SF James Walker had 21 pts and PF Brandon Parga had 19 as #1-seed Citrus reached the state semifinals for the fourth time in the last five seasons with a 94-88 win over #4 San Bernardino Valley Saturday night in a regional final in Glendora.
It was an extremely intense game from start to finish, featuring several dust-ups including a pair of double-technicals, some unwanted interaction with some courtside spectators and a visit from the campus police. And both sides had loud, vocal cheering sections that were heard throughout the game. A total of 53 fouls called and 74 free throws attempted, so there was plenty of intensity during play as well.
To start the game, San Bernardino Valley played at hurricane speed for the first seven-plus minutes. The Wolverines broke a 4-4 tie with a 16-2 run that gave them a 20-6 lead after a 3-pointer by SG
Citrus (27-1) stabilized a bit after that, cutting the deficit to seven points at 26-19 after a 3-pointer by SF Royal Mathews, and then getting within four points at 32-28 after a steal & lay-up by SG Keyon Sayles with 5:38 left in the half.
San Bernardino Valley (25-6) pushed the lead back to double digits on a pair of 3-pointers by PG Kirby Gardner that made it 40-30, and the Wolverines led, 45-35, at the half. And SBVC extended the lead when two free throws by PF Aaron Moore 33 seconds into the second half made it 47-35. The lead reached 13 when Moore scored with just over 17 minutes left to make it 53-40.
But Citrus rallied again, cutting the deficit to three points on a 3-pointer by Walker with 15:14 left. And away from the play, San Bernardino Valley Ctr Tevin Harris became entangled with some spectators near the Citrus bench, and a fracas ensued. There was a delay of about 10 minutes before play was resumed.
The delay hardly derailed Citrus' rally, and the Owls were helped when Gardner picked up his 4th foul of the game with 12:45 left. Moore, Harris and SF Chris Franklin each already had four fouls by that time. SG Kerry Carter tied the game with a 3-pointer with 9:31 left that made it 68-68, and then he scored after a pass from Walker to give the Owls their first lead of the night at 70-68 with 8:40 remaining.
Citrus opened a six-point lead at 82-76 after a 3-pointer by Parga with 5:36 left, and also led by six at 84-78 moments later. But nothing would come easily for either team in this game, and San Bernardino rallied to cut the deficit to a point at 84-83 after a pair of free throws by Harris with 2:23 left. After a pair of free throws by Walker pushed Citrus' advantage back to three, Gardner hit a short jumper with just over two minutes left to make it 86-85.
Then came the key sequence of the game, starting with a short jumper by Parga that made it 88-85. Then SBVC turned the ball over on a bad pass with 1:25 left. PF Tyree Harrison took a pass from Carter and scored on a lay-up with 58.3 seconds left to give Citrus a 90-85 lead.
Harrison nearly went from hero to goat moments later, however, fouling Gardner as the SBVC guard was attempting a 3-point shot with 45.1 seconds left. But Gardner made just one of the three free throws, and though Moore grabbed the rebound of his last miss, he too missed, keeping the score 90-86.
After that it became a matter of Citrus making enough free throws to hold on for the win. The Owls were just 19-for-37 from the line to that point, and Carter split two free throws with 37.5 seconds left after he got the rebound of Moore's miss and was fouled. That made it 91-86. And Moore made two free throws for SBVC with 26.3 seconds left to again make it a one-possession game at 91-88.
But SBVC had no choice but to foul after that, and Walker split two free throws to make it a 4-point game at 92-88 with 24.8 seconds left. Then Gardner missed a 3-poitner for SBVC, and Walker got the rebound for Citrus. He was fouled and made two free throws with 12.2 seconds left to close out the scoring and finally clinch the win for the Owls.
For Citrus, Walker's night wasn't especially efficient - he was 5-for-17 from the floor - but he battled for 21 pts and added 5 rebs, 5 asts and 5 steals. Parga had 19 pts and 6 rebs, scoring 14 points in the second half. Carter had 16 pts and PG Brandon Woods had 13 pts and 5 asts. Ctr Kendrick Thomas had 7 pts and a game-high 10 rebs.
For SBVC, Moore led all scorers with 25 pts, making 13 of 14 free throws, and added 9 rebs. But he was in foul trouble much of the night after being a part of the first double-technical in the first half. Gardner had 22 pts, 9 rebs and 6 asts, though he also had 9 turnovers. Stanley had 15 pts, 5 rebs, 5 asts and 2 steals. Harris had 11 pts and Franklin had 7 pts; he was also dogged by foul trouble after being a part of the second double-technnical late in the first half and fouled out with 6:21 left.
