Saddleback (28-2) overcame a 7-point deficit in the last 2:27 of regulation time, survived a buzzer-beating 3-pointer that sent the game to overtime, and wiped out a 4-point deficit in the extra session to get past West Valley (25-5) in a foul-filled game in the day’s second quarterfinal game at Jenny Craig Pavilion. SG Justin Allen led the Gauchos with 18 points, and his 3-pointer with just over a minute left in OT gave Saddleback the lead for good in a hard-fought win over the Vikings.
This was an intense game from start to finish, and it wasn’t always pretty. The teams combined for 59 fouls (36 whistled against West Valley) and 62 turnovers (33 by West Valley) in a game that took 2-1/2 hours to play. And by the time it was over, five players had fouled out, including 4 from West Valley, and six other players had 4 personal fouls.
In the early going, the game was close as neither team could put together a run. After it was tied at 17, Saddleback held a 6-point lead at 23-17 after a basket by PF Dominique Ricks. West Valley cut that lead to 3 at 25-22 after a three by PF Kevin Fleming, but Saddleback managed to push their lead to 8 just before halftime at 30-22 after a coast-to-coast drive for a lay-up by PG D.J. Smedley and a FG+FT 3-point play by Allen. A free throw by West Valley Ctr Ken Alexander cut the margin to 30-23, which is where things stood at intermission.
In the second half, the Vikings used some hot shooting to overcome that 7-point deficit and build a lead of their own. A jumper by Fleming gave West Valley its first lead of the second half at 37-36 with 15:22 left in the game. After a basket by PF Marcus Morgan, Saddleback tied the game at 39 on a FG+FT 3-point play by PF Chet Johnson. The game was tied at 43 when West Valley went on an 8-0 run to take a 51-43 lead with just under 11 minutes to play. A pair of FTs by PG Drew Sanchez, a putback by Morgan, two free throws by PG Darrell Birton and a field goal by Elliott gave West Valley what looked like a formidable lead.
Saddleback managed to stop the momentum after SG Carlton Arnwine stole the ball and passed to Allen for a slam and Ricks scored a FG+FT 3-point play, making it 51-48 West Valley with 8:21 to play. The lead continued to fluctuate between 2 and 4 until Elliott knocked down a pair of free throws and Morgan scored a field goal to make it 64-57 with just 2:27 left in regulation time.
Then Saddleback rallied to tie the game with 1:01 left. First, Smedley fed Ricks for a basket to make it 64-59 with 2:08 left. Then Allen scored on a jumper, was fouled and sank the free throw to make it a 2-point game at 64-62 with 1:31 left. Alexander scored on a putback to give West Valley a 4-point lead, but that was wiped out moments later when Arnwine sank a three and Morgan was whistled for fouling Ricks under the basket while the ball was in the air. Ricks made 1 of the 2 ensuing free throws to tie the game at 66 with 61 seconds remaining on the clock.
As the clock wound down, Saddleback’s Johnson was the hero, then the goat, then the hero again and finally superceded by West Valley’s Sanchez as the hero. With the game still tied at 66, Johnson scored on a driving lay-up to give the Gauchos a 2-point lead. But on the other end, Johnson fouled Elliott, giving the Vikings a chance to tie the game. Elliott made the first free throw, but missed the second. And Johnson not only grabbed the rebound, but when he was fouled he made both free throws to make it 70-67 with 4.5 seconds left on the clock.
That barely left enough time for a play, but Sanchez made sure it was all the time he needed to send the game to overtime. Taking the inbounds pass in the backcourt, Sanchez dribbled across the center line and, just as he approached the 3-point line, released a running jumper. The ball went through the basket just as the horn sounded, tying the game at 70 and giving West Valley new life in the game.
By now, West Valley was feeling the effects of all those foul calls; three players had already fouled out of the game. But in the extra session, the Vikings jumped out to a 74-70 lead behind Sanchez. First, he scored on a driving lay-up. Then he knocked down a medium-range jumper.
Now it was Saddleback’s turn to rally, and Smedley led the way. First, he nailed a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to a single point. And then he fed Ricks for a lay-up to give the Gauchos a 76-75 lead. West Valley re-took the lead when Alexander passed to Elliott for a basket, but then came Allen’s 3-pointer that made it 78-76 Gauchos with just over a minute left in OT.
And this time, West Valley had no more rallies left. SG Joe Calderon took a jumper, which missed, and Elliott got the rebound but missed on the putback attempt. Then Saddleback gave the ball back on a shot clock violation. But when Sanchez drove towards the basket, he was whistled for a charging foul. It was his fifth foul of the game. Saddleback pushed its lead to 4 on a jumper by Smedley with 18 seconds left, and if there was any remaining doubt about the outcome it ended when Elliott missed one last shot and Ricks corralled the rebound in the final seconds.
