Here is a game-by-game summary of the 8 games I watched on Friday, July 19th at Cal Poly Pomona as part of the 2013 San Gabriel Valley JUCO Shootout.
Links to the box scores are at the bottom of the page.
Compton 73, The Ball (Independent) 70:
Wesley Harris poured in 32 pts, making 6 three-pointers, to lead Compton to a narrow win over The Ball and earn Most Oustanding Player honors at the 2013 San Gabriel Valley JUCO Shootout.
Harris not only amassed the highest single-game total recorded at this event, but the highest total for any game JCHoops.com has covered in a summer shootout event. This includes an average of 2 or 3 events every season since 2002.
It was one of the highest-scoring games of the event, with the run-and-gun Compton team taking on The Ball, an independent team featuring numerous unsigned sophomores.
The Ball took an early 15-6 lead. Compton rallied to lead, 33-24, but The Ball cut the deficit to three points at the half. The lead went back and forth the rest of the way.
Harris gave Compton a 67-65 lead with a 3-pointer, and Sylvester Thomas made it 69-65 with a score on a putback basket. Compton then held on for the win.
Harris finished 12 of 20 for his 32 pts, and added 6 rebs, 3 asts and 2 steals. Fabian Green had 10 pts and 4 rebs, and Thomas had 8 pts, 5 rebs, 5 asts and 2 steals. Luis Engleton came off the bench for 8 pts and 10 rebs.
For The Ball, Brandon Rosser (Temecula Valley HS) had 16 pts and Codye Hatcher (LA Pierce) had 12. Chris Williams (Compton) had 10 pts on 4-for-4 from the floor. A.J. Harris (Santa Monica) had 5 pts plus a game-high 7 asts and 3 steals.
Cypress 47, Citrus 42:
Chris Kapano scored 10 pts and grabbed 6 rebs, and Mark Townes came off the bench for 10 pts as Cypress shocked perernnial power Citrus, 47-42.
Cypress jumped out to a 17-8 lead early on, but Citrus appeared to steady itself, taking a 22-21 lead at the half. Citrus then took a 31-24 lead early in the second half.
But Cypress rallied with an 11-2 run to take a 35-33 lead, and the lead changed hands several times after that. Citrus drew within a point after a 3-pointer by Justin Childress with 36 seconds left.
Cypress got a free throw from Jerred Cook with 27 seconds left to make it 45-42, and Citrus' Danny Cheek missed a would-be game-tying 3-pointer. Cook got the rebound, was fouled and made the resulting free throw with 12 seconds left to clinch the win for Cypress.
Cook had 7 pts, 5 rebs, 5 asts and 3 steals for Cypress. Kerdt Elisaldez had 8 pts and Jay Pena had 6 pts and 5 rebs.
Childress led Citrus with 12 pts and added 3 rebs and 3 asts. Cheek had just 2 pts on 1-for-10 from the floor but grabbed a game-high 8 rebs.
Orange Coast 45, East LA 34:
Orange Coast jumped out to an early 25-9 lead, saw East LA rally to within a point with 4:17 left but then pulled away in the final minutes for a stunning 11-point win in a 12:30 game.
East LA had a stellar season last year, going 21-8, while Orange Coast finished 6th in the 7-team Orange Empire Conference. But OCC was in control most of the way in this one, leading virtually all the way and forcing 18 ELAC turnovers.
East LA led 25-9 late in the first half and 27-16 at the break. East LA gradually chipped away at that deficit, getting within a point at 33-32 after a 3-point play by Tullio Parry after a rebound with 4:17 to play.
But Orange Coast never surrendered the lead. A 2-pt free throw by Devaun Evans and a 3-point basket by Jeremy Jeranko made it 38-31. A putback basket by Evans with 2:20 left made it 42-32 and all but clinched the win for the Pirates.
Orange Coast won with a balanced attack, with no player scoring more than 8 points but 8 different players scoring at least 3 points. Wakim Wakim and Jeranko each scored 8 pts, while Evans had a huge game with 6 pts and game-highs of 8 rebs and 7 asts as well as 3 steals.
For East LA, Aaron Cheatum scored a game-high 9 pts and also had 4 rebs, 2 asts, a block and a steal. Zach Hinton had 6 pts and a team-high 6 rebs.
Cosumnes River 66, Porterville 45:
A.J. Bridges scored 18 pts, Aaron Cameron scored 17 and Jaycob Velasco had a double-double with 12 pts and 11 rebs as Cosumnes River raced past Porterville.
Cosumnes River jumped out to an early 14-5 lead. Porterville rallied to trail by just four points at 23-19 midway through the first half, but Cosumnes River pushed its lead back to nine points at 30-21 at the half.
After CRC expanded its lead to 15 points at 36-21 early in the second half, Porterville made one last rally to get the deficit to single digits at 38-30. But then CRC pulled away for good. A slam dunk by Cameron off an outlet pass from Rodney Cook made it 45-32 with 9:17 left. A basket by Velasco and a 3-pointer by Cameron made it 50-32 with 7 minutes to go.
Bridges, who played at CRC in 2009-10, came off the bench for 18 pts on 5-for-6 from the floor. Cameron had 17 pts, including 3 threes. And Velasco posted one of only three recorded double-doubles in this event.
For Porterville, Kellan Howard had 8 pts and 6 rebs, and Elijah Henningham had 8 pts and 4 rebs. Dominic Avila had 7 pts.
Santa Ana 59, Alameda 44:
Chad Young scored 16 pts and Camie Lewis had 12 pts, 5 rebs, 4 asts and 3 steals to lead Santa Ana to a 15-point win over Alameda.
