SG Mark Stevenson had 26 pts as #10 Chabot toppled #1-ranked Ohlone, 64-53, Wednesday afternoon in a battle of regional rivals atop the rugged Coast Conference North Division.
Ohlone (16-4, 5-1), which gained the #1 ranking after defeating previous #1-ranked San Francisco last week, led by 7 points a couple of times in the first half. But Chabot (15-5, 4-2) pulled ahead to take a 31-28 lead at the break. In the second half, Chabot saw the Renegades pull even at 44-44 with 10:45 left. But then Ohlone went more than five minutes without scoring a point, and Chabot pulled back into the lead and finally pulled away in the final 2:32.
It was a matchup of two of the most athletic teams in Northern California, and certainly two of the best, separated by about a dozen miles of East Bay freeway. And the win by the visiting Gladiators was certainly not shocking, but it scrambles the standings in a North division that includes four teams ranked in the top 19 in the state by the latest CCCMBCA poll.
Ohlone jumped out to a seven-point lead early on, thanks largely to the aggressive Renegade defense. A blocked shots by PF Lavon Gray led to a basket by SF Jeff Clark. Then Clark scored again, this time after a steal by PG Quaran Johnson. Then Johnson scored after a steal by Clark to make it 11-4 just 4:54 into the game.
Chabot didn't let the lead grow any wider, but Ohlone again pushed the margin back to seven points at 23-16 after a 3-point play by SG Demetrius Love with 7:05 left in the half.
Those would be Ohlone's largest leads of the game, however, but the Renegades still led by six points at 28-22 after a 3-pointer by Johnson with under four minutes left in the first half.
Chabot finished the half on a 9-0 run, getting a little closer when Stevenson was fouled attempting a 3-pointer (he made all 3 FTs) and tying the game at 28 on a 3-pointer by PG Jason Rockwell. Then Chabot took the lead on a free throw by PF Meka Ezekwesili after a rebound with 40 seconds left in the half. A Stevenson putback after three Chabot offensive rebounds in the final seconds made it 31-28 at the break.
Chabot pushed its lead to six points early in the second half after a 3-pointer and a runner by SG Howie Manzo made it 40-34. But Ohlone rallied to tie the game on a 3-pointer by Love with 10:45 left that made it 44-44.
After that, points were hard to come by, especially for Ohlone, as the teams combined for just six points in the next 5:40. A drive through the lane by SF Derrick Bruce put Chabot back on top, 46-44, and a short jumper by SG Raydell Walker made it 48-44. Then a pair of free throws by Ctr Lonnie Brazil with 5:19 left made it 50-44.
Finally, Ohlone broke its scoring drought of nearly six minutes with a basket by Ctr Reggie Jones with just under five minutes left. But the Renegades never quite pulled even again, though they got within three points at 52-49 after a 3-pointer by Clark with just under four minutes left.
And the game remained tense as neither team scored again for over a minute as the clock ticked down below the 3-minute mark and Chabot still clinging to the 3-point lead.
Then Stevenson hit a pair of threes for Chabot, pushing the Gladiators' lead to 58-49 with 2:11 left, the largest lead of the game for either team to that point. Ohlone got a driving lay-up from Johnson at the two-minute mark to make it 58-51.
After that, Ohlone began fouling as Coach John Peterson tryed to extend the game and give the team a chance to rally. But the combination of Chabot making its free throws and Ohlone not scoring allowed the Gladiators to hold on for the win.
Manzo made one of two free throws with 1:26 left to make it 59-51, and Rockwell made a pair of free throws with 1:04 left to make it 61-51. Stevenson made one of two to make it 62-51 with 51 seconds left. Thanks to those free throws, and the fact that Ohlone scored nary a point during that time, sealed the win for Chabot.
Stevenson finished with a game-high 26 pts, including 4 threes, plus 7 rebs, 2 asts and 2 steals. Manzo was the only other Gladiator to reach double figures, coming off the bench for 10 pts. Rockwell had a solid game with 9 pts, 4 asts and 2 steals. But this was truly a team effort as every Gladiator who played scored at least two points except for 7-foot Ctr Kyle Luckett, who had no points but had game-highs of 8 rebs and 3 blocked shots. And a key factor in the game was definitely Chabot's 45-28 advantage on the boards.
For Ohlone, Johnson led the way with 14 pts and 4 asts, and Jones had 11 pts. Clark had 7 pts and a game-high 7 asts as well as 3 steals. But the Renegades suffered when its leading scorer on the season, SG Ronnie Sawyer picked up two fouls in the game's first three minutes and never got going, spending the whole game in foul trouble; he mostly came in averaging 12.8 pts per game but went scoreless. Also, the Renegades hurt their own cause at the free throw line, making just 7 of 18 FT attempts.
