#6 San Bernardino Valley got off to an abysmal start and saw a 21-point lead disappear in the final 10 minutes, but scored the last six points of the game to come away with a hard-fought 74-68 win over #3 Antelope Valley in a Foothill Conference Showdown Wednesday in Lancaster.
It's often said that any road win is a good win, and especially in the tough Foothill Conference this was a key victory for San Bernardino Valley (13-4, 2-1). The win keeps SBVC within a game of the lead in a multiple-team tie behind first-place Mt. San Jacinto.
But this one was anything but easy for the Wolverines, who fell behind, 10-0, in the first 3:42 of the game, mixing in three missed shot and five turnovers for their first eight possessions. In addition, Ctr Tevin Harris found himself on the bench after picking up an offensive foul and a technical foul in the game's opening minutes.
However, San Bernardino righted itself quickly after that terrible start. Starting with a driving lay-up by PG Kirby Gardner with 15:31 left in the first half, SBVC went on a 14-1 run, taking a 14-11 lead after baskets by PF Aaron Moore and Ctr Xavier Jones. Antelope Valley (14-3, 2-1) tied the game at 14 on a 3-pointer by SG Michaelynn Scott and trailed by just a point at 17-16 a bit later.
Then San Bernardino went on a 20-0 run to take control of the game, pushing its lead to 38-20. A 3-pointer by SF Cammeron Lewis sparked the Wolverines, who held AVC scoreless for about seven minutes. Harris, back on the floor, made two free throws to make it 27-17 with 5:45 left and a short jumper to make it 29-17 less than a minute later. SG Justin Stanley hit a jumper and then threw an alley-oop lop to Lewis after a steal, with Lewis throwing it down to make it 33-17. A turnaround jumper by Gardner and a 3-pointer by Stanley completed the run, making it 38-17 with 1:15 left.
AVC finally ended the drought with a 3-point play by PG Da'Shawn Gomez with 1:05 left in the half, and trailed by 17 at the half at 40-23. Then SG Chris Bridges hit a 3-pointer in the opening seconds of the second half to make it 40-26, seemingly giving AVC hope of a comeback.
Those hopes seemed to vanish almost immediately, however, as SBVC stretched its lead to 21 points at 58-37. Lewis scored to make it 56-37, and then PG Choncey White stole the inbounds pass. He missed an attempted lay-up, but Gardner got the rebound and, as he was falling out of bounds, fed White for a lay-up that made it 58-37 with just under 10 minutes left.
Then came the amazing AVC comeback, which was eerily similar to the women's game played two hours earlier in which Antelope Valley trailed by 19 points with under 14 minutes left but rallied to take a lead in the final seconds. And in that game, SBVC ended up winning anyway even after losing the big lead, which was again, eerily prescient of the ultimate result of this game.
The AVC press changed the momentum, making the Marauders the aggressors. SF Sean Boston made two free throws after a steal to make it 61-48 with just over 7 minutes left. Then a steal & lay-up by Gomez made it an 11-point game at 63-52 with 6:33 left. A 3-pointer by Boston made it a 10-point game at 65-55 with just over six minutes to play.
And now, AVC just kept the rally going. A pair of free throws by SF Jason Johnson with 5:28 left made it 65-57, and SBVC's Gardner also fouled out on the play. A Gomez 3-pointer made it 65-60 with 4:47 left. After Lewis hit a 3-pointer for SBVC, AVC scored the game's next eight points to tie the game. Ctr Reggie Murphy scored off an assist by Johnson, and then Johnson was fouled trying a 3-pointer and made two free throws to make it 68-64 with 1:29 left. A 3-point play by Gomez after another steal made it 68-67 with 1:07 left. Then another free throw by Gomez after yet another steal tied it at 68 with 59.5 seconds remaining.
On SBVC's next possession, the shot clock was winding down when Moore was fouled by Johnson, who was trying for a steal in the lane, with 30.1 seconds left. It was Johnson's 5th foul, and Moore made both free throws to put SBVC back in front, 70-68.
AVC nearly tied it moments later when Gomez drove for a lay-up, but Harris stood in and drew the charge, giving the ball back to SBVC with 19.0 seconds left. And that was basically AVC's last real chance. The Marauders then had to foul to get the ball back, but SF Chris Franklin made 4 of 4 free throws in the final 7.5 seconds to clinch the win for the Wolverines.
Franklin led all scorers with 21 pts, while Gardner had 16 pts, 5 rebs and 3 asts before fouling out. Lewis came off the bench for 13 pts, including 3 threes, and 5 rebs. Moore had 7 pts, 9 rebs, 4 asts, 2 blocks and 3 steals, and Harris had 6 pts, 9 rebs and one very big charge taken.
