PF Mike Harris scored 26 pts and added 7 rebs, 3 asts, 2 steals and a blocked shot to lead #6 Diablo Valley to a 72-61 win over #7 West Valley in the 3rd Place game of the 2012 West Valley Holiday tournament on Sunday.
Harris mixed in four 3-pointers in a superb overall effort, and Diablo Valley (9-3) led virtually the entire game. West Valley (8-5) stayed close most of the way, but was without its top two point guards and never quite caught up.
The floor was full of Vikings, as that is the mascot for both Diablo Valley and West Valley, and the weather outside was distinctly Scandanavian as the Bay Area was in the midst of a weather cycle that was unseasonably cold, even for December. All that was missing was Bathory's epic "Blood, Fire, Death" playing in the background.
The West Valley Vikings started the game well, jumping out to an early 4-0 lead. But Diablo Valley quickly rallied with an 11-0 run, thanks mainly to PG Jelani Hardaway, who dished out two assists to teammates for 2-point baskets and made a pair of 3-pointers to make it 11-4.
West Valley cut the deficit to two points at 11-9, but then Diablo Valley went on a 14-0 run to take what appeared to be a commanding 16-point lead. A 3-pointer by Harris and a basket by Ctr Shamil Sharma made it 18-9. Then SG Damon Jones grabbed a steal and was fouled going up for the lay-up and had to leave the game with a minor injury.
At that point, West Valley coach Scott Eitelgeorge got to select who would shoot Jones' free throws and went with the usually-sound theory of picking the tallest guy on the floor. But the 6-8 Sharma shot the free throws like a latter-day Bill Sharman, swishing both shots to make it 20-9. Sharma would finish 6-for-6 from the line for the day and never touched the rim on any of those shots.
Harris hit another three to make it 23-9, and a basket by SF Juwan Blakeley scored off a pass from Harris after a steal to finish the run and give DVC the 25-9 lead.
But West Valley battled back, with PG Brandon Nall hitting a 3-pointer to make it an 8-point game at 29-21. Nall started in place of standout PG Chris Murry, who is out with an injury, and backup Damon Jones, who is no relation to the Damon Jones on DVC or the former Cleveland Cavalier, but was late to the game and held out by the WVC coaches.
SG Devon Rowland made one of two free throws, and SF Chris Martin scored on a driving lay-up to get West Valley within five points at 31-26. And Rowland hit a jumper with just less than a minute to go in the half that made it 32-28.
Diablo Valley, however, pushed the lead back to eight points at the half. A 3-point play by DVC's Damon Jones made it 35-28, and SF Justin Johnson split two free throws after a steal to make it 36-28 at the break.
West Valley got within six points early in the second half at 39-33 after a jumper by Ctr Chris Aitchison and a 3-pointer by SG Malek Kanaan. And though DVC pushed its lead to 11-points at 44-33, West Valley again rallied to within six points at 49-43 after a Rowland 3-pointer and trailed, 52-46, with 11:02 left. Even after Diablo Valley went on a 7-0 run to lead, 59-46, Valley got within eight points several more times including 63-55 with just under four minutes to go.
Diablo Valley pushed the lead back to 13 with a 3-pointer by Harris and a basket by Sharma off a pass from Hardaway to make it 68-55 with 2:40 left. West Valley got within 9 at 68-59 after a driving lay-up by Martin. Even after a Harris tip-in made it 70-59, West Valley got the deficit down to single digits one last time after a basket by Rowland with 33.8 seconds left.
Diablo Valley finally secured the win with a pair of free throws by Harris wtih 30.7 seconds left that made it 72-61. Jones and Blakely each had steals in the final 30 seconds to make sure that lead stood up.
Harris, who played his freshman year at D-3 Cal Lutheran in Thousand Oaks, led all scorers with his 26 pts. Sharma came off the bench for 12 pts and 6 rebs. Hardaway had 10 pts and a game-high 5 asts, and just one turnover. Jones had 8 pts and Blakely had just 2 pts but grabbed an eye-catching 7 steals.
