The 2010 Southern California Community College Showcase took place July 30 & 31 at Azusa Pacific University.
Here is a game-by-game summary for the 8 games I covered on Saturday, July 31st:
Citrus 63, Imperial Valley 42:
Citrus went on a 19-0 run from the end of the first half through the first ten-plus minutes of the second half, breaking a 26-all tie and taking command in a 63-42 win over Imperial Valley in the first game Saturday.
The run came seemingly out of nowhere, as the game was extremely even to that point. Neither team led by more than four points until Citrus got a 3-pointer from SG Donte Archie and a lay-up from PF Garrett Jefferson in the final 37 seconds of the first half to go ahead, 31-26.
But that was just the start of the run, which continued until Citrus had a 45-26 lead and control of the game. A 3-point play by PG Donnel Phifer pushed the margin to 10 at 36-26, a 3-pointer by PF Tyree Harrison made it a 15-point game at 41-26 and a basket by Ctr Sean Boston made it 43-26. A 2-point free throw by Archie finished the run, making it 45-26.
Imperial Valley finally scored its first points of the second half when SF Darius Singletary scored on a driving lay-up with 11:12 remaining, but it was too little too late.
SF Brandon Parga led all scorers with 13 pts, including 3 threes. Phifer had 8 pts and 3 asts, and Archie came off the bench to also score 8 pts.
For Imperial Valley, PF Greg Brown III had a team-high 10 pts. Ctr Josh Holmes had 8 pts and 6 rebs, and Singletary had 8 pts, 5 rebs, 3 asts and 2 steals.
LA Harbor 45, Reedley 41:
PF Kevin Dawson had 16 pts to lead Harbor to a most unlikely victory as the Seahawks finished the game on a 13-0 run to snatch the victory from Reedley.
Reedley had an 11-point lead with 1:40 left and a 9-point lead as the clock wound down, seemingly in command of the game and on the verge of ending the game without even playing to a target score.
But Dawson hit a 3-pointer as the clock expired to make it 41-35. And that was just the start of the run. In extra time, Dawson hit another 3-pointer and Ctr Marlin Ramos scored after a steal by PG Malcolm Whittington. Then PG Lemmie Crockem scored on a 3-point play to give Harbor a 43-41 lead. Then Ramos scored after a pass from Crockem to make it 45-41, lifting Harbor to the target score of 45.
That was actually the second dramatic run of the game, the other coming from Reedley starting late in the first half. Trailing, 18-9, Reedley SG Colin Stover hit a 3-point shot and was fouled for a 3-point play. Harbor led, 20-13 at the half, but the Reedley run continued in the second half as the Tigers started the half with a 12-0 run to take a 25-20 lead after five minutes. Reedley extended that margin to as many as 11 points when Ctr Delvon Henderson made a 2-point free throw to make it 39-28 with 1:40 left.
Dawson's 16 points led all scorers. Ctr Sheldon Allen had 8 pts and 6 rebs.
For Reedley, SF Nile Finney had a team-high 13 pts including 3 threes. Henderson had 9 pts and a game-high 7 rebs. PG Darryl Stevenson had 7 pts, 6 rebs, 4 asts and 4 steals.
Santa Monica 53, Sequoias 43:
Ctr Matt Sinclair had 10 pts, PF DeShawn Stephens had 9 and PG A.J. Harris orchestrated it all with 4 pts, 7 asts and 3 steals as Santa Monica completed the weekend with a 4-0 record with a 10-point win over College of the Sequoias.
Santa Monica took control with a 15-0 run to end the first half, breaking a 13-all tie and taking a 28-13 lead at the break. COS rallied to within five points at 38-33 and still trailed by just five points at 42-37, but got no closer.
Santa Monica held just a six-point lead at the end of regular time, but a 2-point free throw by SF Johnell Young made it 51-43. Then a steal by SG Everett Brown led to a game-ending slam dunk by Harris.
Ctr Robert Walters led Sequoias with 9 pts and 5 rebs. SG Lance Reeves had 8 pts, including a pair of threes, plus 2 asts and a steal. P Ryan Bush had 6 pts and 3 asts.
East LA 53, Merritt 34:
Ctr Ralph Morelos had 12 pts and SF Michael Cardenas had 11 as East LA broke open a close game early in the second half to win easily against Merritt.
Merritt began the game with a 6-0 run, but East LA quickly caught up, tying the score at 8, and went ahead for the first time on a basket by R. Morelos that made it 14-12.
That just got things started for East LA. SG Deon Geary hit a short jumper to make it 16-12, then converted a 3-point play to make it 19-12. A 3-pointer by PG Alex Mendiola made it 22-14 late in the half, and a 2-point free throw by PF Ian Fennell made it 24-14 at the break.
Merritt began the second half with a 7-0 run to cose within three points at 24-21. But then East LA answered with a 7-0 run of its own to push the margin back to 10 at 31-21. Jumpers by Geary and Fennell pushed the margin to 15 at 42-27, and East LA was never threatened after that.
R. Morelos finished with 12 pts, a game-high 8 rebs and 2 blocked shots. Cardenas had 11 pts including a couple of threes. Geary and Mendiola each had 7 pts and Fennell had 6 pts, 7 rebs and 3 asts.
For Merritt, SF Gurpreet Sandher had 7 pts, 2 rebs, 2 asts and 2 steals. Ctr Josh Hatcher had 6 pts.
Orange Coast 42, Long Beach 40:
SF Chris Williams hit a 3-pointer in extra time to lift Orange Coast to a hard-fought 42-40 victory over Long Beach in the 5 pm game.
