Top-seeded Antelope Valley took an early lead and held it the rest of the way in a 76-67 win over visiting Long Beach in a regional quarterfinal playoff game Saturday night at Marauder Gym in Lancaster.
Antelope Valley (27-4) took an 11-7 lead after three straight baskets by Ctr Ryan Wright, the last an alley-oop jam from PG Ismail Ali, and never trailed again though the lead was never more than 13 points and the outcome of the game was in doubt with just over three minutes to go.
Long Beach (19-10) trailed, 63-50, with 4 minutes left but put together one last rally, cutting the margin to seven points after a 3-point play by SG Kristien Owens and a 3-point field goal by PG Brandon Staton with 3:19 left. And the Vikings got the ball back moments later on a steal, and Owens went to the free throw line with 3:16 left with a chance to cut into the lead further.
But Owens missed both free throws, and Long Beach never got that close again. Wright converted an alley-oop jam from Ali after a steal by PF Daviyon Draper to push the lead back to double digits at 70-59, and then threw down a tremendous two-handed jam after flying through the lane, making it 76-63 and putting a powerful exclamation point on the win.
When the game started, it looked like the Marauders might have an easy time of it as Draper scored twice in the opening minutes to give AVC a quick 5-0 lead. But Long Beach fought back with a 7-0 spurt, taking a 7-5 lead on a Staton 3-pointer. However, that would be LBCC's only lead of the game, and it wouldn't last very long.
AVC went back in front on Wright's three straight baskets, and led 17-10 midway through the first half. Staton hit a three - his third straight made 3-pointer -to bring the Vikings back within two points at 20-18, but then AVC pushed its lead back to seven points at 27-20 with just over four minutes left in the half.
Ali made two free throws with 2:43 left in the half and SG Lucciano Gamiz added one more exactly a minute later to push AVC's lead to double digits at 32-22. PF Chris Spencer scored for Long Beach in the final minute of the half to cut the margin to eight points at 34-26 at the break. In the first half, the only Vikings to score were Owens, Spencer and Staton.
Long Beach cut the margin to a single point at 39-38 after a short jumper by SF Elijah Gaines about five minutes into the second half, but never quite pulled even. A thunderous slam dunk by Wright took the momentum back for the Marauders, and Ali followed with a steal & lay-up. Wright added a free throw after another steal by Ali to make it 43-36 with 14:11 left, less than a minute after the Vikings had cut the deficit to a point.
AVC continued to lead the rest of the way, opening an 11-point lead after SF Darren Tooke made a three-pointer and, on the next trip down the floor, missed a three only to have SF Kamal Holden score on the putback to make it 50-39.
Long Beach cut the deficit to six points at 52-46 after a 3-pointer by Gaines. But Antelope Valley pushed the lead back to double digits when Draper converted a lob from SG Tim Johnson to make it 61-50. Draper added a baseline jumper with 4 minutes left to make it 63-50. LBCC then mounted its one last rally, but AVC took control with Wright's last two dunks.
Wright led the Marauders with 18 pts, which came on 7-for-8 from the floor and included at least four very forceful dunks. He also had a team-high 7 rebs. Ali had 16 pts plus game-highs of 7 asts and 4 steals. Draper had 15 pts, 4 rebs and 3 steals. Ctr Zachary Hollis had 9 pts, all in the first half, on 4-for-4 from the floor plus 5 rebs, 2 blocks and 2 steals.
For Long Beach, Staton led all scorers with his 19 pts, which included 5 three-pointers, and added 5 rebs, 5 asts and 2 steals. Owens had 15 pts and team-highs of 6 asts and 3 steals. Spencer came off the bench for 15 pts and 6 rebs, and Gaines added 12 pts, all in the second half, and a game-high 10 rebs for the double-double.
With the win, Antelope Valley moves to the regional semifinals and will host #8-seed Cerritos Wednesday night at Marauder Gym. Game time is 7 pm.
box score
Saturday, March 1, 2014 - 7 pm
at Marauder Gym, Lancaster
Playoffs - Regional Quarterfinal
Long Beach Vikings 67:
3-Elijah Gaines, SF - 5/12 fg, 10 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl, 1 pf, 12 pts
21-Brandon Staton, PG - 7/18 fg, 5 reb, 5 ast, 2 stl, 4 pf, 19 pts
23-Mwelu Mataya, C - 0/1 fg, 5 reb, 1 ast, 5 pf, 0 pts
32-Kristien Owens, SG - 5/14 fg, 5/9 ft, 4 reb, 6 ast, 3 stl, 4 pf, 15 pts
42-Ryan Stewart, PF - 1/3 fg, 1 reb, 1 ast, 1 pf, 2 pts
11-Chris Spencer, F - 7/12 fg, 1/4 ft, 6 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl, 3 pf, 15 pts
50-Avery Hamilton, C - 1 reb, 3 pf, 0 pts
5-Carlos Sanchez, G - 1/6 fg, 1 reb, 1 ast, 2 pts
4-Andre Springer, G - 2 ast, 2 pf, 0 pts
15-Manny Correa, F - 1/4 fg, 2 reb, 1 ast, 2 pf, 2 pts
team rebounds: 9
Totals: 27/70 fg (.386), 6/13 ft (.462), 44 reb, 20 ast, 1 blk, 8 stl, 25 pf, 67 pts
3-pt fg (7): Staton 5, Gaines 2
Fouled Out: Mataya 10:37 left
Turnovers (22): Owens 7, Spencer 6, Gaines 3, Staton 3, Correa 2, Hamilton
Antelope Valley Marauders 76:
2-Lawrence White, SF - 0/1 fg, 0/2 ft, 5 reb, 1 ast, 1 pf, 0 pts
4-Lucciano Gamiz, SG - 1/7 fg, 5/6 ft, 3 reb, 1 ast, 3 pf, 7 pts
11-Daviyon Draper, PF - 6/13 fg, 1/3 ft, 4 reb, 1 blk, 3 stl, 15 pts
12-Zachary Hollis, C - 4/4 fg, 1/3 ft, 5 reb, 2 blk, 2 stl, 2 pf, 9 pts
20-Ismail Ali, PG - 4/9 fg, 8/9 ft, 4 reb, 7 ast, 4 stl, 16 pts
24-Ryan Wright, C - 7/8 fg, 4/5 ft, 7 reb, 1 ast, 1 pf, 18 pts
22-Kamal Holden, F - 2/6 fg, 3 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 2 pf, 4 pts
32-Tajee Shaw, C - 1 reb, 2 pf, 0 pts
10-Tim Johnson, G - 1/1 fg, 1 reb, 3 ast, 3 pts
5-Adrian Francis, G - 0/1 fg, 1/2 ft, 1 reb, 4 pf, 1 pt
21-Tim Gilmore, G - 0/3 fg, 1 reb, 1 pf, 0 pts
1-Darren Tooke, F - 1/3 fg, 1 pf, 3 pts
team rebounds: 3
Totals: 26/56 fg (.464), 20/30 ft (.667), 38 reb, 15 ast, 3 blk, 10 stl, 16 pf, 76 pts
3-pt fg (4): Draper 2, Johnson, Tooke
Turnovers (17): Ali 6, Draper 4, White 2, Holden 2, Francis, Gilmore, team
Halftime Score: Antelope Valley 34, Long Beach 26
Updated Records: Antelope Valley (#1-seed) 27-4, Long Beach (#16-seed) 19-10
This is AVC's 10th straight win and 19th out of its last 20 games.