For West Valley, Martin had 16 pts, 8 rebs and 2 asts. Rowland came off the bench for 14 pts, and Kanaan had a very solid game with 10 pts, including a pair of threes, on 3-for-4 from the floor while adding 5 rebs and 3 asts. PF D'vaughn Mann had 7 pts, 8 rebs, 3 asts, 2 blocks and 2 steals.
box score
2012 West Valley Holiday Tournament
Sunday, December 16th @ West Valley College, Saratoga
Third Place Game - 2 pm
Diablo Valley Vikings 72:
11-Jelani Hardaway, PG - 4/8 fg, 2 reb, 5 ast, 2 stl, 2 pf, 10 pts
15-Damon Jones, SG - 3/7 fg, 1/1 ft, 3 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk, 2 stl, 8 pts
21-Juwan Blakeley, SF - 1/3 fg, 4 reb, 2 ast, 7 stl, 2 pts
24-Mike Harris, PF - 9/18 fg, 4/5 ft, 7 reb, 3 ast, 1 blk, 2 stl, 2 pf, 26 pts
42-John Ocon, C - 2/5 fg, 1 reb, 1 ast, 3 pf, 4 pts
12-Connor Jean, G - 1/3 fg, 3 ast, 3 pf, 3 pts
23-Justin Johnson, F - 2/4 fg, 3/6 ft, 1 reb, 3 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl, 1 pf, 7 pts
31-Kunle Fashola, F - 3 pf, 0 pts
32-Shamil Sharma, C - 3/6 fg, 6/6 ft, 6 reb, 1 pf, 12 pts
33-Kairon Moore, F - 0/1 fg, 0 pts
team rebounds: 1
Totals: 25/55 fg (.455), 14/18 ft (.778), 25 reb, 19 ast, 3 blk, 14 stl, 15 pf, 72 pts
3-pt fg (8): Harris 4, Hardaway 2, Jones, Jean
Turnovers (11): Harris 4, Blakeley 3, Hardaway, Jones, Ocon, Jean
West Valley Vikings 61:
11-D'vaughn Mann, PF - 3/10 fg, 1/3 ft, 8 reb, 3 ast, 2 blk, 2 stl, 3 pf, 7 pts
21-Brandon Nall, PG - 2/5 fg, 1 ast, 1 stl, 2 pf, 6 pts
31-Chris Aitchison, C - 4/4 fg, 3 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 4 pf, 8 pts
32-Chris Martin, SF - 6/12 fg, 4/6 ft, 8 reb, 2 ast, 2 pf, 16 pts
44-Malek Kanaan, SG - 3/4 fg, 2/2 ft, 5 reb, 3 ast, 2 pf, 10 pts
22-Devon Rowland, G - 4/7 fg, 5/6 ft, 3 reb, 1 ast, 2 pf, 14 pts
23-Jason Anderson, F - 2 reb, 1 pf, 0 pts
34-Marshall Grasty, C - 0 pts
team rebounds: 2
Totals: 22/42 fg (.524), 12/17 ft (.706), 31 reb, 12 ast, 2 blk, 4 stl, 16 pf, 61 pts
3-pt fg (5): Nall 2, Kanaan 2, Rowland
Turnovers (22): Martin 5, Rowland 4, Mann 3, Aitchison 3, Kanaan 3, Nall 2, Anderson 2
Halftime Score: Diablo Valley 36, West Valley 28
Updated Records: Diablo Valley (#6-North, #10-Calif) 9-3, West Valley (#7-North, #13-Calif) 8-5
West Valley led 4-0. Diablo Valley went on an 11-0 run to lead, 11-4.
Diablo Valley went on a 14-0 run to lead 25-9 and led the rest of the way.
West Valley stayed close and trailed by just 4 midway through the 2nd half.
Harris (DVC) was named to the All-Tournament team.
