The 2006-07 JC basketball season is now in the books. Fresno’s men’s team finished strong to win its second state championship in three years, while on the women’s side Mt. San Antonio was dominant throughout the season en route to its third state championship in four years.
During the season I managed to see a total of 77 games – 62 men’s games and 15 women’s. Most of that was in Southern California, but it also included a couple of road trips to the north.
So once again, here's my list of the best and the brightest from the 2006-07 season...
Season Superlatives:
Most Points, Team: 106 – Chaffey, 12/16 vs. Pasadena
Fewest Points Allowed: 28 – Riverside, 2/9 vs. Saddleback
Largest Margin of Victory: 33 – Citrus (87) vs. Victor Valley (54), 11/8
Most Points, Player: 38 – Terrence Johns, Bakersfield, 2/10 vs. LA Valley
Most Rebounds, Player: 29 – Bryan LeDuc, Fullerton, 12/3 vs. Moorpark
Most Assists, Player: 13 – Brandon Robnett, Glendale, 12/3 vs. Mt. San Jacinto
And..........13 – Eric Flournoy, LA Southwest, 1/5 vs. LA City
Most 3-point FG, Player: 7 – Brandon Dempster, Moorpark, 1/31 vs. Santa Barbara
Most Blocked Shots, Player: 9 – Jimmy House, Mt. SAC, 1/26 vs. LA City
Most Steals, Player: 6 – Don Choi, Santa Monica, 1/17 vs. Canyons
And..........6 - Jamar Berry, Chaffey, 1/24 vs. Antelope Valley
Best Team: Bakersfield
The uncertainty of a single-elimination tournament kept them from winning the championship, but they finished 30-3 and scored 100+ points 17 times.
Best Team (Women): Mt. San Antonio
Mt. SAC is an astounding 73-3 over the last two years, and won the state championship both times. The backcourt of PG Tonicia Tademy and SG Sam Cardeno started for both teams, while SF Adrienna Hooks and SG Susan Ott were key players on both squads.
Best Player (men): Danny Tavares, Ventura.
The 6-8 sophomore has a complete game, able to score inside or step out to the perimeter and knock down a jumper. He can rebound (he was among the state leaders) and is a top shot-blocker. He averaged 21.8 points, 10.8 rebs and 3.8 blocked shots in the 4 games I saw him play this year and helped the Pirates reach the state tournament.
Best Player (women): Kiesha Phelps, PF, Pasadena
The 6-2 freshman from Castlemont HS in Oakland was just outstanding with a 22-point, 10-rebound, 3-assist, 3-block and 2-steal performance when I saw her play. Even more impressive was that she did this against the best team in the state, Mt. SAC, and much of it came against probably her top competition for Top Female Player, Chari Smith, the sensational sophomore for Mt. SAC. Phelps had more points, rebounds, blocks, assists and steals than Smith though Mt. SAC ended up winning the game, 69-56.
Best Game, Player: Jimmy Allen, Cuesta, 1/3 vs. Moorpark.
The 6-10 sophomore had 30 points on 13-of-15 shooting plus 9 rebounds and 8 blocks. The game was tied at halftime, but Allen’s inside domination on defense was a key part of Moorpark missing 20 of its first 23 shots of the second half. Not too surprisingly, his team won, 88-70.
Best Game, Player, Women: Britany Henderson, LA Pierce, 1/27/07.
In the Brahmas’ 65-52 win over Oxnard (later forfeited due to a paperwork foul-up), Henderson was just magnificent. She had game-highs of 25 points, 20 rebounds and 7 blocked shots in leading her team to the victory. But more remarkable was that she missed most of the first half in foul trouble! If she’d had her normal minutes, just imagine what her final totals might have been…
Best Game, Teammates (Women): Facion Edwards and Melissa Tachias, Canyons, 2/23 vs. Long Beach.
In COC’s 84-74 win in the first round of the playoffs, these teammates pulled off one of the most remarkable statistical feats in the history of JC basketball: they each had 20-20 games. Edwards, an athletic forward in the mold of Kevin Durant, was 13 of 18 from the floor for a game-high 30 points while pulling down 20 rebounds. Meanwhile, Tachias, a traditional post player, dominated the inside and scored 20 points while also grabbing 20 rebounds. I’ve never seen anything like this, in High School, JC, College or the NBA – men or women.
