 fg, 1 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 0 pts
23-Rashawn McAllister, G - 0/3 fg, 1/2 ft, 2 reb, 2 ast, 1 pt
15-Rummel Clark, F - 0/3 fg, 1 reb, 0 pts
team rebounds: 5
Totals: 35/67 fg (.522), 20/33 ft (.606), 56 reb, 21 ast, 5 blk, 8 stl, 95 pts
3-pt fg (5): Dukes 2, Howard, Mims, Bryant
Turnovers (30): Howard 8, Dukes 6, Bowlin 4, Mims 4, Funn 4, Garner 2, Young, Bryant
Chaffey Panthers 91:
55-Kevin Fane, C - 0/1 fg, 2/2 ft, 2 reb, 2 pts
32-Erik Scott, PF - 3/5 fg, 7 reb, 2 stl, 8 pts
23-Kevin Dillon, SG - 3/13 fg, 5 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl, 9 pts
22-Jason Harris, SF - 6/16 fg, 5/9 ft, 11 reb, 3 ast, 1 blk, 3 stl, 18 pts
4-Sheldon Pace, PG - 13/29 fg, 3/8 ft, 1 reb, 4 ast, 2 stl, 29 pts
24-Phillip Scott, F - 1/6 fg, 1/2 ft, 1 stl, 4 pts
10-Gerald DeVance, G - 3/7 fg, 1 reb, 5 ast, 2 stl, 9 pts
11-Tony McFadden, F - 1/6 fg, 4/6 ft, 5 reb, 2 blk, 1 stl, 7 pts
33-Victor Michel, G - 0/3 fg, 1/4 ft, 3 reb, 1 ast, 3 stl, 1 pt
45-Justin Hamilton, F - 0/1 fg, 1 reb, 0 pts
21-LaRon Williams, C - 1/1 fg, 2/4 ft, 3 reb, 1 blk, 4 pts
team rebounds: 6
Totals: 31/88 fg (.352), 18/35 ft (.514), 45 reb, 16 ast, 4 blk, 16 stl, 91 pts
3-pt fg (11): Dillon 3, DeVance 3, E.Scott 2, Harris, P.Scott, McFadden
Fouled Out: E.Scott 2:20 left
Turnovers (15): E.Scott 4, Pace 2, DeVance 2, McFadden 2, Dillon, Harris, P.Scott, Michel, Hamilton
Halftime Score: SBVC 52, Chaffey 34
End, Regulation: Tied at 82
Updated Records: SBVC 9-4 (4-0), Chaffey 9-8 (2-2)
