Host San Bernardino Valley had to overcome a lot - a tough revenge-minded Mt. San Jacinto team, foul trouble to PG Keith Smith, the raucous cacophony of CODE RED and 3 points mysteriously appearing on the scoreboard for MSJC - but the Wolverines managed to get past the visiting Eagles and are headed to the state championships next weekend.
It was an amazing scene as CODE RED, the infamous cheering section, made a rare road appearance in support of the visiting Eagles. In the packed gym, they made the most noise from start to finish, though the SBVC staff wisely placed them on the opposite side of the gym from the benches and across from the Mt. San Jacinto bench, rather than behind the visitors' bench as is the customary location at Mt. San Jacinto.
And CODE RED must have created a true home court advantage, as the visiting Eagles got a boost on the scoreboard not once but twice. But in the end, SBVC ended Mt. San Jacinto's season at Snyder Gymnasium for the second straight season.
It was a physical game, intense and with plenty of fouls, but well-played on both sides as the teams combined to shoot 46% from the floor and commit just 29 turnovers - 13 for the home team - in the tension-filled 40 minutes. And neither team led by more than 8 points until San Bernardino Valley (28-7) started to pull away midway through the second half. And SBVC's win wasn't secure until the Wolverines made 10 of 13 free throws in the final 1:23 to extinguish Mt. San Jacinto's final attempt at a rally.
Through it all, Arizona State-bound SF Gerry Blakes stood tallest, scoring 16 of his game-high 25 pts in the second half and added 7 rebs and a game-high 6 asts for the game. But he had plenty of support as each of the five SBVC starters scored in double digits.
Things started out quite well for Mt. San Jacinto (25-5) as the Eagles took a 4-0 lead in the game's first 50 seconds and pushed the lead to 14-6 less than four minutes into the game. And moments later it looked even more daunting for San Bernardino Valley when Smith picked up his second foul of the game.
But Smith stayed in the game. And though he played carefully the rest of the half to avoid getting his third foul, he directed the SBVC offense and was able to avoid fouling out of the game.
And not only would that 8-point lead would be Mt. San Jacinto's largest lead of the game, but San Bernardino Valley gradually rallied and wiped it out. Ctr Marcus Fuggins tied the game with a slam dunk that made it 24-24 with 6:10 left in the first half, and PF Tymarieh TA Dixon gave the Wolverines a lead moments later with a driving lay-up. Mt. San Jacinto went back in after Oregon-bound SF Dwayne Benjamin made a 3-point field goal and then converted a traditional 3-point play to make it 30-26, but the Wolverines scored the game's next 8 points to lead, 34-30. Smith scored on a dunk with just under a minute to go in the first half to make it 36-31.
SF Danny Hopkins made a 3-pointer in the final seconds of the half to make it 36-34 at the break. But the Mt. San Jacinto rally continued even after the teams went to the locker rooms. Midway through the halftime break the scoreboard was changed to read 36-36; apparently the official book had credited SG Dujuan Smith with an additional basket for some reason during the first half and now the score was being adjusted, though in actuality the 36-34 score was the correct one.
When the second half started, both teams kept changing the scoreboard but they did it in the usual way: by making shots. SBVC made 5 of its first 7 shots of the second half but led by just a point at 47-46 after a lay-up by Blakes following a steal by Dixon. But that basket not only wiped out what would be Mt. San Jacinto's last lead of the game, but started a 21-8 run that saw SBVC extend its lead to 12 points, the largest lead of the game for either team.
Mt. San Jacinto trailed, 66-54, after that run, and Benjamin was still scoreless in the second half. But then SBVC's Smith picked up his 4th foul of the game and headed to the bench with 8:51 left. MSJC's Smith made the first resulting free throw; he missed the second, but Benjamin scored on the putback to finally get on the board in the second half and make it 66-57. Then Hopkins hit another three to make it 66-60, and Ctr Sam Williams made a three to cut the SBVC lead to five points at 68-63 with 7:20 to go.
SBVC still led by five points at 72-67 when there was a timeout, and suddenly the Wolverine lead was reduced to 4 points. Apparently the scoreboard operator was directed to add a point to Mt. San Uacinto's total as a result of Williams' 3-pointer. But that point had already been added (as detailed above). Nonetheless, the official book's score is what counted, so now it became a 4-point game with plenty of time left. And Dujuan Smith reduced the deficit to 2 points with a driving lay-up with 4:46 left that made it 72-70.
But then SBVC pulled away for good with an 11-3 spurt, pushing the lead back to double digits. The spurt started with a 3-pointer by SG Charles Callison with 4:05 left, and continued with a 3-point play by Dixon after a steal 18 seconds later that made it 78-70. A 3-pointer by Blakes with 2:20 left stretched the SBVC advantage to 81-72. Dujuan Smith split two free throws for the Eagles to make it 81-73, but then time began to run out on Mt. San Jacinto.
At that point, Mt. San Jacinto had little choice but to try to extend the game with fouls. But Smith made two free throws with 1:23 left to push the SBVC lead to double digits at 83-73. Hopkins banked home a 3-pointer with 1:15 left to give the Eagles some hope, but Blakes added two free throws to make it 85-76 with under a minute to play.
Then Benjamin drove across the center line, faked and drew a foul trying a 3-point shot. It was an eerie reminder of last year's game in which Benjamin was fouled trying a 3-point shot in the final seconds and could have tied the game by making all three resulting free throws. But just like last year, he made just one of his three attempts, and that ended any realistic chance Mt. San Jacinto had of a miraculous comeback. Blakes and PF Trayvon Bashir each added a pair of free throws, and Blakes and SG Darren Lockett each added single free throws as the clock wound down to close out the scoring.