It was a hard-fought game for both sides, and the veteran leadership of Smedley was huge for Saddleback. He finished with 7 pts and 7 asts, but his impact went far beyond the numbers as he directed the offense most of the game and saved his scoring for when the team needed it, scoring 5 points in OT. Allen finished with 18 pts, Ctr Derek Risper had 17 and Ricks added 15 plus 9 boards. And a pair of reserves had huge roles in the win for Saddleback: Johnson had 10 pts, including 4 in the final 20 seconds of regulation time, and Arnwine added 9 pts plus 4 steals. Arnwine’s contribution was particularly important given the off-night suffered by SG Mikel Watson, who went just 1-for-11 from the floor and committed 5 turnovers.
For West Valley, it had to be a frustrating loss. The Vikings shot 70% from the floor in the second half, which allowed them to overcome the halftime deficit, but they just ran out of players. Of the 8 players in their regular rotation, four fouled out, three had 4 fouls and the other (Hunt) had 3 fouls. Remarkably, none of the team fouls was a technical foul; the composure displayed by Coach Danny Yoshikawa even as his team was racking up the fouls went a long ways in keeping his team focused and playing through the adverse whistles.
Morgan led the Vikings with 15 pts, while Sanchez had a great game with 14 pts (4 in OT plus the buzzer-beating 3 to force OT), 7 asts and 3 steals. Birton (13 pts) and Hunt (11 pts) came off the bench and each reached double figures in scoring. Alexander had 9 pts, 9 rebs and 3 blocks. Overall, the Vikings shot 57% from the floor, but the turnovers (33) and fouls (36) proved too much to overcome, particularly when they started losing players on foulouts.
With the win, Saddleback improves its record to 28-2 and will face undefeated Fresno in the semifinals on Saturday. West Valley, which reached its first state tourney in Yoshikawa’s 3 years in charge, finishes 25-5.
box score
Thursday, March 10, 2005 - 3 pm
at the Jenny Craig Pavilion, Univ. of San Diego
State Quarterfinal #2
West Valley Vikings 76:
11-Drew Sanchez, PG - 5/8 fg, 3/3 ft, 2 reb, 7 ast, 3 stl, 14 pts
15-Joe Calderon, SG - 0/3 fg, 1 reb, 2 ast, 0 pts
44-Ivan Elliott, SF - 2/5 fg, 1/3 ft, 4 reb, 1 stl, 5 pts
42-Ken Alexander, C - 3/4 fg, 3/5 ft, 9 reb, 2 ast, 3 blk, 1 stl, 9 pts
54-Marcus Morgan, PF - 6/10 fg, 3/3 ft, 3 reb, 15 pts
22-Darell Birton, G - 4/5 fg, 4/4 ft, 1 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl, 13 pts
25-Lamarr Hunt, G - 3/5 fg, 3/3 ft, 1 reb, 4 stl, 11 pts
33-Kevin Fleming, F - 4/7 fg, 4 reb, 1 blk, 1 stl, 9 pts
21-Nicolas Cavigliano, G - 0 pts
31-Dan Wendt, C - 0 pts
team rebounds: 1
Totals: 27/47 fg (.574), 17/21 ft (.810), 26 reb, 13 ast, 4 blk, 12 stl, 76 pts
3-pt fg (5): Hunt 2, Sanchez, Birton, Fleming
Fouled Out: Fleming 7:33 left, Morgan 1:01 left in reg., Birton 44.2 secs left in reg., Sanchez 47.3 secs left in OT
Turnovers (33): Morgan 8, Sanchez 5, Birton 5, Calderon 4, Fleming 4, Elliott 3, Alexander 2, Hunt 2
Total Fouls: 36
Saddleback Gauchos 80:
11-D.J. Smedley, PG - 3/5 fg, 5 reb, 7 ast, 1 stl, 7 pts
24-Mikel Watson, SF - 1/11 fg, 2/2 ft, 2 reb, 4 pts
32-Justin Allen, SG - 5/12 fg, 7/10 ft, 3 ast, 1 stl, 18 pts
41-Derek Risper, C - 7/11 fg, 3/4 ft, 6 reb, 17 pts
42-Dominique Ricks, PF - 4/10 fg, 7/10 ft, 9 reb, 1 stl, 15 pts
20-Carlton Arnwine, G - 2/5 fg, 4/4 ft, 2 ast, 4 stl, 9 pts
34-Chet Johnson, F - 3/3 fg, 4/5 ft, 4 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk, 10 pts
23-Ramon Mendoza, G - 0/1 fg, 0 pts
33-Terrance Harris, F - 0 pts
team rebounds: 6
Totals: 25/57 fg (.439), 27/35 ft (.771), 32 reb, 14 ast, 1 blk, 7 stl, 80 pts
3-pt fg (3): Smedley, Allen, Arnwine
Fouled Out: Risper 4:07 left in reg.
Turnovers (29): Watson 5, Allen 5, Ricks 4, Smedley 3, Risper 3, Arnwine 3, Mendoza 3, Johnson 2, team
Total Fouls: 23
Halftime Score: Saddleback 30, West Valley 23
End of Regulation: Tied at 70
Updated Records: Saddleback 28-2, West Valley 25-5