Best Games by Position (men):
PG – Eric Flournoy, LA Southwest, 1/5 vs. LACC. OK, technically he began the game as the 2-guard, but LASW had four guys who were essentially point guards. And it was Flournoy who really stood out as the playmaker. For the night, he scored 16 points (7/13 fgs) while dishing out 13 assists without a turnover. Not surprisingly, Southwest won the game, 89-77.
SG – Marcio Lassiter, San Francisco, 12/30 vs. Delta. In a showdown between two of the top teams in the North, Lassiter finished with a game-high 23 points…on an astoundingly low total of 8 shots. That’s an average of nearly 3 points per shot ATTEMPT! He finished 7 of 8 from the floor with 5 threes, and added 4 free throws in 4 attempts. He also had 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, 1 steal and just 1 turnover in one of the most efficient performances I’ve ever seen. Not too surprisingly, CCSF won the game, 84-74.
SF – Terrence Johns, Bakersfield, 2/10 vs. LA Valley. The sophomore scoring machine put on a show against the Monarchs, going 14 of 21 from the floor, including 5 threes, for a game-high 38 points. He scored from the perimeter, he drove the lane and he even went 5 of 6 from the free throw line as he seemed to score from everywhere. He also grabbed a team-high 9 rebounds in the Renegades’ 100-82 win.
PF – Danny Tavares, Ventura, 11/29 vs. LA Valley. In Ventura’s 103-90 romp, Tavares showed how adept he is in an up-and-down game. Many 6-8, 220-pound forwards prefer the halfcourt, but for Tavares it doesn’t seem to make a difference what the pace is. Against the pressing Monarchs, Tavares went 11-for-17 from the floor for a game-high 24 points. He also had game-highs of 14 rebounds and 6 blocked shots, showing why he was selected the JCHoops.com Southern California Player of the Year.
C – Jimmy Allen, Cuesta, 1/3 vs. Moorpark (see above).
Best Game by Position (women):
PG – Tonicia Tademy, Mt. SAC, 3/11 vs. Sierra. In the state championship game, Tademy scored 14 points (6 of 11 from the floor) and dished out a game-high 5 assists with just one turnover, leading Mt. SAC to its second state championship in two years with Tademy at PG in an easy 80-51 win.
SG – Helen Suarez, Glendale, 12/20 vs. East LA. One of SoCal’s most underrated guards, the super-smooth Suarez went 8 for 12 from the floor for 18 points while dishing out 7 assists and grabbing 4 steals as the Vaqueros trounced the Huskies, 83-37.
SF – Andrea Bobic, Canyons, 1/17 vs. Santa Monica. She had game-highs of 29 points, including 7 threes, and 13 rebounds in the Cougars’ 105-74 win. She also dished out 4 assists and grabbed 2 steals, and committed just 1 turnover.
PF – Britany Henderson, LA Pierce, 1/27 vs. Oxnard (see above).
Ctr – Aubrey Duran, Santa Ana, 1/19 vs. Cypress. In the Dons’ 83-75 win, Duran posted a 20-20 game with 24 points and 20 rebounds. She also blocked 6 shots.
Best Game, Men: Antelope Valley 95, Chaffey 90 (OT), 1/24.
The small AVC gym was packed for this Foothill League showdown, and the teams did not disappoint. Neither team led by more than 8 points all night, and the lead went back and forth throughout the last 9 minutes of regulation. AVC had a 3-point lead with less than 10 seconds left, but Chaffey rallied to tie the game on a length-of-the-floor dash & lay-up by PG Darryl Carlton. Then in overtime, Chaffey took a 4-point lead and still led by 3 with a minute left before Ade Dagunduro scored on a lay-up and Reggie Arnold drained a three to put AVC ahead. The Marauders then held on for the victory that created a 3-way tie atop the conference race.
Best Game, Women: Moorpark 52, Cuesta 49, 1/3.
It was a difficult year for Moorpark, which had only seven players and only one returning sophomore. And Cuesta was a solid team – maybe not up there with Ventura, Pierce or SBCC but a good overall squad. So this win was almost certainly the high point of the season for Moorpark.
Early on, Cuesta jumped out to a 9-point lead, and the Cougars led by 7 at halftime. But in the second half, Moorpark chipped away at the lead, finally taking a lead after a three by Tedra Clark made it 45-44 with 2:40 left. Cuesta went back in front on a three by Haley Woeste with 1:25 left, but 13 seconds later Moorpark got a FG+FT 3-point play from Sara Nicholson to take a 49-48 lead. Cuesta answered back with a rebound & basket by Woeste to take a 49-48 lead. Moorpark then tied the game on a free throw by Nicholson with 34.4 seconds left.
