In a game widely expected to be for the championship of the tournament, preseason #1-ranked Citrus used a 21-3 run that spanned halftime to pull away for an 82-64 win over preseason #7-ranked San Diego City Sunday afternoon in the Neil Edwards Classic.
Citrus was not only the preseason pick as #1 team in the South, but also the three-time defending champion of their tournament, named for longtime coach Neil Edwards. The last team other than Citrus to capture the tournament was San Diego City, which won the event in 2008 behind PF Malcolm Thomas, now playing in the Euroleague after getting a taste of the NBA last season with the San Antonio Spurs.
But Citrus (4-3) lost to upstart East LA in the first round, and SD City (4-5) lost to eventual tournament champion LA Pierce, sending the two onto a collision course that resulted in their 2 pm match-up for the consolation final.
Citrus held a narrow lead for much of the first half, opening a 24-16 advantage, before SD City rallied to tie the game on a basket by PF Justice Howard off a pass from PG Devyn Iglehart with 3:15 left in the first half.
But then Citrus SF Steven Thornton scored the game's next five points to put the Owls back in front, and that started a 10-0 spurt to end the half that saw Citrus push its lead to 41-31 after a 3-pointer by SG Jevion Roland just before the halftime buzzer.
And the run continued in the second half as Citrus pushed its lead to 52-34 for a 21-3 extended run that spanned halftime. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Thornton and Roland and a reverse lay-up by SG Kerry Carter gave the Owls the 18-point lead. A 3-pointer by PF Jordan Mackie made it 59-38, and Citrus led easily the rest of the way.
Thornton, a bounceback from Utah State who played at Golden Valley HS in Santa Clarita, had a game-high 25 pts on 10-for-15 from the floor and though he had just one rebound he added 2 assists, 3 blocks and 4 steals with no turnovers to earn a place on the all-tournament team.
Carter, who recently committed to Cal State Fullerton, had 17 pts, 5 rebs, 5 asts and 2 steals. Mackie added 10 pts and 4 asts, and Roland came off the bench for 14 pts, including 3 three-pointers, on 5-for-7 from the floor.
And then there was 6-10 Ctr Brent Watkins, who started in place of injured Washington State bounceback and recent DePaul commit Greg Sequele and had 8 pts on 4-for-4 from the floor as well as a game-high 12 rebs, 2 blocks, 3 steals and an assist.
For SD City, SF Trevor English came off the bench to lead the Knights with 19 pts on 7-for-10 from the floor, including 4 threes. Howard had 12 pts and 6 rebs. But SF Anthony Poindexter, the Knights' leading scorer on the season, had just 6 pts though he did grab a team-high 7 rebs.
box score
2012 Neil Edwards Classic
Sunday, November 25th @ Citrus College, Glendora
Consolation Final - 2 pm
Citrus Owls 82:
3-Kerry Carter, SG - 7/20 fg, 1/2 ft, 5 reb, 5 ast, 2 stl, 5 pf, 17 pts
5-Steven Thornton, SF - 10/15 fg, 3/8 ft, 1 reb, 2 ast, 3 blk, 4 stl, 3 pf, 25 pts
10-Jordan Mackie, PF - 4/7 fg, 2 reb, 4 ast, 2 stl, 5 pf, 10 pts
30-Darius Middleton, PG - 2/5 fg, 3/4 ft, 2 reb, 7 ast, 1 stl, 4 pf, 8 pts
50-Brent Watkins, C - 4/4 fg, 12 reb, 1 ast, 2 blk, 3 stl, 1 pf, 8 pts
34-Therique Card, G - 0/1 fg, 0/2 ft, 1 reb, 3 ast, 0 pts
23-Jevion Roland, G - 5/7 fg, 1/1 ft, 1 reb, 1 ast, 2 pf, 14 pts
32-Kumase DeMesma, G - 2 reb, 0 pts
15-Terrell Todd, G - 0/1 fg, 1 reb, 0 pts
team rebounds: 3
Totals: 32/60 fg (.533), 8/17 ft (.471), 30 reb, 23 ast, 5 blk, 12 stl, 20 pf, 82 pts
3-pt fg (10): Roland 3, Carter 2, Thornton 2, Mackie 2, Middleton
Technical Foul: Carter
Fouled Out: Mackie 3:53 left, Carter 1:15 left
Turnovers (12): Mackie 3, Middleton 3, Carter 2, Todd 2, Watkins, DeMesma
San Diego City Knights 64:
1-Anthony Poindexter, SF - 2/8 fg, 1/2 ft, 7 reb, 2 ast, 6 pts
4-Devyn Iglehart, PG - 1/4 fg, 1/2 ft, 2 reb, 4 ast, 1 pf, 3 pts
5-Justice Howard, PF - 5/6 fg, 2/2 ft, 6 reb, 2 ast, 1 pf, 12 pts
23-Tyler Nelson, SG - 0/2 fg, 2 reb, 2 ast, 1 pf, 0 pts
32-Kyle Anderson, C - 3/5 fg, 5 reb, 3 blk, 1 stl, 3 pf, 6 pts
13-Josh White, G - 1/2 fg, 3/4 ft, 2 reb, 1 ast, 1 pf, 5 pts
2-Trevor English, F - 7/10 fg, 1/1 ft, 2 reb, 2 ast, 4 pf, 19 pts
21-Javon Griffin, C - 3/4 fg, 1/2 ft, 3 reb, 7 pts
22-Bren Haley, G - 1/3 fg, 1 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl, 2 pf, 3 pts
24-Jamaur Dickerson, F - 0/2 fg, 1 reb, 1 blk, 1 pf, 0 pts
10-Deric McCottrell, F - 1/3 fg, 1 stl, 2 pts
44-Verne Brooks, G - 0/3 fg, 1/2 ft, 1 reb, 1 pf, 1 pt
45-Jose Garcia Jr., G - 0 pts
team rebounds: 5
Totals: 24/52 fg (.462), 10/15 ft (.667), 37 reb, 16 ast, 4 blk, 3 stl, 15 pf, 64 pts
3-pt fg (6): English 4, Poindexter, Haley
Turnovers (20): Iglehart 6, Poindexter 3, Nelson 2, Anderson 2, English 2, Haley 2, Howard, Brooks, team
Halftime Score: Citrus 41, SD City 31
Updated Records: Citrus (#1-South, #2-Calif preseason) 4-3, SD City (#7-South, #13-Calif preseason) 4-5
It was tied at 31 before Citrus went on a 21-3 extended run over halftime to lead 52-34 and led easily the rest of the way.
