It's time for DR's Season Superlatives, a look at the best and the brightest performances and moments from the 2012-13 JC Basketball season in California!
During the season I managed to see a total of 70 games featuring a total of 70 teams. Magic Johnson had his triple-doubles, and guys like Jose Canseco and Barry Bonds did 40-40. But that's my second straight 70-70 season, and third in the last four seasons!
Season Superlatives:
Most Points, Team: 115 - East LA, 11/10 vs. Rio Hondo
Fewest Points Allowed: 42 - Saddleback, 12/6 vs. Antelope Valley
Most Points, Player: 34 - Watkins Williams, Siskiyous, 11/8 vs. Chabot
Most Rebounds, Player: 20 - Gor Plavchyan, Glendale, 12/18 vs. Southwestern
Most Assists, Player: 15 - J.R. Williams, LA Pierce, 2/9 vs. Cuesta
Most 3-point FG, Player: 7 - Jaylen Bland, Canyons, 12/20 vs. El Camino
Most Blocked Shots, Player: 8 - Codye Hatcher, LA Pierce, 12/12 vs. Compton
Most Steals, Player: 7 - Juwan Blakeley, Diablo Valley, 12/16 vs. West Valley
and.............................7 - Eddie La Torre, LA Valley, 2/21 vs. Bakersfield
Best Team: San Francisco. They may have fallen short of the state title, but they were the undefeated #1-ranked team all season long and nobody else could match their record of 31-1. Just as with the NCAAs, being the best team and actually winning the championship are often very different things.
Best Player: Delon Wright, San Francisco. Once more, the 6-5 point guard could not have been more impressive with 26 pts, 9 rebs, 6 asts, 3 blocks and 4 steals in an 82-73 win over Fresno in Fresno. Add that to last year, when he was 10-for-14 from the floor with 3 threes (and one of his missed shots was a swing-through that was less a shot than an unsuccessful attempt to draw a foul) plus 4 rebs, 5 asts, 5 blocks, 8 steals and no turnovers. I'd seen him play a few times when he was at Leuzinger HS and he was always a stat-sheet stuffer, but he's improved his shooting since then and asserts himself more. He'll likely join his older brother Dorrell in the NBA in a couple years.
Best Game, Player: Zalmico Harmon, Ventura, 1/30 vs. Cuesta. Harmon was outstanding all season, but his line of 26 points, 10 assists and 8 rebounds against Cuesta was truly amazing. He also hit 4 three-pointers. Only the score - and the fact that he came out of the game with several minutes left and the Pirates ahead by about 20 points - kept him from getting the triple-double. His point and assist totals were game-highs; his rebound total led Ventura.
Best Game, Player, in a losing cause: Kieth Mason, LA Harbor, 2/6 vs. East LA. After struggling early in the season as he recovered from a knee injury, Mason came on as the season progressed, and was at his best vs. ELAC. He finished with 28 pts, 10 rebs, 4 asts, 4 steals and 2 blocked shots, dominating the inside and keeping his team close in a 75-66 defeat at the hands of a very good East LA team.
Best Game, Player, in a losing cause (playoffs): Josh Smith, Saddleback, 3/9 vs. Chaffey. The #1-seeded Gauchos fell to eventual state finalist Chaffey in the regional final, but don't blame Smith. The forward from Lincoln HS in San Diego finished with 26 pts, 16 rebs, 2 asts, 2 blocks and 2 steals. He scored 10 more points and grabbed 10 more rebounds than anyone else in the game. But the other four Saddleback starters made just 2 of 22 shots, and Chaffey prevailed, 73-60.
Best Game, Player, in a hopeless cause: Riley Charlish, Victor Valley, 12/14 vs. Rio Hondo. The VVC team was a special case this year: basically the entire team either quit or was dismissed prior to the season. Several guys from the football team, including starting QB Jermeryn Jenkins, came to the rescue, putting together a squad to at least play out the schedule and keep the program going. They didn't win a game - didn't come close, actually - but stayed competitive. And Charlish was the team's top scorer, averaging about 15 points per game. He poured in 24 points, all in the second half, including 6 three-pointers vs. Rio Hondo in this game. The overmatched Rams fell, 80-57, but VVC showed a lot of character both in this game and all season as they continued to compete despite the odds and outcome.
Best Games by Position (men):
PG – Zalmico Harmon, Ventura, 1/30 vs. Cuesta (see above).
SG – Bobby Sharp, Santa Rosa, 11/18 vs. Lassen. The...um...sorry, but I just have to say it...the SHARPSHOOTING guard was especially impressive on this afternoon, making 10 of 16 shots from the floor, including a half-dozen 3-pointers, for 31 points against the Cougars in the 3rd Place game of the Fresno tournament. Consensus opinion was that Sharp was the best shooter in California this season.