box score
Wednesday, January 27, 2010 - 5:30 pm
at Epler Gymnasium, Fremont
Coast Conference - North Division
Chabot Gladiators 64:
32-Mark Stevenson, SG - 7/14 fg, 8/10 ft, 7 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl, 3 pf, 26 pts
33-Derrick Bruce, SF - 2/8 fg, 1/3 ft, 7 reb, 2 ast, 3 pf, 5 pts
34-Jason Rockwell, PG - 2/4 fg, 4/4 ft, 5 reb, 4 ast, 2 stl, 1 pf, 9 pts
42-Meka Ezekwesili, PF - 1/3 fg, 2/4 ft, 2 reb, 1 stl, 2 pf, 4 pts
55-Lonnie Brazil, C - 1/6 fg, 2/4 ft, 4 reb, 2 pf, 4 pts
22-Randy Newell, G - 1/3 fg, 1 reb, 3 ast, 1 pf, 2 pts
30-Greg Brizendine, F - 2/2 ft, 2 reb, 1 pf, 2 pts
43-Kyle Luckett, C - 0/1 fg, 0/1 ft, 8 reb, 3 blk, 1 stl, 5 pf, 0 pts
23-Howie Manzo, G - 4/5 fg, 1/2 ft, 3 reb, 1 ast, 1 pf, 10 pts
31-Raydell Walker, G - 1/4 fg, 4 reb, 1 stl, 2 pts
team rebounds: 2
Totals: 19/48 fg (.396), 20/30 ft (.667), 45 reb, 12 ast, 3 blk, 7 stl, 19 pf, 64 pts
3-pt fg (6): Stevenson 4, Rockwell, Manzo
Fouled Out: Luckett 40 seconds left
Turnovers (18): Rockwell 3, Brazil 3, Manzo 3, Bruce 2, Newell 2, Walker 2, Stevenson, Brizendine, Luckett
Ohlone Renegades 53:
3-Quaran Johnson, PG - 7/14 fg, 2 reb, 4 ast, 1 stl, 2 pf, 17 pts
4-Ronnie Sawyer, SG - 0/2 fg, 0/2 ft, 1 ast, 1 stl, 4 pf, 0 pts
11-Scott Clark, SF - 3/10 fg, 0/1 ft, 4 reb, 7 ast, 3 stl, 2 pf, 7 pts
21-Lavon Gray, PF - 3/5 fg, 0/3 ft, 7 reb, 1 blk, 1 stl, 3 pf, 6 pts
33-Reggie Jones, C - 3/7 fg, 5/8 ft, 4 reb, 2 blk, 3 pf, 11 pts
12-Charles Barnes, G - 2 reb, 2 ast, 1 pf, 0 pts
2-Demetrius Love, G - 2/6 fg, 1/2 ft, 1 reb, 4 pf, 6 pts
23-Or Steiner, F - 0/1 fg, 1 reb, 1 pf, 0 pts
24-Cyleb Burton, C - 0/2 fg, 3 reb, 1 ast, 1 lbk, 2 pf, 0 pts
15-Jamaal Blalock, G - 1/3 fg, 1 pf, 3 pts
44-Isaiah Moore, F - 0/1 fg, 1/2 ft, 1 reb, 1 blk, 1 stl, 1 pf, 1 pt
20-Maurice Briggs, F - 1/1 fg, 1 reb, 1 pf, 2 pts
1-Simba Gwanyanya, F - 0 pts
team rebounds: 2
Totals: 20/52 fg (.385), 7/18 ft (.389), 28 reb, 15 ast, 5 blk, 7 stl, 25 pf, 53 pts
3-pt fg (6): Johnson 3, Clark, Love, Blalock
Turnovers (15): Gray 6, Sawyer 3, Johnson 2, Love 2, Clark, Moore
Halftime Score: Chabot 31, Ohlone 28
Updated Records: Chabot (#10-North, #19-Calif) 15-5 overall, 4-2 in Coast-N; Ohlone (#1-North, #1-Calif) 16-4 overall, 5-1 in Coast-N
scoring play-by-play:
C - Stevenson 3-pointer (Chabot 3-0)
O - Johnson 3-pointer (3-3)
C - Ezekwesili FT (Chabot 4-3)
O - Gray from Johnson (Ohlone 5-4)
O - Clark from Barnes after Gray blk (7-4)
O - Clark from Johnson after stl (9-4)
O - Johnson from Clark after stl 15:06 (11-4)
C - Brazil from Newell (11-6)
O - Jones 1/2 FTs (12-6)
C - Barnes lay-up (12-8)
C - Manzo corner jumper (12-10)
O - Blalock 3-pointer (15-10)
C - Manzo short jumper (15-12)
C - Stevenson 2 FTs (15-14)
O - Johnson driving layup (17-14)
O - Moore FT (18-14)
C - Stevenson short jumper (18-16)
O - Gray putback (20-16)
O - Love driving lay-up + FT for 3-pt play 7:05 (23-16)
C – Stevenson 3-pointer (23-19)
O – Briggs jumper (25-19)
C – Bruce from Stevenson + FT for 3-pt play 4:11 (25-22)
O – Johnson 3-pointer (28-22)
C – Stevenson 3/3 FTs 2:30 (25-28)
C – Rockwell 3-pointer 1:15 (28-28)
C – Ezekwesili FT after rebound 0:40 (Chabot 29-28)
C – Stevenson putback 0:00 (31-28)
halftime
C – Ezekwesili putback (33-28)
O – Gray putback (33-30)
O – Johnson from Clark fast break (33-32)
C – Rockwell jumper (35-32)
O – Jones from Johnson (35-34)
C – Manzo 3-pointer (38-34)
C – Manzo runner (40-34)
O – Johnson 3-pointer (40-37)
C – Brizendine 2 FT after rebound 13:25 (42-37)
O – Jones 2 FTs (42-39)
O – Jones from Johnson (42-41)
C – Stevenson baseline jumper (44-41)
O – Love 3-pointer 10:45 (44-44)
C – Bruce drive (Chabot 46-44)
C – Walker jumper (48-44)
C – Brazil 2 FTs 5:19 (50-44)
O – Jones inside under 5 mins (50-46)
C – Rockwell 2 FTs 4:24 (52-46)
O – Clark 3-pointer under 4 mins (52-49)
C – Stevenson 3-pointer 2:32 (55-49)
C – Stevenson 3-pointer 2:11 (58-49)
O – Johnson driving layup 2:00 (58-51)
C – Manzo 1/2 FTs 1:26 (59-51)
C – Rockwell 2 FTs 1:04 (61-51)
C – Stevenson 1/2 FTs 51.0 (62-51)
O – Jones 2 FTs 40.0 (62-53)
C – Stevenson 2 FTs 38.8 (64-53)
end of game