It looked like Cuesta was going to hold the ball for one last shot, which would have at least meant overtime and possibly ended with a win for the visiting Cougars. And Cuesta called timeout to set up the potential winning play.
When play resumed, however, Moorpark’s Kellyn Lees stole the ball at midcourt and went for the lay-up to give the Raiders the lead! And after a Cuesta turnover, Clark made a free throw to make it 52-49. Cuesta had 7.7 seconds left in which to get off a final shot, but was unable to do so, giving Moorpark the win.
Lees finished with just the 2 points in the game after missing her other 9 shots from the floor. But when the game was on the line, she made the play that got her team the win.
Best Game, Team: LA Southwest, 1/5 vs. LA City
In an 89-77 win over the host Cubs, LA Southwest shot a solid 52%, made 12 threes and committed an astoundingly low total of just 5 turnovers for the game. It’s no wonder that they won decisively, even on the Cubs’ home court.
PG Eules Thompson had a strong game with 26 points on 10-of-15 shooting, including 3 threes. But Eric Flournoy had maybe an even better game, scoring 16 points on 7-of-13 shooting while dishing out 13 assists without committing a turnover. SG Chris Smith, one of the state’s top scorers for the season, had 23 points including 5 threes. And backup PG Jason McKinney performed well with 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting (3 threes) and 6 assists. The Cougars sliced and diced LACC all evening to post the win.
Best Defensive Game, Team: Riverside, 2/9 vs. Saddleback.
This one went straight into the California state history books. In what was a highly-anticipated showdown between the top two teams in the OEC (ranked #2 and #5 in the South at the time), Riverside put on a defensive show for the ages.
In the first half, Saddleback scored exactly three points. THREE. A lay-up and a free throw. That’s it. In twenty minutes of basketball, the Gauchos managed exactly three points. And the lay-up was uncontested after a steal at midcourt!
That is believed to be an all-time California state record, even including the era before the shot clock. The lowest one-half score I’d ever seen during the regular season before this had been 10 points. The only thing I’ve ever seen quite like this was during a showcase in 2005 when eventual undefeated state champion Fullerton held Santa Monica scoreless for an entire half, but that was a showcase event with a running clock. This was not only a regular-season game, but a game between two top teams!
Riverside eventually won the game, 51-28, and held the Gauchos to 20.5% shooting on the night. It got so frustrating that midway through the second half, Saddleback’s Tremaine Ford-Townsend shot the ball into his own basket.
Eventually, Saddleback got a bit of revenge in that the Gauchos ended up reaching the state tournament. Meanwhile, Riverside lost in the regional final to Ventura.
Best Comeback, Team: Canyons, 2/3 vs. Citrus
COC entered the game ranked #4, and the Cougars were perched atop the WSC-South. Citrus entered #15, and had visions of pulling the upset, opening a 14-point first-half lead and still leading by 9 with 3:19 left.
But that was enough time for COC to rally, getting a basket from PF Jovonne Augustus, a three from PG Gino Riney, a putback basket from Ctr Everett Bryson and a lay-up from SF Dwayne Jones to tie the game at 64 with about 2 minutes left. Then, after the teams traded baskets, COC won the game on Riney’s jumper with 4 seconds left, 68-66.
Best Comeback That Fell Short: Bakersfield, 1/20 vs. Canyons.
Canyons led the #1-ranked Renegades, 91-78, with under two minutes left in what looked to be a significant upset. And the Cougars ended up with the win in the end. But not before it almost got away.
PG Johnny Machado began the comeback with a three that made it 91-81 with 1:55 left. But Canyons got a pair of free throws from PF Jacob Briggs, and also managed to use some time and seemed to hold a commanding 12-point lead as the clock passed the 1:20 mark.
Then Bakersfield started scoring in bunches. A three by SF Terrence Johns made it 93-84 with 1:16 left. Then Bakersfield started fouling, but PG Gino Riney made 2 free throws to make it 95-84. But when Bakersfield got the ball, it went to PF Steve Alford, who drained a three to make it 95-87 with 1:06 remaining. Again, BC fouled a Cougar, and Riney made 1 of 2 free throws to make it 96-87. But then Alford drained another three to make it 96-90 with 50 seconds left.