SF – Michael Bolden, Irvine Valley, 12/28 vs. LA Valley. The super-athletic Bolden has shown flashes of brilliance from time to time, but it all came together in this game at LA Valley when he finished with 27 points (10-for-17 from the floor) with 3 three-pointers, 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocked shots in a 74-66 win over the Monarchs.
PF - Jaree Crawford, East LA, 11/25 vs. Chaffey. The Gary IN native finished wtih 32 points and 13 rebounds, both easily game-highs, in this, the 3rd Place game of the Citrus tournament. He earned all-tournament honors, and this win became more impressive as the season progressed as Chaffey eventually won the Foothill Conference and reached the state championship game.
C – Codye Hatcher, LA Pierce, 12/12 vs. Compton. The Brahmas started a small lineup to keep up with the speedy Tartars, but Hatcher made it all work with 16 points (on 8-for-11 from the floor), 15 rebounds and 8 blocked shots. His dominance in the paint forced Compton to the perimeter, and the result was that the Tartars shot a measly 27% for the game in a 96-61 Pierce victory.
Bench (individual) - Kendale Nation, LA Trade Tech, 1/4. It was a rough season for LATT, but they won the game I watched (vs. LA Valley, which also had a rough season, for that matter). And Nation was not only visually impressive - he's an impressive athlete - but he came through with 17 points, including a pair of threes, plus 4 assists and 4 steals off the bench. That helped Tech to an 87-75 win, one of just a half-dozen victories this season for LATT.
Bench (sort of) - Mike Hill, Modesto, 12/21 vs. Moorpark. I'm not sure why Hill came off the bench in this game, but he scored 21 points in the second half as Modesto turned a 3-point halftime deficit into a 15-point win. As one of the Pirates' top three scorers, I'm presuming he was usually a starter and his staying on the bench the entire first half was disciplinary, but in any case he made the most of his time on the floor.
Bench (dueling duo) - A.J. Brevard, Saddleback and Lucciano Gamiz, Antelope Valley, 12/6. In this early-morning (actually the game started at 1 pm, but it sure felt early in the morning) match-up in the Riverside tourney, points were tough to come by. It was 9-2 about 13 minutes into the game. Gamiz came off the bench for AVC and hit 4 threes, scoring a team-high 16 points. But Brevard offset that Marauder advantage, coming off the bench for the Gauchos and scoring 14 points with a pair of threes. And that allowed Saddleback to come away with a hard-fought if sluggishly-played 50-42 victory.
Bench (ensemble cast) - Eric Bland, Miles Hamilton & Jumah Sutton, Imperial Valley, 12/19 vs. Long Beach. IVC came away with a 97-87 victory, and this trio combined for 47 points and 11 three-pointers off the bench for the Arabs. Bland and Sutton each hit 3-pointers to spark a decisive 18-6 run that gave IVC a 95-81 lead as well. The trio also combined for 9 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 blocks and 2 steals.
Best Game, South: Antelope Valley 85, Chaffey 83, 12/29. It was the championship game of the Canyons tournament, and I was coming off a rather debilitating case of food poisoning. But this one kept my attention. Chaffey jumped out to an early 28-18 advantage, but then AVC slowed the pace a bit and caught up, taking a 36-34 lead. Chaffey led by 11 a couple of times in the second half, but AVC kept coming back. It was tied at 83 when the ball went to Lucciano Gamiz, who has 0-for-8 from the floor on the day. But the freshman guard hit the baseline jumper from about 12 feet out when it mattered most, lifting the Marauders to the 85-83 victory.
Best Game, North: Foothill 75, Ohlone 72 (OT), 12/16. Both teams were ranked in the top 5 in the North, so it was hardly a surprise when these Coast-North rivals turned in a classic. It was the super-athletic Renegades against the solid, disciplined Owls. Ohlone also had a huge size advantage. In the first half Ohlone opened a 10-point lead, and held a 6-point advantage at the half. Foothill rallied to take a narrow lead early in the second half and the lead went back and forth after that. Stephen Grosey hit a 3-pointer for Foothill with 5.2 seconds left in regulation to send the game to OT. Ohlone had a chance to tie it at the end of OT but missed a rushed 3-pointer. Foothill finished with just 9 turnovers, and made 10 threes in the game.
Best Game, Team: Santa Rosa 97, Lassen 66, 11/18. At the time this wasn't completely unexpected; Santa Rosa is always a NorCal power, and Lassen was coming off a dreadful season. So when the Bear Cubs shot 53% with 10 threes and just 7 turnovers while winning by 31 points it seemed almost routine. But this was a new Lassen team, under first-year coach Devin Aye, and the Cougars ended up with 23 wins. Any time a team shoots over 50% with single-digit turnovers it's a great performance, but doing it against a team as good as Lassen turned out to be makes it truly noteworthy.