The win advances Citrus to the state semifinals for the fourth time in the last five years, and the Owls will face Fresno at the state tournament Saturday at Cosumnes River College in Sacramento. Citrus won the 2008 state title, lost a lead late in a semifinal loss to Saddleback in 2010 and lost the championship game to San Francisco on a last-second tip-in.
box score
Saturday, March 3, 2012 - 7 pm
San Bernardino Valley Wolverines 88:
3-pt fg (9): Stanley 4, Gardner 3, Harris, Lewis
Citrus Owls 94:
3-pt fg (11): Carter 2, Woods 2, Walker 2, Parga 2, Mathews 2, Sayles
Halftime Score: San Bernardino Valley 45, Citrus 35
Updated Records: Citrus (#1-seed) 27-1, San Bernardino Valley (#4-seed) 25-6
SBVC led 20-6 with 12:50 left in the 1st half and by 14 several other times.
at The Owls' Nest, Glendora
Playoffs - Regional Final
2-Chris Franklin, SF - 3/6 fg, 1/1 ft, 2 reb, 3 ast, 2 blk, 1 stl, 5 pf, 7 pts
4-Aaron Moore, PF - 6/12 fg, 13/14 ft, 9 reb, 1 ast, 4 pf, 25 pts
5-Tevin Harris, C - 4/5 fg, 2/4 ft, 4 reb, 2 blk, 5 pf, 11 pts
15-Justin Stanley, SG - 5/12 fg, 1/2 ft, 5 reb, 5 ast, 1 blk, 2 stl, 4 pf, 15 pts
20-Kirby Gardner, PG - 8/16 fg, 3/5 ft, 9 reb, 6 ast, 4 pf, 22 pts
13-Cameron Lewis, F - 3/7 fg, 1/2 ft, 5 reb, 1 stl, 2 pf, 8 pts
33-Xavier Jones, C - 0/1 fg, 0/2 ft, 6 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 4 pf, 0 pts
1-Choncey White, G - 2 pf, 0 pts
0-Zack Hall, G - 0/1 fg, 3 reb, 2 ast, 1 pf, 0 pts
team rebounds: 7
Totals: 29/60 fg (.483), 21/30 ft (.700), 50 reb, 18 ast, 6 blk, 4 stl, 31 pf, 88 pts
Technical Fouls: Franklin, Moore
Fouled Out: Franklin 6:21 left, Harris 2:03 left
Turnovers (23): Gardner 9, Stanley 4, Franklin 2, Moore 2, Lewis 2, Harris, Jones, White, Hall
3-Kerry Carter, SG - 6/13 fg, 2/8 ft, 4 reb, 1 ast, 2 blk, 2 stl, 4 pf, 16 pts
5-Brandon Woods, PG - 4/7 fg, 3/4 ft, 1 reb, 5 ast, 1 stl, 2 pf, 13 pts
12-James Walker, SF - 5/17 fg, 9/16 ft, 5 reb, 5 ast, 5 stl, 2 pf, 21 pts
32-Kendrick Thomas, C - 3/11 fg, 1/3 ft, 10 reb, 1 stl, 3 pf, 7 pts
45-Brandon Parga, PF - 6/11 fg, 5/7 ft, 6 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 3 pf, 19 pts
14-Tyree Harrison, F - 2/7 fg, 2/5 ft, 8 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl, 5 pf, 6 pts
25-Keyon Sayles, G - 2/4 fg, 1/1 ft, 2 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl, 1 pf, 6 pts
23-Royal Mathews, F - 2/6 fg, 5 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl, 1 pf, 6 pts
10-Nolan Abernathy, G - 1 pf, 0 pts
team rebounds: 4
Totals: 30/76 fg (.395), 23/44 ft (.523), 45 reb, 21 ast, 5 blk, 14 stl, 22 pf, 94 pts
Technical Fouls: Thomas, Mathews
Fouled Out: Harrison 45.1 seconds left
Turnovers (10): Woods 3, Thomas 2, Carter, Walker, Harrison, Mathews, Abernathy
Citrus took a 70-68 lead with 8:40 left and led by 6 several times after that.
SBVC got within a point at 86-85 but baskets by Parga and Harrison made it 90-85.
Carter made 1/2 FTs and Walker made 3/4 FTs in the final 37.5 seconds to clinch the win for Citrus.
This win advances Citrus to the state semifinals for the 4th time in the last 5 seasons.