Then COC started missing free throws. After a miss on the front end of a 1-and-1 by PF Jovonne Augustus, PG Reggie Lassiter drew a foul and made two free throws for Bakersfield, making it a 4-point game at 96-92 with 20 seconds left. And after Riney missed a front end of a 1-and-1, SG Andrew Ready drew a foul and made two free throws to make it a 2-point game at 96-94 with 9 seconds left.
But the next Cougar to go to the line put the game away. Riney’s two free throws with 8 seconds left made it a two-possession game again at 98-94. A missed shot by Johns in the final seconds ended Bakersfield’s last scoring chance and allowed Canyons to escape with the win.
Best Comeback that Succeeded, but the Team Lost the Game: Santa Monica, 1/17 vs. Canyons.
Three days before the showdown against Bakersfield, Canyons almost let a game get away against the upset-minded Corsairs. Canyons led by as many as 17 and still led by 10 with just over a minute left.
But Santa Monica rallied. A three by PG Noah Gottlieb after a steal by SG Don Choi got the rally started, making it 76-69 with 1:16 left. Then another three by Gottlieb after another steal by Choi made it 76-72. After a pair of free throws by Canyons’ Andre Murray, Gottlieb made a pair of free throws with 37 seconds left to make it 78-74. Then, after another free throw by Murray, SG Keivan Cross drained a three to make it 79-77. with 15 seconds left.
Canyons called timeout, but on the restart Coach Howard Fisher got into a dispute with the officials regarding the inbounding of the ball. Finally, the official near midcourt decided he’d heard enough, and assessed a technical foul against Fisher. Gottlieb then went to the line for Santa Monica and made a pair of free throws, tying the game at 79.
As time wound down, Canyons got the ball into the hands of its top scorer, Murray. His shot barely grazed the rim, but SF Dwayne Jones grabbed the rebound and tossed the ball back at the basket as he fell to the floor. As the final horn sounded, the ball went through the basket, giving the Cougars a tougher-than-expected 81-79 victory.
Best Comeback That Fell Short (Women): LA Valley, 2/10 vs. Bakersfield
For most of the game, it looked like #11 Bakersfield was cruising to a win. The Renegades opened up a 21-point lead in the first half, saw Valley close the margin to 13 at the half and pushed the lead back to 21 in the second half. And Valley’s top player, Ctr Natasha Thomas, was on the bench in foul trouble.
But Valley rallied, cutting the lead to 10 at 69-59 with just under 6 minutes left. And even after Thomas fouled out, the rally continued as PG Saida Johnson scored consecutive baskets to cut the margin to 3 at 73-70 with just under 3 minutes left. Then Bakersfield PG Amber Williams fouled out. And a three by SF Tatiana Moger brought Valley to within a point at 76-75 with 1:20 to play.
From there, however, Bakersfield held on. SG Taylor Abercrombie, moved to point in Williams’ absence, scored one basket and assisted on a basket by SF Neha Joshi to push Bakersfield’s lead back to 5 at 81-76. And Bakersfield made 5 free throws, including one by Joshi to complete a 3-point play, in the final minute to hold on for the 86-80 win.
Best Performance in a Losing Cause: Louis Hamilton, LA Trade Tech, 12/27 vs. Canyons.
The 6-7, 240-pound forward was an absolute beast for Trade Tech, scoring a game-high 29 points on 11-of-15 shooting, grabbing a team-high 11 rebounds and dishing out a team-high 8 assists. He even blocked 2 shots and grabbed 2 steals. Canyons had no way to contain him.
Instead, Canyons used its depth and strong guard play to outrun Trade Tech and gain a 96-87 victory. But don’t blame Hamilton!
Best Two Performances in Losing Causes: Bryan LeDuc, Fullerton, 11/21 vs. Canyons & 12/3 vs. Moorpark.
Both of these games had to be frustrating for LeDuc, but at least he can take comfort from knowing he gave his best and gave his team a chance to win. Because in both games, he was the best player on the floor even if his team came up on the short end of the score both times.
Against Canyons, he was unstoppable inside on the offensive end, scoring 27 points on 11-of-13 shooting. That was easily game-high, and he also had 9 rebounds and 4 blocked shots. But the rest of the Hornets shot 28% from the floor and Canyons won, 78-72.
Then, in the third-place game of the Rancho Vista Shootout at AVC, LeDuc excelled on the boards. Against the much-smaller Raiders, LeDuc grabbed an astounding 29 rebounds for the game. But again, it ended in frustration when he was called for a foul while reaching for what would have been his 30th board, helping Moorpark hold on for an 80-78 win.
