In the antithesis of what is often the notion of a typical playoff game, both teams scored and scored again as #13 East LA outdistanced #4 Antelope Valley in a wild 111-106 regional quarterfinal victory Saturday in Lancaster.
Je'Ron Primus broke a 97-all tie with a pair of free throws with 2:13 left, part of a decisive 10-0 run for East LA (19-10), moments after Marcus Romain had tied the score with a 3-pointer with 2:48 to go. Primus added a three and Miles Ford made two free throws to give the Huskies a 104-97 lead with 1:06 left, and East LA led the rest of the way.
The two teams went up and down the court, basically two heavyweights trading haymakers, all game long. East LA made its first 4 shot attempts of the game, including a pair of threes, and led, 17-7, 5:21 into the game.
But that would be the largest lead of the game for either team. Antelope Valley (24-6) rallied to take a 25-24 lead on a jumper by Shelton Boykin with just over 9 minutes left in the first half. But East LA went back in front and led by as many as 8 points following a long 3-pointer by Michael Cardenas with 3:16 left in the half that made it 44-36. Then AVC rallied to take a 47-46 lead on two free throws by Ismail Ali with 1:22 left in the half, and led, 52-50, at the break.
East LA coach John Mosley started a different lineup to begin the second half, including reserves Miles Ford and Te'shon Burton, and the Huskies seemed better-able to break the AVC pressure. Ford scored off a pass from Cardenas early in the half to tie the score, and East LA took a 56-55 lead on a pair of free throws by Marquis Salmon 1:50 into the second half.
Antelope Valley went back in front on a slam dunk by Lawrence White, and stretched its lead to eight points when Kamal Holden drained a three to make it 65-57. The Marauder advantage reached as many as nine points after a steal & stuff by White made it 74-65 midway through the second half.
East LA got a pair of threes from Primus to cut into the lead, but AVC maintained a slim advantage until Romain's 3-pointer with 2:48. That started the 10-0 run and East LA led by at least four points the rest of the way.
AVC attempted one last rally late when Adrian Francis made a three to make it 110-106, and stole the ball back near midcourt. But Boykin's attempted three missed, and Primitivo Gomez got the rebound for East LA. He was fouled immediately but by then just 1.2 seconds remained, and the victory secure for the Huskies.
Incredibly, despite all the scoring, neither team had anyone score as many as 20 points. East LA shot 54% with 13 three-pointers, while Antelope Valley made 12 threes and had just 9 turnovers. The teams also combined for an NBA-like total of 64 free throws.
Primus and Romain scored 19 pts each for East LA, and Romain added a team-high 7 asts. Cardenas had 16 pts, including 14 on a 5-for-5 performance in the first half. Salmon had 14 pts and 7 rebs. Ford had 13 pts, Richard Bivens had 12 and Burton had 11 pts, 6 rebs and 4 asts. Gomez was the only player on the Huskies who played significant minutes and didn't score in double digits, but he had 7 pts and pulled down a game-high 8 rebs.
For Antelope Valley, Boykin, Ali and Tim Gilmore each scored 18 pts. Boykin also had a team-high 7 rebs, while Ali dished out a game-high 8 asts. White had 13 pts and 6 rebs. Francis scored 12 pts and Julius Bilbrew scored 11.
The win advances East LA to the second round, and the Huskies will travel south to Chula Vista to take on #5-seed Southwestern on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the season ends for Antelope Valley, which began as the #1-ranked team in the South in the preseason and easily won the WSC-South conference.
The game was the highest-scoring game in the playoffs for AVC since 1991 when the Marauders won a game, 124-118, over...East Los Angeles.
box score
Saturday, February 28, 2015 - 7 pm
at Antelope Valley College, Lancaster
Regional Quarterfinal
East LA Huskies 111:
1-Michael Cardenas, SG - 6/9 fg, 1/1 ft, 6 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl, 2 pf, 16 pts
2-Je'Ron Primus, SF - 5/9 fg, 6/8 ft, 3 reb, 2 ast, 4 pf, 19 pts
3-Marcus Romain, PG - 3/7 fg, 11/13 ft, 4 reb, 7 ast, 1 blk, 2 pf, 19 pts
33-Primitivo Gomez, PF - 2/4 fg, 3/5 ft, 8 reb, 3 ast, 4 pf, 7 pts
35-Marquis Salmon, C - 3/6 fg, 7/8 ft, 7 reb, 1 ast, 2 blk, 5 pf, 14 pts
10-Miles Ford, G - 4/6 fg, 2/2 ft, 2 reb, 1 stl, 3 pf, 13 pts
25-Richard Bivens, C - 3/4 fg, 6/8 ft, 6 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 1 pf, 12 pts
24-Te'shon Burton, F - 5/11 fg, 6 reb, 4 ast, 1 blk, 1 pf, 11 pts
22-Osnar Garcia, G - 0/1 fg, 0 pts
team rebounds: 3
Totals: 31/57 fg (.544), 36/45 ft (.800), 45 reb, 20 ast, 5 blk, 3 stl, 22 pf, 111 pts
3-pt fg (13): Cardenas 3, Primus 3, Ford 3, Romain 2, Salmon, Burton
Fouled Out: Salmon 54.6 seconds left
Turnovers (17): Romain 5, Primus 4, Gomez 3, Burton 3, Bivens 2, Salmons, Garcia
Antelope Valley Marauders 106:
2-Lawrence White, SF - 3/12 fg, 6/6 ft, 6 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl, 2 pf, 13 pts
20-Ismail Ali, PG - 3/8 fg, 12/13 ft, 2 reb, 8 ast, 2 blk, 1 stl, 4 pf, 18 pts
21-Tim Gilmore, SG - 7/10 fg, 2 reb, 1 stl, 2 pf, 18 pts
23-Shelton Boykin, C - 8/20 fg, 1/2 ft, 7 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl, 4 pf, 18 pts
32-Tajee Shaw, PF - 1/3 fg, 1/2 ft, 2 reb, 4 pf, 3 pts
5-Adrian Francis, G - 4/6 fg, 2/2 ft, 1 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl, 2 pf, 12 pts
10-Kamal Holden, F - 2/4 fg, 1/3 ft, 3 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 2 pf, 6 pts
33-Aaron Jones, C - 1 reb, 4 pf, 0 pts
1-Julius Bilbrew, G - 4/10 fg, 1/4 ft, 4 reb, 1 stl, 1 pf, 11 pts
3-Brandon Ruffin, F - 0/1 fg, 4/4 ft, 2 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk, 3 pf, 4 pts
11-Kenneth KJ Moffett, G - 1/3 fg, 1 ast, 1 pf, 3 pts
team rebounds: 2
Totals: 33/77 fg (.429), 28/36 ft (.778), 32 reb, 17 ast, 5 blk, 8 stl, 29 pf, 106 pts
3-pt fg (12): Gilmore 4, Francis 2, Bilbrew 2, White, Boykin, Holden, Moffett
Turnovers (9): Ali 3, Boykin 3, White, Gilmore, Bilbrew
Halftime Score: Antelope Valley 52, East LA 50
Updated Records: East LA (#13-seed) 19-10, Antelope Valley (#4-seed) 24-6
East LA made its first 4 shots, including 2 threes, and led 17-7 early on.
AVC took a 25-24 lead but East LA went back in front and led 44-36.
AVC took a lead late in the 1st half and led 74-65 midway through the 2nd half.
East LA took a 102-97 lead on 2 FTs and a three by Primus and led the rest of the way.
