SG Anthony Holliday had 26 pts, including an amazing 3-pointer at the end of regulation, and SF Willie Edwards scored 8 of his 11 points in overtime as Cerritos stunned host Irvine Valley, 69-63, Thursday evening in the first round of the 17th Annual Irvine Valley College Classic.
Irvine Valley (2-1) started the game with a 10-0 run, never trailed by more than three points in regulation time, and seemingly had the game in hand with under 30 seconds left with the ball and a 6-point lead.
But Cerritos (2-1) found a way to rally. After SF Chris Taylor gave Irvine Valley a 57-51 lead, PG Kalob Hatcher stole inbounds pass back for the Lasers. However, moments later Edwards stole the ball back from Taylor, and Holliday ended up finishing the play with a 3-point play with 22.7 seconds left to make it 57-54.
Then IVC inbounded the ball to Hatcher, who had the chance to seal the win after he was fouled with 12.6 seconds left. But he missed the first free throw - IVC's only missed free throw in regulation time and Hatcher's only miss of the night - and Edwards got the rebound. The ball went to Holliday, and as the clock wound down the 6-2 freshman bounced the ball outside the right elbow.
Facing a double-team, Holliday tried a fall-away jumper that splashed through the middle of the net, tying the score at 57 with 0.2 seconds left and sending the game to overtime.
The overtime was almost anti-climactic after that dramatic ending. Edwards gave Cerritos a 60-57 lead with a 3-pointer, and made it 62-57 with two free throws after a steal by SF Victor Jones. Then Edwards drained another three to make it 65-57, and Cerritos was never threatened the rest of the way.
The ending was in stark contrast to the beginning of the game, which featured a 10-0 run by Irvine Valley as Cerritos failed to score a point for the first 5:41 or a field goal for the first 7:29. 3-pointers by Hatcher and Taylor, a putback basket by Taylor and a turnaround jumper by Ctr Kirill Sergeyev made it 10-0 just 5:13 into the game.
Cerritos got two free throws from SF Dominique McGowan with 14:19 left in the first half to get on the board and make it 10-2. A lay-up by Holliday was the first Falcon field goal, making it 10-5 with 12:31 left before halftime.
But Cerritos continued to rally, taking an 18-17 lead on a runner by PF Darius Williams with just under seven minutes left in the half. The lead would go back and forth the rest of the first half, which ended with IVC holding a 27-22 lead, and throughout the second half as well.
Edwards' first 3-pointer, after he missed his first six shots of the night, gave Cerritos a 47-44 lead with 4:43 left, representing the Falcons' largest lead of the night to that point. But Irvine Valley went back in front on a 3-pointer by SG Ramon Mejia and a baseline jumper by PF Zach Mills, making it 53-49 with 1:35 left. A pair of free throws by Hatcher with 47.6 seconds left made it 55-49.
Williams scored off an inbounds play for Cerritos with 35 seconds left to make it 55-51, but then Mills threw a long outlet pass to Taylor for a lay-up that made it 57-51, and Hatcher stole the inbounds pass, seemingly clinching the win for Irvine Valley but actually setting the stage for Cerritos' dramatic comeback.
Holliday led all scorers with his 26 pts, and he added 4 rebs, 4 asts and 2 steals. Williams had 14 pts and 4 rebs. Edwards had 11 pts, 3 rebs, 4 asts and 3 steals, and PG Robert Gill also had 11 pts, 3 rebs and 4 asts.