Blakes led all scorers with his 25 pts, which included 16 pts in the second half, and he added 7 rebs and a game-high 6 asts. Callison had 19 pts, including 3 threes, plus 5 asts and 4 steals. Dixon had a double-double with 17 pts on 7-for-9 from the field and added 10 rebs, 2 asts, 2 steals and a blocked shot. Fuggins also had double-double with 13 pts and 10 boards. Keith Smith had 14 pts and made several key shots, all while avoiding fouling out of the game. Overall, SBVC shot 50% from the floor and had just 13 turnovers.
For Mt. San Jacinto, Dujuan Smith had 15 pts, not including the phantom basket in the first half, plus 7 rebs, 3 asts and 2 steals. Williams had 14 pts, not including the phantom point, and added 7 rebs and 3 asts. PG Carlos McCormick also had 14 pts and dished out 5 asts. But Benjamin had a final line of 13 pts, 6 rebs and 5 asts - decent enough numbers for most players, but not what the Eagles needed from him, and he had just 3 points in the second half as SBVC clearly focused its attention on him. Hopkins came off the bench for 11 pts, 4 rebs and 2 asts. PF Mark Ware started and had 7 pts plus a team-high 10 rebs.
The win moves San Bernardino Valley into the state tournament next weekend, and CC San Francisco's loss Saturday night puts the Wolverines in the role as tourney favorite. SBVC will take on Chabot, the team that upset CCSF, in one semifinal on Saturday evening at Cerritos College in Norwalk.
box score
Saturday, March 8, 2014 - 7 pm
at Snyder Gymnasium, San Bernardino
Playoffs - SoCal Regional Final
Mt. San Jacinto Eagles 77:
2-Mark Ware, PF - 3/4 fg, 1/4 ft, 10 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 4 pf, 7 pts
21-Carlos McCormick, PG - 5/11 fg, 2/2 ft, 2 reb, 5 ast, 1 stl, 2 pf, 14 pts
24-Dwayne Benjamin, SF - 5/15 fg, 2/5 ft, 6 reb, 5 ast, 1 blk, 4 pf, 13 pts
25-Dujuan Smith, SG - 5/14 fg, 3/6 ft, 7 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl, 2 pf, 15 pts
33-Sam Williams, C - 5/10 fg, 2/2 ft, 7 reb, 3 ast, 4 pf, 14 pts
4-Danny Hopkins, F - 4/7 fg, 4 reb, 2 ast, 4 pf, 11 pts
30-Levon Harper, C - 0/1 fg, 1/2 ft, 1 pf, 1 pt
11-Tre Hunter, G - 0/2 fg, 0 pts
0-Isaiah Jones, C - 1/1 fg, 1 pf, 2 pts
1-Patric Bowens, F - 0 pts
32-Blake O'Donnell, G - 0/1 fg, 1 ast, 1 pf, 0 pts
44-Autsin Klug, C - 1 pf, 0 pts
34-Cameron Johnson, F - 0 pts
22-Alan Palesano, G - 0 pts
team rebounds: 4
Totals: 28/66 fg (.424), 11/21 ft (.524), 40 reb, 20 ast, 2 blk, 3 stl, 24 pf, 77 pts
3-pt fg (10): Hopkins 3, McCormick 2, Smith 2, Williams 2, Benjamin
Intentional Foul: Benjamin
Turnovers (16): Smith 5, Benjamin 3, Williams 3, McCormick 2, Ware, Harper, Bowens
San Bernardino Valley Wolverines 91:
3-Keith Smith, PG - 4/13 fg, 6/7 ft, 5 reb, 2 ast, 4 pf, 14 pts
4-Gerry Blakes, SF - 8/16 fg, 8/9 ft, 7 reb, 6 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl, 1 pf, 25 pts
5-Tymarieh TA Dixon, PF - 7/9 fg, 3/3 ft, 10 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk, 2 stl, 3 pf, 17 pts
21-Marcus Fuggins, C - 4/7 fg, 5/10 ft, 10 reb, 2 blk, 2 stl, 4 pf, 13 pts
24-Charles Callison, SG - 8/15 fg, 1 reb, 5 ast, 4 stl, 5 pf, 19 pts
34-Darren Smith, C - 0/1 fg, 0 pts
15-Steven Adams, C - 0/1 fg, 2 reb, 0 pts
2-Austin Daniels, G - 0/1 ft, 2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 2 pf, 0 pts
32-Trayvon Bashir, F - 2/2 ft, 2 pts
0-Darren Lockett, G - 1/2 ft, 1 pf, 1 pt
team rebounds: 3
Totals: 31/62 fg (.500), 25/34 ft (.735), 40 reb, 16 ast, 4 blk, 10 stl, 20 pf, 91 pts
3-pt fg (4): Callison 3, Blakes
Fouled Out: Callison 50.7 seconds left
Turnvoers (13): Blakes 3, Dixon 3, Callison 3, K.Smith, Adams, Daniels, Lockett
Halftime Score: San Bernardino Valley 36, Mt. San Jacinto 34
Updated Records: San Bernardino Valley (#2-seed) 28-7, Mt. San Jacinto (#3-seed) 25-5
note: 3 points were erroneously added to MSJC's totals on the scoreboard, which I have decided to ignore.
