#1-ranked Citrus (7-0) showed why they hold the top spot in the polls, using their deep lineup and balanced scoring to race past #11 Antelope Valley (4-5), 92-69, Tuesday night in Glendora. In a showdown between two of the top programs in the state, the defending champion Owls led almost from start to finish in a most impressive romp.
About this time last season, AVC defeated Citrus in the Riverside tournament to give the Owls the only loss they would suffer all season. There was no danger of that happening this time around, however. After AVC began the game with the first basket to take a 2-0 lead, Citrus went on a 14-2 run to go ahead, 14-4, and cruised to the win.
AVC kept the lead in single digits for the first few minutes until the Owls pushed the margin to 16 at 27-11 just before the halfway mark of the first half. At the break Citrus held a 43-29 lead. The closest AVC got in the second half was when a 3-point play by PF Aaron Henson made it 51-39 midway through the half.
But then SF Zareh Zargaryan drained a 3-pointer to restore order for Citrus. A 3-pointer by SG Jose Rivera, his 5th of the night, and a driving lay-up by PF Keith Thompson pushed the lead to 20 for the first time at 63-43. PF Troy Payne punctuated the win with a thunderous one-handed dunk after driving from the top of the lane that pushed the margin to 25 with 1:17 remaining and brought the Citrus bench to its feet.
SG Justin Johnson led the way for Citrus with a game-high 20 pts plus 6 rebs and 4 asts. Rivera had 15 pts, all on threes, and 3 steals. PG Steven Bennett had a solid game with 10 pts, 3 asts, 4 steals and just one turnover. Zargaryan led the second unit with an impressive performance, filling the stat sheet with 13 pts, 6 rebs, 4 asts, 2 steals and a block. Payne had just 6 pts but added a game-high 9 rebs, a team-high 5 asts, 2 blocks and 2 steals.
For Antelope Valley, PF Kyisean Reed had a tremendous performance with 19 pts, 8 rebs and 4 blocked shots. PG Rod Singleton added 18 pts and PG Nick Sanchez came off the bench to add 5 pts and a game-high 6 asts. And Henson, playing his first game since injuring his knee in the Ventura tournament, had a solid game with 6 pts and 3 rebs in limited time off the bench. But the remainder of the Marauders combined to shoot just 4-for-24 (17%) from the floor and they just couldn’t match the Citrus depth.
With the win, Citrus improves to 7-0 overall entering the Neil Edwards tournament at Citrus this weekend. Antelope Valley falls to 4-5.
Box Score
Tuesday, November 25, 2008 – 7 pm
at Citrus College, Glendora
Antelope Valley Marauders 69:
1-Rod Singleton, PG – 7/14 fg, 3/4 ft, 1 reb, 1 stl, 1 pf, 18 pts
11-Raymond Cody, SF – 1/10 fg, 5/7 ft, 8 reb, 1 ast, 4 pf, 7 pts
23-Lionell Holmes, SG – 1/2 fg, 4/4 ft, 1 ast, 1 blk, 1 pf, 6 pts
32-Jerome Moton, C – 2/8 fg, 2/3 ft, 3 reb, 1 ast, 2 blk, 1 stl, 6 pts
34-Kyisean Reed, PF – 6/10 fg, 7/9 ft, 8 reb, 1 ast, 4 blk, 2 pf, 19 pts
20-Anthony Sanchez, G – 0/4 fg, 2/2 ft, 7 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 5 pf, 2 pts
4-Nick Sanchez, G – 1/2 fg, 3/4 ft, 2 reb, 6 ast, 1 stl, 1 pf, 5 pts
21-Chris Clayton, C – 1 stl, 0 pts
2-Markese Fields, F – 1 ast, 0 pts
22-Aaron Henson, F – 2/4 fg, 2/3 ft, 3 reb, 1 ast, 6 pts
team rebounds: 2
Totals: 20/54 fg (.370), 28/36 ft (.778), 34 reb, 13 ast, 7 blk, 5 stl, 14 pf, 69 pts
3-pt fg (1): Singleton
Fouled Out: A.Sanchez 10:10 left
Turnovers (20): Cody 5, Reed 4, Singleton 3, Holmes 2, Moton 2, A.Sanchez 2, N.Sanchez 2
Citrus Owls 92:
5-Steven Bennett, PG – 4/9 fg, 0/1 ft, 2 reb, 3 ast, 4 stl, 1 pf, 10 pts
14-Curtis Eatmon, SF – 3/9 fg, 3 reb, 1 blk, 2 pf, 6 pts
15-Mark Dorsey, C – 2/6 fg, 2/2 ft, 3 reb, 4 pf, 6 pts
20-Justin Johnson, SG – 9/12 fg, 2/2 ft, 6 reb, 4 ast, 3 pf, 20 pts
23-Troy Payne, PF – 3/6 fg, 9 reb, 5 ast, 2 blk, 2 stl, 3 pf, 6 pts
3-Jose Rivera, G – 5/9 fg, 2 ast, 3 stl, 3 pf, 15 pts
10-Kelly Johnson, G – 1/5 fg, 2 reb, 4 ast, 2 stl, 2 pf, 2 pts
30-Nathan Gibbs, C – 2/4 fg, 4/4 ft, 5 reb, 1 ast, 4 pf, 8 pts
32-Zareh Zargaryan, F – 5/9 fg, 1/2 ft, 6 reb, 4 ast, 1 blk, 2 stl, 1 pf, 13 pts
44-Kyle Gordien, F – 1/4 fg, 3 reb, 1 stl, 3 pf, 2 pts
40-Keith Thompson, F – 2/3 fg, 1 ast, 1 pf, 4 pts
25-Darin Stewart, F – 1 pf, 0 pts
team rebounds: 4
Totals: 37/76 fg (.487), 9/11 ft (.818), 43 reb, 24 ast, 4 blk, 14 stl, 28 pf, 92 pts
3-pt fg (9): Rivera 5, Bennett 2, Zargaryan 2
Turnovers (13): Payne 3, J.Johnson 2, Bennett, Eatmon, Dorsey, K.Johnson, Gibbs, Zargaryan, Gordien, Thompson
Halftime Score: Citrus 43, Antelope Valley 29
Updated Records: Citrus (#1-South, #1-California) 7-0, Antelope Valley (#11-South) 4-5