After Alameda scored the game's first 6 points, Santa Ana rallied to take a 13-12 lead on a 3-pointer by Cammeron Hill and never trailed again. Santa Ana held a 27-18 lead at the half and started the second half with an 8-0 run to push the lead to 17 points and take control of the game.
Young made 7 of 10 shots from the floor, including a pair of three-pointers. Lewis tallied a team-best assist total. Hill had 10 pts and 5 rebs, and Dujuan Williams came off the bench for 10 pts.
For Alameda, Marcus Booker scored a team-best 11 pts on 5-for-6 from the floor. Aris Morton had 9 pts, 4 rebs and 4 asts.
LA Southwest 47, Skyline 45 (OT):
Brandon Jamar scored only one basket, but it was a game-winner as his putback slam lifted LA Southwest to a win over Skyline in sudden-death overtime.
Skyline led 16-9 in the first half, but that lead could have been much larger if the Trojans had made any of their first 5 free throw attempts. That allowed LA Southwest to stay in the game, though Skyline still held a 20-17 lead at the half.
It was close throughout the second half, but Skyline pulled away again to lead 38-30 after Brandon Berkovatz made a free throw - Skyline's first of the night. Southwest rallied from that deficit to tie the score at 43 on a bank shot by Sheldon Wright with 2:15 remaining.
Skyline got another made free throw - this one from D.J. Harvey with 1:03 left to take a 45-43 lead. But Wright scored on a Tony Parker-like floater with 3 seconds left to tie the score once more and force sudden-death overtime.
LA Southwest won the tip to start overtime, but turned the ball over on a 3-second violation. But Marcus Ford got the ball back for the Cougars moments later. Ford took a jumpshot to go for the win; it missed, but the 6-10 Jamar was there for the putback, er...JAM (sorry, couldn't resist) for the win.
Wright and Ford each scored 10 pts and dished out 3 asts for Southwest, and Reggie Fields came off the bench for 9 pts. Jamar had just the 2 pts but finished with 13 rebs.
Berkovatz led all scorers with 13 pts for Skyline. Kevin Bradenberg had 9 pts on 4-for-5 from the floor. Aaron Brown had 3 pts and a team-high 7 rebs.
Antelope Valley 36, Sierra 33:
Kendrick Thomas scored 9 pts and grabbed 13 rebs, and Lucciano Gamiz also scored 9 pts as Antelope Valley edged Sierra in a defensive battle in the hot Cal Poly Pomona gym.
This one was close all the way. Sierra led, 13-7, midway through the first half but AVC cut the margin to a single point at 17-16. Sierra pushed its lead back to 21-16 at the half after a basket by Antwan Ashley in the final seconds of the first half.
Antelope Valley scored the first six points of the second half to take a 22-21 lead when Thomas scored on a putback of his own miss. And the Marauders led by as many as 7 points after a 3-pointer by Darren Tooke made it 32-25 with about 5 minutes left.
Sierra got within a point at 34-33 on a reverse lay-up by Matt Scott with about a minute to go, and had several chances to take the lead. AVC got a free throw from Myles Cronkite with 15 seconds left. Sierra's Scott tried a last-second desperation shot from well beyond half court that was right on line but caromed off the heel of the rim as the final buzzer sounded.
Scott finished with 6 pts and 6 rebs for Sierra, and Cody Wilcox had 6 pts and 5 rebs. Pagos Trunyan shot just 1-for-10 for 5 pts but added 4 rebs, 3 asts and 2 steals.
Merritt 41, Santa Monica 37:
Sammy Allen Jr and Marcus Green each scored 11 pts for Merritt, which managed to grind out a tough win over Santa Monica in a battle of two intense defensive teams.
Both teams seemed to battle over every inch of the court on defense, and the result was an intense if occasionally hard to watch battle that came down to the final minutes. The difference was Merritt finishing the game by outscoring Santa Monica, 7-2, in the final 2:39.
Santa Monica led, 21-18, after a first half that featured 23 total fouls and 18 total turnovers. Dillon Biggs scored the first two baskets of the second half to give Santa Monica a 25-18 lead.
Merritt battled back, however, and took a 37-35 lead on a 3-point play by Green with 2:39 left. SMC tied the score on a basket by Anthony Harris. But Merritt went back in front on a slam dunk by Darien Williams. A free throw by Green with 8 seconds left finally clinched the win for the Thunderbirds.
Allen finished with 11 pts, 3 rebs and 3 asts for Merritt, and Green came off the bench for 11 pts on 3-for-4 from the floor including a pair of 3-point plays.
Keilan Horton led Santa Monica with 9 pts, and Madison Higgins had 8 pts. Biggs added 6 pts. SMC managed to get 17 different players into the game, most likely the highest total in this event.
Other results:
Canyons def Cypress in OT
Rio Hondo def LA Pierce
El Camino def Cosumnes River
Irvine Valley def Mira Costa
Bakersfield def Santa Ana
Palomar def West Hills
LA Southwest def Orange Coast
Sequoias def SD Mesa
Grossmont def West Hills
Desert def Alameda
SD City def Reedley
Sequoias def Mt San Jacinto
Saddleback def Fresno
LA Harbor def Mt San Jacinto
LA Trade Tech def SD City
LA Trade Tech def Merritt
Fresno def Antelope Valley
Long Beach def Fullerton
Santa Monica def Fullerton
Box Scores
Compton 73, The Ball 70
Cypress 47, Citrus 42
Orange Coast 45, East LA 34
Cosumnes River 66, Porterville 45
Santa Ana 59, Alameda 44
LA Southwest 47, Skyline 45 (OT)
Antelope Valley 36, Sierra 33
Merritt 41, Santa Monica 37
