PF Gaston Essengue's short jumper with 43.8 seconds left gave Compton (15-8) a 64-63 lead and proved to be the winning score over host LA City (28-3) in the regional final March 6th.
It was one of the most shocking upsets in recent COA history, as 12-seed Compton toppled #1-seeded, #1-ranked and defending state champion LA City. LACC had played conference rival Compton twice earlier in the season, and LACC won each time by double-digits. The Cubs entered the game with 22 straight wins, the last 16 by at least 11 points.
But make no mistake, the Tartars earned this victory. Playing a physical style that took LACC out of its offensive flow, even at the risk of piling up the fouls, Compton never allowed the Cubs to go on one of their well-known runs that often pound the opposition into submission. And even after LACC took a 6-point lead with under 4 minutes to play, Compton showed the heart of a winner and fought back for the victory.
It was a tense battle in front of a packed house, and both teams played a very physical game. Compton jumped to an early 2-0 lead on a jumper by SG Nick Porter. LACC answered back on a three by Kareem Grant. Then Compton SF Kevin Lewis scored to put the Tartars ahead, only to see LACC's Tony Key respond with a layup to put the Cubs back ahead, 5-4.
But after that, Compton's defense clamped down and took control of the game. The Tartars pushed to a 10-4 lead as Porter scored again and Essengue made 2 field goals, and LACC stopped scoring. The only downside for the Tartars was that they were committing a lot of fouls and frequently sending LACC to the FT line. But the Cubs failed to take full advantage of their free throws, and Compton pushed their lead to 14-7 on buckets by Lewis and Porter. Then came a pair of nice post-move baskets by Ctr Darren Brown and a jumper by PG Gary Looney, which pushed Compton's lead to 10 at 20-10. A FG+FT 3-point play by Essengue gave Compton an 11-point advantage at 23-12.
SF Kareem Grant tried to revive the Cub offense with a three and a 2-pt jumper which closed the gap to 23-17, but Compton pulled away again on 2 FTs and a jumper by Porter that restored Compton's double-digit margin at 32-22.
But LA City finished the first half on a 10-4 run that erased much of Compton's lead. Threes by PG Solomon Brown and Wayne Arnold, plus baskets by Grant and Key made it just 36-32 at the break. And considering that Compton had shot over 50% for the first half (16/30) and LA City had seemingly just gotten their offense untracked, the momentum seemed to be with the home team.
As the second half started, however, Compton again took control. After a layup by Key had closed the gap to just 2 pts at 36-34, baskets by Essengue, Porter and Lewis gave Compton a more comfortable 7-point lead. And a short jumper by Essengue extended it to 9 at 44-35.
Then came the anticipated LA City run. A three by Brown got the Cubs started, and Brown's nice dish to PF Ismael N'Diaye moments later made it 44-40. Compton continued to hold a short lead, but SF Anthony Davis hit a three just before the 10-minute mark that cut the margin to 2 at 49-47. Moments later, Davis drove the baseline for a layup that tied the game at 49. And Tony Key scored on a turnaround jumper that gave LA City its first lead since the opening minutes. The basket put the Cubs ahead by 2 at 51-49, and a running jumper by Wayne Arnold as the shot clock expired on the Cubs' next trip made it 53-49 with under 7 minutes to play.
But Compton refused to give in. Darren Brown made 1 of 2 FTs on the Tartars' next possession to make it 53-50, and then he scored a FG+FT 3-point play on a nice up-and-around layup to even the score at 53.
LA City finally pulled into the lead after that, beginning with a pair of FTs by Key. Then Brown and N'Diaye worked the give-and-go perfectly, with Brown scoring to make it 57-53. Though Porter made a pair of FTs for Compton to close the gap to 2, LACC scored again on a pair of FTs by Brown to make it 59-55. Then Key scored on a putback to make it 61-55 with under 4 minutes to play.
At that point, it looked like Compton might not have another comeback left in them. The physical game had taken its toll on both teams, but Compton had lost the lead it had held most of the way and now trailed by 6 points. And several of their players were in foul trouble.
But the Tartars did have another comeback left. First, a three from the corner by Lewis cut the deficit to 3 at 61-58. Then Porter scored on a layup to make it 61-60 with 3:05 to play. And then Essengue scored on a putback to put Compton back on top, 62-61, with 2:16 left.
LA City responded, as Key scored on a putback with 2:03 left to make it 63-62 Cubs. But that turned out to be LACC's last score. He was fouled on the play, (Darren Brown's 5th foul), but Key missed the ensuing free throw to keep it a 1-point game.
LACC still led by just a point with under a minute to play when Essengue got the ball in the post. He tried a pass, but the ball was deflected right back into his hands. And this time when he got the ball, Essengue took it up strong and scored to make it 64-63. He also drew the foul on the play, but missed the free throw to keep it 64-63 in favor of Compton.