Best Performance in a Losing Cause (Women): Brittoni DeWitt, Allan Hancock, 1/10 vs. Ventura.
Ventura ended up winning the game, 73-64, but don’t blame DeWitt. The sophomore forward ended up scoring more than half of her teams points. And it wasn’t like she was being a ball-hog; she shot 65% from the floor (13-of-20) and even had 3 assists! She finished with 34 points while also pulling down 17 rebounds, both easily game highs.
Best Game, Player, Playoffs: Justin Carter, Compton, 2/24 vs. Chaffey
For many players, facing Chaffey’s relentless pressure is cause to panic. But for Carter, it turned out to be a chance to display his many skills. Chaffey’s press means forwards need to be able to handle the ball.
That turned out to be a strength for Carter. He repeatedly dribbled through pressure, often finishing scoring chances himself after getting the ball upcourt. And on defense, he proved to be as much of a problem for Chaffey as the Panther pressure was for Compton.
In the end, Carter had 27 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals. And Compton had an 87-77 win.
Best Play To Win The Game: Jamar Eubanks and Owen Duckworth, Glendale, 12/8 vs. West LA.
It was a disappointing season for Glendale, but a highlight for the Vaqueros came in the Roadrunner Round-Up tourney at Rio Hondo. Trailing, 71-70, after a basket by West LA’s Josh Gordon with 8.5 seconds left, Duckworth committed a turnover. But after Gordon missed the front end of a 1-and-1, Glendale had one last chance to win.
With 3.8 seconds remaining, Duckworth took the ball out on the baseline. He threw a three-quarter-court pass to Eubanks, who took the pass and went in for the lay-up, scoring with 0.5 seconds left to give the Vaqueros a 72-71 win.
Regular viewers of this site might remember that West LA was on the wrong end of last season’s top game-winning play, a Tyus Edney-like end-to-end dash by Compton’s Kevin Thomas. And amazingly, that play also took place in the Rio Hondo tournament!
Best Two Plays To Win The Game: Shaun Engle, Orange Coast, 11/26 vs. Cuyamaca.
The score was tied at 78 as regulation time was about to end, but OCC had the ball. And that meant standout guard Shaun Engle had the situation well in hand. With the clock winding down, Engle passed to PF Cameron Wise for a lay-up; Wise was fouled and also made the free throw with 3.0 seconds left to give OCC an 81-78 lead.
Then on the inbounds, Engle stole the ball, giving the Pirates the win. It was Engle’s 5th steal of the game.
Miscellaneous...
Kobe Shots (jumpers that won games): Alex Finley, Pasadena, 2/2 vs. Mt. SAC and Gino Riney, Canyons, 2/3 vs. Citrus
On consecutive nights in February, a pair of games were decided on the kind of plays that the Lakers’ Kobe Bryant has made famous: jumpers at the buzzer that won the game.
Friday night, Pasadena got its first conference win (not counting forfeits) in nearly three years when SF Rico Henderson passed to Finley in the final seconds. Finley’s 12-foot jumper from just inside the free throw line gave the Lancers a 64-62 win.
Then, Saturday night saw Canyons’ Gino Riney with the ball in hands as regulation time wound down. With the score tied, Riney pulled up for a 16-foot jumper from just behind the free throw line to give the Cougars a 68-66 win over the Owls.
Shooting Star: The Canyons women’s team played two home games January 17 & 20, and Andrea Bobic had an amazing week. In the first game, a 105-74 win over Santa Monica, she made 11 of 22 shots, including 7 threes, for 29 points. In the second, a 92-78 win over Bakersfield, she was even more accurate, making 9 of 11 shots, including 4 threes, for 25 points. That’s a total of 20 of 33 from the floor (61%) with 11 threes for 54 points in the two games combined. And of course, COC won both games.
20-20 Vision (women): Four women had 20-20 games when I covered them this season, which is an astounding total (I saw a total of two 20-20 games over the last 5 years before this one). Aubrey Duran of Santa Ana had 24 points and 20 rebounds in an 83-75 win over Cypress on January 19th. Then Britany Henderson of Pierce had 25 points and 20 rebounds against Oxnard on January 27th. And then in Canyons’ 84-74 win over Long Beach in the playoffs, COC had two 20-20 performers in the same game! Melissa Tachias had 20 points and 20 rebounds, while Facion Edwards did even better with 30 points and 20 rebounds.