For Irvine Valley, Taylor had 15 pts, 7 rebs and 4 asts, and Hatcher had 13 pts, 2 asts - on the baskets by Mejia and Mills that seemed to put IVC in control - and 4 steals. Sergeyev and starting Ctr Austin Loeb each had 8 pts; Loeb also had 7 rebs. Mills had 6 pts, 6 rebs and a game-high 7 asts.
box score
Thursday, November 17, 2011 - 6 pm
17th Annual Irvine Valley College Classic
1st Round
Cerritos Falcons 69:
4-Anthony Scott, SF - 0/2 fg, 1 reb, 1 blk, 1 pf, 0 pts
22-Kierre Beverly, SG - 1/5 fg, 3 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 2 pts
32-Manny Garcia, PG - 1 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl, 2 pf, 0 pts
33-Darius Williams, PF - 4/7 fg, 6/8 ft, 4 reb, 1 ast, 2 blk, 1 stl, 3 pf, 14 pts
44-Tyler McIntosh, C - 0/1 fg, 1 reb, 1 blk, 0 pts
23-Willie Edwards, F - 3/9 fg, 2/2 ft, 3 reb, 4 ast, 3 stl, 1 pf, 11 pts
1-Robert Gill, G - 3/6 fg, 4/7 ft, 3 reb, 4 ast, 4 pf, 11 pts
11-Anthony Holliday, G - 8/14 fg, 6/7 ft, 4 reb, 4 ast, 2 stl, 3 pf, 26 pts
24-Dominique McGowan, F - 0/1 fg, 2/2 ft, 2 pts
31-Dominique Kilgore, C - 1 reb, 2 pf, 0 pts
30-Victor Jones, F - 1/3 fg, 1/1 ft, 1 ast, 3 stl, 1 pf, 3 pts
34-Isaac Okebiorum, F - 0 pts
team rebounds: 4
Totals: 20/48 fg (.417), 21/27 ft (.778), 25 reb, 16 ast, 4 blk, 12 stl, 17 pf, 69 pts
3-pt fg (8): Holliday 4, Edwards 3, Gill
Turnovers (14): Scott 4, Williams 3, Edwards 3, Beverly 2, Holliday, Kilgore
Irvine Valley Lasers 63:
3-Kalob Hatcher, PG - 3/8 fg, 4/5 ft, 2 reb, 2 ast, 4 stl, 3 pf, 13 pts
5-Ramon Mejia, SG - 2/8 fg, 3 reb, 1 stl, 2 pf, 5 pts
15-Chris Taylor, SF - 6/9 fg, 2/3 ft, 7 reb, 4 ast, 1 tsl, 1 pf, 15 pts
25-Zach Mills, PF - 2/7 fg, 2/2 ft, 6 reb, 7 ast, 1 blk, 6 pts
33-Austin Loeb, C - 4/10 fg, 7 reb, 2 stl, 4 pf, 8 pts
30-Michael Bolden, F - 2/4 fg, 2/2 ft, 4 reb, 1 ast, 2 pf, 6 pts
32-Kirill Sergeyev, C - 4/6 fg, 3 reb, 3 pf, 8 pts
11-Jordan Hamamoto, G - 0/1 fg, 1 reb, 3 pf, 0 pts
22-Jose Vasquez, F - 1/2 f,g 1 ast, 1 pf, 2 pts
21-Christian Scott, F - 1 reb, 1 pf, 0 pts
10-Julian Nichols, G - 0/1 fg, 1 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl, 1 pf, 0 pts
team rebounds: 6
Totals: 24/56 fg (.429), 10/12 ft (.833), 41 reb, 18 ast, 1 blk, 9 stl, 21 pf, 63 pts
3-pt fg (5): Hatcher 3, Mejia, Taylor
Turnovers (20): Taylor 6, Hamamoto 4, Loeb 3, Mills 2, Hatcher, Mejia, Bolden, Scott, Nichols
Halftime Score: Irvine Valley 27, Cerritos 22
End of Regulation: Tied at 57
Updated Records: Cerritos 2-1, Irvine Valley (#10-South, #19-Calif) 2-1
IVC started the game with a 10-0 run. Cerritos rallied to lead, 18-17.
IVC had a 6-point lead and the ball with less than 30 seconds left after Taylor scored and Hatcher stole the inbounds pass. But a steal by Edwards and a 3-point play by Holliday made it 57-54. Then Hatcher missed the front end of a one-and-one with 12.6 seconds left. And Holliday hit a fall-away 3-pointer from the right elbow with 0.2 seconds left to send it to OT. Edwards scored 8 pts for Cerritos in OT.