It was a game that was closely-contested throughout, with neither team leading by more than seven points. And points were tough to come by, with both teams shooting below 40% and the teams combining for 39 turnovers. OCC actually had four would-be game-winning 3-point shots miss before Williams' big shot went down.
Long Beach began the game well, building a 15-8 lead midway through the first half. Orange Coast rallied to take an 18-17 lead late in the half, but Long Beach got a basket from SF Ronald Nezey to take a 19-18 lead at the break. The lead went back and forth for the next few minutes until Orange Coast built a 35-30 lead after a 3-point play by PF Cameron Bell, a basket by PF Darnell Banks and a 3-point free throw by PG Nick Becker with just over three minutes remaining.
But Long Beach rallied, scoring the game's next six points to take a 36-35 lead, and led by a point at 38-37 at the end of regular time. A basket by PG Breahn Gibbs got Long Beach within two points of the target score in extra time.
But thanks to a free throw by Williams, Orange Coast was also within striking range, just three points from the target score itself. And then Williams came through with the 3-pointer to finally win it for the Pirates.
Williams finished with 12 pts, 4 rebs, 2 asts, 2 blks and 2 steals for OCC. Gibbs led Long Beach with 8 pts while SF Robert Mandingo had 7 pts, 9 rebs and 3 steals.
LA Southwest 63, SD Mesa 30:
Four players scored in double figures for LA Southwest, which led wire to wire in a 63-30 blowout win over San Diego Mesa.
Southwest began the game with a 6-0 run, pushed its lead to 22-10 midway through the first half and led, 36-22, at the break. Then the Cougars began the second half with a 17-4 run to push the margin well beyond twenty points, and the rout was on.
PF James Fields led Southwest with game-highs of 14 pts and 8 rebs. PF Adrian Session had 12 pts, 6 rebs and 2 steals. PG Bryce Layne had 10 pts, 3 asts and 3 steals, and SF Stephon Dafney had 10 pts as well.
For Mesa, SF Cliff Adams had 8 pts on 4-for-4 from the floor and also had a team-high 7 rebs. SG Joseph Macon had 8 pts and 3 blocked shots.
Mt. San Jacinto 52, Irvine Valley 48:
PF Jamal Clark had 14 pts and SF Josh Gouch had 13 and Mt. San Jacinto put together an improbable late-game rally to edge Irvine Valley in the weekend's penultimate game.
Irvine Valley started the game with a 14-5 run, pushed the margin to 16 at 31-15 late in the first half, led by 13 at halftime and seemed well in control of the game. The margin was 15 at 35-20 early in the second half and still in double figures until Mt. San Jacinto PG Darren May scored on a driving lay-up to get the Eagles within eight points at 44-36 with just over four minutes to go.
After that, the Mt. San Jacinto rally continued. A 3-point play by Clark made it 48-43 with two minutes left. Then a 3-pointer by SG Eric Lawton made it 48-46. A basket by Gouch with 12.7 seconds left in regular time pulled Mt. San Jacinto even for the first time since the game's opening minutes, and it was 48-48 as the clock expired.
In extra time, Gouch scored inside to give Mt. San Jacinto its first lead of the game at 50-48. Then Lawton hit a jumper to push Mt. San Jacinto to the target score of 52, clinching the win.
SG Ramon Mejia led Irvine Valley with 13 pts and 4 asts. SF Joey Vasquez had 10 pts and a game-high 8 rebs, and Ctr Kirill Sergeyev also had 10 pts.
Irvine Valley rested most of its sophomores after a 20-point win earlier in the day over San Bernardino Valley. The soph-based team won both of its games over the weekend, also beating LA Trade Tech on Friday.
LA Trade Tech 54, Mira Costa 45:
In the final game of the weekend, LA Trade Tech overcame a sluggish start and claimed a close win over Mira Costa, with SG Randall Harris scoring both baskets in extra time after steals to win it.
Mira Costa began the game with a 13-2 run in the first 7:20. But Trade Tech rallied to trail by just a point at 18-17 after a 3-point play by SG Daundrekyc Parham late in the first half, and took a 19-18 lead early in the second half on a basket by SF Martin Whitmore.
The game remained close the rest of the way, with Trade Tech pushing its lead to as many as six points at 26-20 only to see Mira Costa get back within a point at 36-35 after a 3-pointer by SG Tony Cali. It was again a one-point game at 41-40 when Trade Tech got seven straight points from Whitmore to lead, 48-40, late in regular time. Mira Costa got within five points as the clock expired.
But in extra time, the game didn't last long. After Cali missed a shot, PF Thomas Nesbitt got the rebound for Mira Costa. But his crosscourt pass was intercepted by Harris, who went in for a lay-up to make it 52-45. Then, Harris stole the ball near midcourt again, this time going in for a game-ending slam dunk.
For Trade Tech, Whitmore had 12 pts and 6 rebs, and Ctr Tyrone Lyons had 12 pts as well. SF Tim Johnson had 9 pts and 4 asts. Harris had just 6 pts but 4 of them came in extra time and he also had 4 steals.
For Mira Costa, Cali led all scorers with 16 pts including 4 threes. SF Zach Fleischman had 8 pts and 6 rebs, and PG Matt Cain had 5 pts and a game-high 7 asts.
Other Results:
Santa Monica def. Los Medanos
Citrus def. Sequoias
Antelope Valley def. Imperial Valley
Fullerton def. Porterville
Saddleback def. Antelope Valley
Irvine Valley def. San Bernardino Valley
Palomar def. Rio Hondo
San Bernardino Valley def. Long Beach