For Antelope Valley, Gomez had 19 pts, 5 rebs and 6 asts. Johnson had a rough night shooting, going just 4-for-15, but had a productive line of 13 pts, 7 rebs and 3 asts. Murphy had 5 pts and a team-high 8 rebs.
box score
Wednesday, January 11, 2012 - 7 pm
at Marauder Gym, Lancaster
Foothill Conference
San Bernardino Valley Wolverines 74:
2-Chris Franklin, SF - 5/10 fg, 11/13 ft, 2 reb, 1 ast, 3 stl, 2 pf, 21 pts
4-Aaron Moore, PF - 2/6 fg, 3/6 ft, 9 reb, 4 ast, 2 blk, 3 stl, 3 pf, 7 pts
5-Tevin Harris, C - 2/5 fg, 2/2 ft, 9 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 4 pf, 6 pts
15-Justin Stanley, SG - 3/8 fg, 2 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl, 5 pf, 7 pts
20-Kirby Gardner, PG - 7/13 fg, 1/2 ft, 5 reb, 3 ast, 5 pf, 16 pts
33-Xavier Jones, C - 1/2 fg, 1 reb, 1 blk, 4 pf, 2 pts
13-Cammeron Lewis, F - 5/8 fg, 5 reb, 1 ast, 13 pts
1-Choncey White, G - 1/2 fg, 4 reb, 1 stl, 1 pf, 2 pts
team rebounds: 7
Totals: 26/54 fg (.481), 17/23 ft (.739), 44 reb, 14 ast, 3 blk, 10 stl, 24 pf, 74 pts
3-pt fg (5): Lewis 3, Stanley, Garnder
Technical Foul: Harris
Fouled Out: Gardner 5:28 left, Stanley 1:07 left
Turnovers (25): Moore 5, Gardner 5, Franklin 3, Harris 3, Stanley 3, Lewis 3, Jones, White, team
Antelope Valley Marauders 68:
10-Da'Shawn Gomez, PG - 5/10 fg, 8/10 ft, 2 reb, 5 ast, 6 stl, 3 pf, 19 pts
11-Jason Johnson, SF - 4/15 fg, 5/9 ft, 7 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl, 5 pf, 13 pts
20-Chris Bridges, SG - 2/6 fg, 3 ast, 6 stl, 5 pf, 5 pts
24-Larry Slaughter, PF - 0/2 fg, 0/1 ft, 5 reb, 1 stl, 2 pf, 0 pts
34-Reggie Murphy, C - 1/3 fg, 3/6 ft, 8 reb, 2 stl, 2 pf, 5 pts
22-Vadal Faniel, F - 2/7 fg, 1/2 ft, 7 reb, 1 ast, 1 pf, 5 pts
12-Michaelynn Scott, G - 3/8 fg, 1 reb, 2 stl, 7 pts
42-Dwan Caldwell, C - 2/5 fg, 2 reb, 3 pf, 4 pts
21-Sean Boston, F - 2/7 fg, 3/4 ft, 2 reb, 2 blk, 1 stl, 2 pf, 8 pts
32-John Washington, C - 0 pts
2-Terrance Berry, F - 1/1 fg, 1 reb, 1 pf, 2 pts
3-Joshua Blaylock, G - 0/2 fg, 0 pts
team rebounds: 4
Totals: 22/66 fg (.333), 20/32 ft (.625), 39 reb, 12 ast, 3 blk, 19 stl, 24 pf, 68 pts
3-pt fg (4): Gomez, Bridges, Scott, Boston
Fouled Out: Bridges 10:48 left, Johnson 30.1 seconds left
Turnovers (14): Gomez 4, Johnson 3, Faniel 3, Bridges, Murphy, Berry, Blaylock
Halftime Score: San Bernardino Valley 40, Antelope Valley 23
Updated Records: San Bernardino Valley (#6-South, #12-Calif) 13-4, 2-1 in conference; Antelope Valley (#3-South, #7-Calif) 14-3, 2-1 in conference
AVC started the game with a 10-0 run. SBVC rallied with a 14-1 run to lead, 14-11. Then SBVC pulled away, leading by as many as 21 points at 58-37 with just under 10 minutes left. AVC rallied to tie it on a steal & free throw by Gomez with 59.5 seconds left. Moore broke the tie with 2 FTs with 30.1 seconds left and Franklin added 4 FTs in the final 7.5 seconds to clinch the win for SBVC.