Biggest Beatdown: East LA 115, Rio Hondo 60. East LA jumped out to a 25-2 lead and just galloped away into the distance in its first home game for coach John Mosley. Five players scored in double digits for ELAC, led by Jaree Crawford, who had 28 plus 10 rebounds. It was the season-opener for Rio Hondo, which seemed in shock. As coach Steve Hebert described it, the players discovered "gee, these guys play harder than we do in practice!". Adding insult to injury the scoreboard gave ELAC an extra point and posted the score as 116-60!
Biggest Upset: Compton 80, East LA 74. With just a couple of weeks to go, ELAC entered #8 in SoCal while the Tartars were battling to get back near .500 when the teams met at Compton College. But Compton came out firing on all cylinders, jumping out to a 25-12 lead and pushing the margin to 15 several times. East LA got within 5 in the final seconds, but never really threatened to take the lead in the second half. Chris Miller led all scorers with 30 points for Compton in their biggest win of the year.
Best Defensive Game, Team: Saddleback, 2/20 vs. Riverside. It's always a defensive showdown when these OEC rivals meet. This time around it was the Gauchos who came out on top, holding RCC to 27% shooting and posting a 57-48 victory that clinched the OEC championship for Saddleback.
Best Comeback, Team: Merritt, 2/27 vs. American River. I didn't see any true from-the-clouds comebacks at the JC level this season, but Merritt found itself trailing by 5 with under 6 mintues to go after watching a double-digit lead disappear in the second half in a mini-round playoff game. The T-Birds took the lead when Marcos Castrillo scored on a third-chance tip-in with 5 seconds left, and held on as ARC's Chris Carvin's Tony Parker-like floater rimmed out just ahead of the buzzer. But it turned out to be the start of something big for Merritt, which then upset #2-seed Fresno in the second round en route to an appearance in the state tournament.
Best Comeback That Fell Short: Orange Coast, 11/25 vs. LA Pierce. In the championship game of the Citrus tournament, Pierce went on a 17-0 run to lead 41-24 late in the first half, and led by 23 points at 50-23 early in the second half. Orange Coast rallied to within a single point to trail 80-79 with about 10 seconds left, and had the ball while trailing 81-79 in the final seconds. But time expired before the Pirates could get a shot away, allowing Pierce to escape with the 81-79 victory.
Fishy, Fishy... In a much-anticipated showdown between South Coast-North rivals East LA & Mt. San Antontio, there were some interesting goings-on during the January 18th match. About 4 minutes into the game, two points were mysteriously subtracted from the Mt. SAC score. And in the second half, the shot clock behind the basket that Mt. SAC was trying to score on kept malfunctioning. The two points became rather important when Mt. SAC pulled within a point (on the scoreboard, anyway - some of us had them pulling into the lead) late in the game. Officially, East LA held on for the 77-70 win. But Mt. SAC got the last laugh when the Mounties went on to win the state championship.
Cinderella Stories: I covered several games this year in which a team won for one its few victories. Las Positas eventually finished 6-21 but started the trend with a 68-54 win over Gavilan in its season opener 11/8. Santa Barbara (4-18) edged LA Valley, 82-71, on 11/28. Rio Hondo (4-22) picked up its first win of the season 12/14 against Victor Valley. LA Trade Tech (6-20) notched an 87-75 win over LA Valley 1/4. And perhaps most amazingly, Bakersfield, which entered its season finale against LA Valley with a 5-17 record all-time in games I covered, came away with a 60-57 win in the WSC-South tournament!
Bingo! Longtime Clippers' broadcaster Ralph Lawler says "Bingo!" virtually every time someone on either team hits a 3-pointer. It's a unique gimmick that can get really annoying when the teams hit a lot of 3-pointers. In the third-place game of the AVC tournament, College of the Canyons hit 16 three-pointers against Glendale in a 90-74 win. Jaylen Bland hit 5, while Tyler Barber and Temjae Singleton each hit 4. COC had only 12 2-point baskets in the game but it hardly mattered. Bingo.
Code Red! And finally, one of the more memorable road trips I've taken was to Mt. San Jacinto for a regular season showdown against longtime Foothill Conference rival Antelope Valley College. It was an excellent game - AVC won, 60-57 - but what really made it memorable was the game experience, particularly the incessant racket created by MSJC's cheering section known as Code Red. Coach Patrick Springer made me an honorary member last year and got me a t-shirt, which I proudly wore again this year. I was definintely the least-tough-looking person in the gym wearing a Code Red shirt. Byt it was a great time again, and even with Mt. San Jacinto heading off to the PCC next year I'll try to get out there again for another Code Red!