20-20 Vision (men): It was also a big year for the men in 20-20 games. There are seasons when I don’t see a 20-20 game all year, but this time around there were two of them. Monterey Peninsula’s Marco Ramos had exactly 20 points and 20 rebounds against Chabot in November, and Antelope Valley’s Marcellus (“Moses”…as in Malone) Robertson had 20 points and 24 rebounds (13 on the offensive end) against Long Beach in December. Strangely, however, both of their teams lost!
Hot And Cold: No player was more mercurial, or more tied to his team’s success, than Moorpark’s Brandon Dempster. I saw Moorpark five times this year:
11/25 vs. West Hills – Dempster 2/10 fg, 1 3pt, 7 pts – Lost, 74-72
12/3 vs. Fullerton – Dempster 7/14 fg, 5 3pt, 28 pts – Won, 80-78
12/27 vs. Big Bend – Dempster 7/13 fg, 4 3 pt, 27 pts – Won, 98-93
1/3 vs. Cuesta – Dempster 1/10 fg, 1 3pt, 4 pts – Lost, 88-70
1/31 vs. Santa Barbara – Dempster 8/11 fg, 7 3pt, 23 pts – Won, 79-62
So in the three wins, he was 22 of 38 (58%) with 16 threes and averaged 26 points per game. But in the two losses, he was 3 of 20 (15%) with 2 threes, averaging 5.5 points per game.
Steve Nash vs. Tony Parker A mini-version of a showdown between two of the NBA’s premier point guards took place on December 29th when West Valley, led by 5-6 Greg Russell, traveled to Los Altos Hills to take on Foothill, led by 5-8 Chris Jackson. With Russell’s quickness and Jackson’s long hair and superb court vision, it was quite a matchup (even though they didn’t actually guard each other).
West Valley ended up winning the game, 74-66. And Russell was a big part of that with 18 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 steals. But Foothill played well, thanks in large part to Jackson, who had 10 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists and 2 steals.
And for the season, Russell ended up among the state leaders in assists and steals and was named the JCHoops.com Northern California Player of the Year. Jackson, who was second in the state in assists and also among the leaders in steals, was an Honorable Mention All-State pick.
Two-Sport Standout: Last year it was San Francisco’s Maurice Purify; this year it was Ray Magee of Fullerton, who like Purify is a standout on the football field as one of the top Wide Receivers in the state. After the football season concluded, the 6-5 Small Forward had just 7 points in one of his first basketball games of the season 11/21 against Canyons. But soon, he was in midseason form on the court. Against Moorpark 12/3 he had 24 points on 11-of-16 from the floor in an 80-78 win. And two weeks later, he had 25 points and 11 rebounds in an 87-77 loss to San Bernardino Valley.
Perfection! In the two games I saw West Hills play, Guiressi Grimes went 11-for-11 from the floor for a total of 26 points. He also scored the winning basket in the Falcons’ 74-72 win over Moorpark.
Three is Better Than One: In Moorpark’s game against Santa Barbara 1/31, it was a contrast in styles. Moorpark relied heavily on three-pointers while Santa Barbara worked to get the ball inside. And on this night, Moorpark won the game because it hit its shots. For the game, Moorpark had 18 3-pointers, led by 7 from Brandon Dempster. But they attempted just 2 free throws, both by Terry Johnson (he made one). Meanwhile, Santa Barbara got to the free throw line 28 times, making 18. But the Vaqueros didn’t make a single 3-pointer all night.
Déjà vu All Over Again: I saw Fresno play twice this season. First was their regular-season finale, a key home win against CVC rival West Hills. The other time was the State Championship Game, a triumph over Antelope Valley. But none of that is all that amazing (except that I visited Fresno in consecutive months for probably the first time ever).
The score in both games was 90-77. That’s the first time I’ve ever seen two basketball games involving the same team end in the same score in the same season. And that they were the only two games I saw involving Fresno makes it all the more spooky.
Historic Night In Glendora: When Citrus met Cuesta in the mini-round of the playoffs, it marked the Owls’ first playoff game in nearly a decade. And according to SID Andrew Wheeler, no record existed of Citrus actually winning a postseason game…ever!. The Owls have been playing basketball since 1960-61.
But Coach Rick Croy and his staff, in their second season at Citrus, have lifted the program to unprecedented heights in their brief time leading the Owls. Citrus won 21 games this year, the second-most in school history, after winning 17 last year.
And about that playoff game…Citrus won, 68-57!