And LA City had plenty of time to go back ahead, as the clock showed 48.3 seconds to play. The Cubs ran their offense, but couldn't get a quality shot and time continued to wind down. Finally, Solomon Brown got an open look and shot, but his jumper hit the front and back rims before bouncing away and into the hands of Compton's Lewis. LACC fouled him immediately, and he missed the front end of the 1-and-1 free throw chance. Tony Key got the rebound and LACC called timeout.
Again, LACC had plenty of time to score as 18.5 seconds remained on the clock. But again, the Compton defense refused to allow LACC to get the ball inside. Finally, Brown had to take the shot again. This time it bounced off the back rim, but Brown tracked it down for the rebound.
However, just as Brown got the ball, Compton's Nick Porter came in and reached for the ball before Brown could pass or try another shot. The whistle blew, and it was ruled a held ball; the possession arrow favored Compton. Now just 1.9 seconds remained. As soon as Compton's Lewis inbounded the ball to PF Willie Dunn, LACC fouled him but now the clock read 0.3 seconds left. And when Dunn intentionally missed the second free throw, LACC had no time to try another shot, giving Compton the victory.
In such a win as this, there were many heroes for Compton. But atop the list has to be Essengue, who scored 2 of his 16 pts on the winning shot. He also grabbed a game-high 10 rebs. Porter led all scorers with 24 pts and also had a game-high 6 asts. Lewis had a strong game with 14 pts, and D. Brown contributed 8 pts and 4 rebs. PG Gary Looney had just 2 pts but dished out 4 asts, registered 2 steals and hounded LACC PG Solomon Brown all evening.
For LACC, Key led the way with 16 pts and 8 rebs. Grant and Solomon Brown each added 11 pts, and Brown had 4 asts. But Brown also had 11 turnovers and missed a key pair of shots in the final seconds. PF Ismael N'Diaye had an interesting game with 5 pts, 5 rebs and 5 asts (he just missed a fourth "5" with 4 turnovers).
Compton, which entered the playoffs with just 12 wins, the fewest of any of the 32 teams in the postseason tournament, moves on to San Diego where they will meet College of the Sequoias on Friday. LA City finishes the season 28-3.
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Saturday, March 6, 2004 - 7 PM
at LA City College
Playoffs - Third Round - Regional Finals
Compton Tartars 64:
4-Gary Looney, PG - 1/4 fg, 2 reb, 4 ast, 2 stl, 2 pts
5-Kevin Lewis, SF - 6/12 fg, 0/1 ft, 4 reb, 1 stl, 14 pts
24-Nick Porter, SG - 8/14 fg, 8/11 ft, 1 reb, 6 ast, 3 stl, 24 pts
32-Sam Byrd, C - 0/2 fg, 1 reb, 0 pts
40-Gaston Essengue, PF - 8/12 fg, 0/1 ft, 10 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl, 16 pts
00-Darren Brown, C - 3/9 fg, 2/3 ft, 4 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 8 pts
12-Willie Dunn, F - 0/1 fg, 0/2 ft, 2 reb, 1 ast, 3 stl, 0 pts
11-Cory Carroll, G - 0/1 fg, 1 reb, 0 pts
23-Leon Jacobs, G - 0 pts
33-Eric Montgomery, C - 0/1 fg, 1 reb, 0 pts
44-Martin Star, F - 0 pts
team rebounds: 3
Totals: 26/56 fg (.464), 10/18 ft (.556), 29 reb, 13 ast, 2 blk, 10 stl, 64 pts
3-pt fg (2): Lewis 2
Fouled Out: Brown 2:03 left
Turnovers (16): Brown 4, Looney 3, Dunn 3, Lewis 2, Essengue 2, Porter, Star
LA City Cubs 63:
0-Kareem Grant, SF - 4/10 fg, 1/2 ft, 1 ast, 2 stl, 11 pts
10-Solomon Brown, PG - 3/10 fg, 3/5 ft, 5 reb, 4 ast, 11 pts
30-Ismael N'Diaye, PF - 2/3 fg, 1/2 ft, 5 reb, 5 ast, 5 pts
34-Wayne Arnold, SG - 2/6 fg, 4/6 ft, 5 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 9 pts
50-Tony Key, C - 6/9 fg, 4/7 ft, 8 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl, 16 pts
24-Anthony Davis, F - 2/6 fg, 2/4 ft, 6 reb, 2 ast, 2 blk, 2 stl, 7 pts
21-Nashid Beard, F - 2/3 fg, 4 reb, 4 pts
team rebounds: 5
Totals: 21/47 fg (.447), 15/26 ft (.577), 38 reb, 15 ast, 3 blk, 6 stl, 63 pts
3-pt fg (6): Grant 2, Brown 2, Arnold, Davis
Turnovers (23): Brown 11, N'Diaye 4, Arnold 4, Davis 2, Grant, Key
Halftime Score: Compton 36, LA City 32
Updated Records: Compton 15-8, LA City 28-3
Essengue's short jumper - after he recovered his own deflected pass - made it 64-63 with 48.3 left. S.Brown had a pair of shots rim out in the final 20 seconds.
