Four players scored in double figures for LA Valley, which rallied from a 14-point first-half deficit and held Bakersfield scoreless for the final 5:48 of the game, stunning the #5-ranked Renegades, 70-65, Friday night in WSC-South action.
In a game delayed by two days because of the weather, no amount of rain or snow could keep Bakersfield away from Valley Glen. And for a while it looked like nothing could keep the Renegades, who entered with 14 wins and a 1-point loss in their last 15 games, from rolling past the Monarchs.
But Valley turned out to be more formidable than the elements, rallying from a 14-point first-half deficit to get the win.
After trailing 34-20 with 4:26 left in the first half, Valley cut the margin to just seven at the half and to just a point early in the second half. After Bakersfield held a narrow lead for most of the second half, the Renegades pushed their lead to five points on a 3-pointer by SF Skyler Vaden with 5:48 to play.
Those, however, would be Bakersfield's final points of the game. And Valley managed just enough offense, scoring 10 points over that final 5:48, to pull out the surprise victory.
Early on, the teams battled on even terms and traded runs. Valley started on a 5-0 spurt, but five points by PF Chase Adams brought Bakersfield even, 5-5. Then Valley scored the next seven points to take a 12-5 lead, only to see Bakersfield rally to tie the score again, this time at 14. Then the lead went back and forth a couple of times, with Valley taking an 18-17 lead on a pair of free throws by SF Jerome Lowe with 9:38 left in the first half.
Then came the 17-2 Bakersfield run, which seemed to put the Renegades in control. A 3-pointer by PF Nick Markovich got things started, and back-to-back threes by Adams and PG Ricky Wofford made it 32-20. A driving lay-up by Ctr Bobby Fisher made it 34-20 with 4:26 left in the half.
Valley steadied things after that, cutting the margin to seven points at halftime to trail, 40-33, at the break. And the Monarchs cut the lead to a single point at 43-42 early in the second half on a driving lay-up by SG Joel Spriggs.
Bakesfield continued to nurse a short lead for the next few minutes until Valley finally took a 52-50 lead on a 3-point play by Ctr Amer Mudallal with 13:08 left. But Bakersfield went back in front, 54-52 on a pair of free throws by Adams after Mudallal was called for a technical foul. Valley went back in front, 56-54, in a basket by Spriggs with 10:02 to play, but then Bakersfield got a 3-pointer from Wofford and a lay-up from Vaden to go ahead, 59-56. Vaden's 3-pointer with 5:48 left pushed the margin to five at 65-60.
But that would be all the scoring for Bakersfield in the game. Points were scarce for both teams, but Valley finally pulled in front on a free throw by Lowe after a loose ball foul with 2:55 left, making it 66-65.
The Renegades still trailed by just a point with under a minute left when SG Bart Dandridge stole the ball and passed to SF E.J. Kirby. But Kirby missed, and Spriggs got the rebound for Valley. He passed to PG Robert Brown, who was fouled immediately and made a pair of free throws to make it 68-65 with 30.8 seconds left.
Bakersfield still had a chance to tie, but Ctr Pierre Prince intercepted a pass in the lane for Valley. He passed to Brown, who again was fouled immediately and again sank two free throws to make it 70-65 with 17.1 seconds left. Bakersfield's Fisher tried a 3-pointer a few seconds later, but it missed, and Valley secured the rebound and the win.
For Valley, Lowe finished with 17 pts, including 12-for-13 from the free throw line, to lead all scorers. Brown had 14 pts, 4 asts, 2 steals and just 2 turnovers against the vaunted Bakersfield defensive pressure. Spriggs had a double-double with 12 pts plus a game-high 14 rebs and a team-high 6 asts. SF Davion Garner came off the bench for 10 pts.
For Bakersfield, Vaden had 16 pts, 5 rebs and 3 asts in an extremely strong performance after reportedly attending a funeral earlier in the day. Adams had 12 pts, including 3 threes. But no other Renegades scored in double figures. Wofford had 9 pts, 3 asts and 3 steals, and Kirby had 9 pts and 4 rebs. Fisher had 8 pts, and team-highs of 10 rebs and 6 asts, but was just 3-for-16 from the floor. Overall, Bakersfield shot just 31% from the floor and just 25% in the second half.
