Neverson White's layup on a feed from Rodney Billups with 1.2 secs left enabled Valley to slip past Glendale despite a big Vaquero rally in the final minutes. The Vaqs had scored the game's previous 11 pts to overcome a 68-57 deficit with under 3 mins left, tying the game on 2 Marc Walters FTs with 26.1 secs left. After White's bucket (Glendale was out of timeouts) Jeff Washington's desperation 3-pt attempt from half court hit the outside of the rim as the buzzer sounded.
SF White led a balanced scoring attack for the Monarchs, finishing with 14 pts on 6 of 7 and adding 5 rebs, 3 asts and 6 steals. SG Ryan Abrahams, who attended Glendale College in 1999-2000, finished with 10 pts. C Nate Wilson had 9 pts and 8 rebs off the bench, and starting C Albert Strickland scored 11 pts for Valley. Billups, the younger brother of T-Wolves' Chauncey Billups, finished with a game-high 5 asts including the feed on the winning score.
Glendale was led as usual by C/F Marc Walters, who scored 21 pts and added 6 rebs. But Glendale also got big efforts from PG Jeff Washington (12 pts) and reserve G Alton Preston (14 pts on 5 of 5 from the floor). C Fabian Leon scored 6 pts and added team-highs of 8 rebs and 4 asts off the bench.
After Glendale took their first lead of the 2nd half at 48-47, Valley went on a 15-2 run to take what seemed like an insurmountable 12-pt lead at 62-50. Valley's trapping defense created 11 steals in the 2nd half (5 by White) and 16 on the night. The Monarchs still led by 11 until the Glendale press forced some turnovers of their own, sparking the late rally. Valley also missed some free throws to let the Vaqs back in. But on the final possession, Billups found White under the basket for the play that counted most.
Unofficial Box Score:
Saturday, January 12, 2002
at Verdugo Gym, Glendale
Western State Conference
Los Angeles Valley Monarchs 70:
4-Rodney Billups, PG - 1/6 fg, 2/4 ft, 1 reb, 5 ast, 1 blk, 5 pts
24-Ryan Abrahams, SG - 5/10 fg, 2 reb, 1 blk, 2 stl, 10 pts
30-Blake Walker, PF - 4/7 fg, 1/2 ft, 5 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 2 stl, 9 pts
32-Neverson White, SF - 6/7 fg, 2/4 ft, 5 reb, 3 ast, 6 stl, 14 pts
35-Albert Strickland, C - 4/8 fg, 3/4 ft, 4 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl, 11 pts
33-Midwin Francis, F - 2/7 fg, 7 reb, 1 blk, 3 stl, 4 pts
42-Nate Wilson, C - 3/6 fg, 3/4 ft, 8 reb, 2 ast, 9 pts
10-Alex Cabagnot, G - 0/2 fg, 1 ast, 0 pts
12-James Mitchell, G - 1/3 fg, 2/2 ft, 4 ast, 1 stl, 5 pts
21-DeMarcus Reid, F - 1/4 fg, 1 reb, 3 pts
team rebounds: 6
Totals: 27/60 fg (.450), 13/20 ft (.650), 39 reb, 17 ast, 4 blk, 16 stl, 70 pts
3-pt fg (3): Billups, Mitchell, Reid
Turnovers (23): Billups 7, White 4, Abrahams 2, Walker 2, Strickland 2, Wilson 2, Francis, Cabagnot, Mitchell, Reid
Glendale Vaqueros 68:
12-Jeff Washington, PG - 4/11 fg, 4/5 ft, 2 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl, 12 pts
20-Germaine Dixon, SF - 2/4 fg, 1 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 5 pts
35-Ramall Goodrich, SG - 1/4 fg, 1/2 ft, 3 ast, 1 stl, 3 pts
11-Kevin Krose, PF - 1/8 fg, 2/4 ft, 6 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl, 4 pts
21-Marc Walters, C - 6/11 fg, 9/10 ft, 6 reb, 1 blk, 2 stl, 21 pts
30-Fabian Leon, C - 3/6 fg, 8 reb, 4 ast, 2 stl, 6 pts
24-Nick Halic, G - 1/1 fg, 1 ast, 3 pts
32-Alton Preston, G - 5/5 fg, 2/5 ft, 2 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk, 14 pts
team rebounds: 2
Totals: 23/50 fg (.460), 18/26 ft (.692), 27 reb, 16 ast, 2 blk, 9 stl, 68 pts
3-pt fg (4): Preston 2, Dixon, Halic
Turnovers (23): Washington 5, Krose 5, Dixon 4, Preston 3, Goodrich 2, Walters 2, Leon 2
Halftime Score: Glendale 36, LA Valley 35
Valley scored the first 6 pts of the 2nd half to gain the lead, which they held for the first few mins of the 2nd half. Glendale took their first lead at 48-47 but Valley then went on a 15-2 run to lead 62-50 with about 4 minutes left. They still led 68-57 with under 3 mins left when Glendale rallied, going on an 11-0 run and tying the game on 2 Walters FTs with 26.1 secs left. But Valley got the winning basket on a feed from Billups to White, who put in the layup with 1.2 secs left. Washington's desperation 3 from midcourt hit the outside of the rim as the buzzer sounded.
