In the match-up that many expected to be for the tournament championship, #1 Citrus (9-1) had six players score in double figures to outlast #5 Chaffey (6-2), 90-84, in the 3rd Place game of the Neil Edwards Classic tournament Sunday afternoon at Citrus College.
Ctr Mark Dorsey, the 11th and last player to enter the game for the Owls, made 8 of 12 shots from the floor for a game-high 18 pts and grabbed 6 rebs to help the home team to the win a day after being upset by #9 (North) Reedley in the semifinal. Chaffey, which like Citrus entered the tourney undefeated, was relegated to the third-place game after losing to #6 San Diego City.
Citrus jumped out to a 24-14 lead in the first 10 minutes, and led by as much as 15 late in the first half before Chaffey got a apir of threes from PG Lamar Williams and cut the margin to 9 at the break, 46-37.
And Chaffey continued its surge in the second half, tying the game at 56 with just under 14 minutes left. Citrus went back into the lead after that, but Chaffey stayed close and eventually took its first lead since the early moments of the game at 66-65 on another 3-pointer by Williams. The Panthers led by as many as 5 points at 78-73 with just under 4 minutes left.
But then Citrus rallied, taking an 82-80 lead on a 3-pointer by SF Jose Rivera with 2:26 left. Chaffey answered with a driving lay-up by SG Anthony Cammon to tie the game. Then Dorsey scored on a dish from Rivera to put the Owls back in front. But Chaffey answered that when SF Winston Robinson scored on a putback of his own miss to make it 84-84 .
But after that, Citrus took command of the game. PG Steven Bennett missed on a driving lay-up, but got an "Iverson assist" as he drew the Chaffey defense to him and managed to get the ball onto the basket. Gibbs swallowed up the rebound and slammed it back through to give Citrus an 86-84 lead.
Then after a Chaffey miss, Dorsey drew a loose ball foul and made a pair of free throws with 28 seconds left to make it 88-84. Then Chaffey SF Nick Turner missed a 3-pointer and PF Troy Payne grabbed the rebound and passed to SG Justin Johnson, who made a pair of free throws with 7 seconds left to make it 90-84 and seal the win for Citrus.
Besides Dorsey, double-digit scorers for Citrus were J. Johnson (14 pts), SF Curtis Eatmon (12 pts), PF Keith Thompson (10 pts, 8 rebs), Bennett (10 pts, 3 asts, 3 steals) and Rivera (10 pts). J. Johnson and Bennett were named to the All-Tournament team.
For Chaffey, Cammon and Turner led the way with 15 pts each, and Williams had 14 pts. Robinson had 11 pts, 7 rebs, 3 asts and 3 steals. Turner was named to the All-Tournament team.
box score
Neil Edwards Classic @ Citrus College
Sunday, November 30, 2008 - 4 pm
Third Place Game
Chaffey Panthers 84:
3-Jamal Sloan, SG - 1/3 fg, 1 reb, 2 pts
4-Lamar Williams, PG - 4/7 fg, 3/4 ft, 4 reb, 3 pf, 14 pts
23-Nickalas Turner, SF - 5/12 fg, 3/5 ft, 1 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl, 1 pf, 15 pts
24-Jamal Veal, PF - 0/3 fg, 0 pts
41-Mauricio Aldaba, C - 1/4 fg, 4 reb, 3 pf, 2 pts
35-Derek Simon, C - 2/2 fg, 2 reb, 3 pf, 4 pts
34-Michael Munoz, F - 3/4 fg, 2/2 ft, 5 reb, 1 stl, 3 pf, 8 pts
21-Winston Robinson, F - 3/8 fg, 5/9 ft, 7 reb, 3 ast, 3 stl, 2 pf, 11 pts
1-Trone Jackson, G - 3/5 fg, 3/4 ft, 3 ast, 2 pf, 9 pts
2-Anthony Carson, F - 0/2 fg, 2 pf, 0 pts
14-Anthony Cammon, G - 7/13 fg, 3 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl, 2 pf, 15 pts
22-Chris Confair, F - 0/1 fg, 1 reb, 1 stl, 0 pts
11-Justin Domino, G - 0/1 fg, 1 blk, 2 pf, 0 pts
15-Anthony Soares, F - 2/3 fg, 0/2 ft, 2 reb, 1 blk, 2 pf, 4 pts
12-Andre Perkins, G - 0/1 fg, 1 reb, 0 pts
50-Kevin Sanders, C - 0 pts
team rebounds: 5
Totals: 31/69 fg (.449), 16/26 ft (.615), 36 reb, 10 ast, 2 blk, 9 stl, 25 pf, 84 pts
3-pt fg (6): Williams 3, Turner 2, Cammon
Turnovers (23): Robinson 5, Turner 3, Simon 3, Sloan 2, Jackson 2, Williams, Carson, Cammon, Confair, Domino, Soares, Perkins, team
Citrus Owls 90:
10-Kelly Johnson, PG - 0/3 fg, 1/2 ft, 3 reb, 4 ast, 1 pf, 1 pt
14-Curtis Eatmon, SF - 4/7 fg, 4/8 ft, 2 reb, 1 ast, 12 pts
20-Justin Johnson, SG - 4/7 fg, 6/6 ft, 2 reb, 1 ast, 3 stl, 3 pf, 14 pts
23-Troy Payne, PF - 3/7 fg, 3/4 ft, 8 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk, 4 pf, 9 pts
30-Joshua Gibbs, C - 2/2 fg, 0/2 ft, 4 reb, 2 pf, 4 pts
3-Jose Rivera, F - 4/8 fg, 1 reb, 3 ast, 4 pf, 10 pts
5-Steven Bennett, G - 5/10 fg, 0/2 ft, 1 reb, 3 ast, 1 blk, 3 stl, 1 pf, 10 pts
32-Zareh Zargaryan, F - 0/3 fg, 4 reb, 3 pf, 0 pts
44-Kyle Gordien, C - 2/4 ft, 2 reb, 2 pf, 2 pts
40-Keith Thompson, F - 1/3 fg, 8/10 ft, 8 reb, 1 blk, 1 stl, 1 pf, 10 pts
15-Mark Dorsey, C - 8/12 fg, 2/2 ft, 6 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 1 pf, 18 pts
team rebounds: 4
Totals: 31/62 fg (.500), 26/40 fg (.650), 45 reb, 15 ast, 2 blk, 4 stl, 22 pf, 90 pts
3-pt fg (2): Rivera 2
Turnovers (24): Payne 5, Thompson 4, Gibbs 3, Zargaryan 3, K.Johnson 2, Rivera 2, Gordien 2, Eatmon, J.Johnson, Bennett
Halftime Score: Citrus 46, Chaffey 37
Updated Records: Citrus (#1-South, #1-Calif) 9-1, Chaffey (#5-South, #7-Calif) 6-2
Dorsey's putback slam of a Bennett miss in the final minute broke an 84-84 tie. Dorsey and J.Johnson each made 2 FTs in the final 28 seconds to seal the win for Citrus.
Bennett (Citrus), J.Johnson (Citrus) & Turner (Chaffey) were named to the All-Tournament team.