With the win, Valley moves into second place in the rugged WSC-South, a game behind Citrus, while Bakersfield falls to 2-2 in conference play entering tomorrow night's game against Santa Monica.
Box Score
Friday, January 22, 2010 - 5 pm
at LA Valley College, Valley Glen
WSC-South
Bakersfield Renegades 65:
3-Ricky Wofford, PG - 2/9 fg, 3/5 ft, 3 reb, 3 ast, 3 stl, 2 pf, 9 pts
15-E.J. Kirby, SF - 4/7 fg, 1/4 ft, 4 reb, 2 stl, 4 pf, 9 pts
22-Stevie Howard, SG - 0/5 fg, 5 reb, 4 ast, 3 pf, 0 pts
44-Chase Adams, PF - 4/12 fg, 2/5 ft, 4 reb, 2 stl, 13 pts
55-Bobby Fisher, C - 3/16 fg, 2/4 ft, 10 reb, 6 ast, 2 blk, 2 stl, 2 pf, 8 pts
1-Nick Crossan, G - 0/1 fg, 2/2 ft, 1 stl, 2 pf, 2 pts
11-Skyler Vaden, F - 5/12 fg, 4/4 ft, 5 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl, 2 pf, 16 pts
23-Nick Markovich, F - 2/3 fg, 1 stl, 6 pts
30-Bart Dandridge, G - 0/2 fg, 1 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 2 pf, 0 pts
40-Cooper Damron, C - 1/1 fg, 4 pf, 2 pts
50-Jeffrey Kirksey, G - 0 pts
team rebounds: 5
Totals: 21/68 fg (.309), 14/24 ft (.583), 37 reb, 17 ast, 2 blk, 13 stl, 21 pf, 65 pts
3-pt fg (9): Adams 3, Wofford 2, Vaden 2, Markovich 2
Technical Foul: Fisher
Turnovers (13): Wofford 3, Kirby 3, Adams 2, Markovich 2, Howard, Fisher, Crossan
LA Valley Monarchs 70:
3-Robert Brown, PG - 5/11 fg, 4/4 ft, 3 reb, 4 ast, 2 stl, 1 pf, 14 pts
10-Joel Spriggs, SG - 6/8 fg, 14 reb, 6 ast, 1 stl, 3 pf, 12 pts
22-Jerome Lowe, SF - 2/5 fg, 12/13 ft, 4 reb, 3 ast, 3 blk, 2 stl, 4 pf, 17 pts
32-Pierre Prince, C - 2/8 fg, 2/2 ft, 7 reb, 2 ast, 3 blk, 2 stl, 2 pf, 6 pts
35-Chris Lenik, PF - 1/5 fg, 2/3 ft, 6 reb, 1 blk, 1 pf, 4 pts
21-Javion Garner, F - 4/6 fg, 1/2 ft, 2 reb, 1 blk, 2 pf, 10 pts
12-Darius Hooks, G - 0/1 fg, 1 stl, 2 pf, 0 pts
33-Andrey Orlov, F - 2/5 fg, 1 reb, 1 pf, 4 pts
40-Amer Mudallal, C - 1/2 fg, 1/1 ft, 2 reb, 2 blk, 2 pf, 3 pts
team rebounds: 7
Totals: 23/51 fg (.451), 22/25 ft (.880), 46 reb, 15 ast, 10 blk, 8 stl, 18 pf, 70 pts
3-pt fg (2): Lowe, Garner
Technical Foul: Mudallal
Turnovers (24): Lowe 8, Spriggs 4, Garner 3, Brown 2, Hooks 2, Prince, Lenik, Orlov, Mudallal, team
Halftime Score: Bakersfield 41, LA Valley 36
Updated Records: LA Valley 11-8 overall, 4-1 in WSC-South; Bakersfield (#5-South, #12-Calif) 16-4, 2-2 in WSC-South
Bakersfield led by 14 at 34-20 after a 17-2 run in the 1st half. And BC led by 6 at 65-60 after a 3-pointer by Vaden with 5:48 left, but those were their final points.
