PF Marcus Blackshire had a double-double with 12 pts and 11 rebs to lead Irvine Valley (7-3) to a 58-53 win over Cerritos (4-6) in a playoff-type game in the first semifinal of the Roadrunner Round-Up Friday evening at Rio Hondo.
It was a halfcourt, station-to-station type game with both teams relying on tough defense and ball control. After Cerritos slowly built a 6-point halftime lead, Irvine Valley took over in the second half, going ahead by 11 points midway through the half and then holding off a late Cerritos charge.
Irvine Valley jumped out to the lead early in the game on the strength of PG Ceylon Elgin-Taylor, who had two baskets and an assist on a basket by SG Jordan Schmidt to help the Lasers to a 6-2 lead. The advantage opened up to 6 points after a three by SF Josh Cheek made it 11-5.
But then Cerritos gradually took control of the game, tying the game at 19 on a three by SF Demetrius Turner and taking a 20-19 lead moments later on a free throw by PG Clyde Thomas after a steal. That steal came on one of 19 first-half turnovers by Irvine Valley, which was largely a result of Elgin-Taylor heading to the bench after picking up his second foul of the game about 7 minutes into the contest. Cerritos finished the half by pushing its lead to 6 points at 29-23 on a third-chance putback basket by PF Keith Canzatar in the final seconds before halftime.
However, in the second half, Elgin-Taylor came back into the game for Irvine Valley, and the Lasers quickly rallied. A three by Cheek gave IVC a 35-33 lead. From there, the lead continued to grow, reaching a high of 11 points at 49-38 after a three by SF Carlos Pinto with 8:23 left.
As Irvine Valley slowed the game down trying to protect the lead, Cerritos slowly rallied. Four free throws by PF DeAndre Ferguson following a pair of free throws by Ctr Brandon Bell reduced the IVC lead to 5 at 49-44 with 5:23 left. Cheek nailed a three at the end of the shot clock to push the lead back to 8 at 52-44, but then SG Arthur Clark made a free throw and Ferguson scored on a putback to make it 52-47. And the Falcons cut the margin to just 3 points at 52-49 after a pair of free throws by PG Jerrell Elder with 2:38 remaining.
That would be as close as they would get, however. A pair of free throws by Elgin-Taylor made it 54-49 with 1:32 left, and a pair of free throws by Pinto with 27.5 seconds left pushed the margin back to 7 points at 56-49 and secured the win for the Lasers.
Blackshire finished with team-highs of 12 pts and 11 rebs, and also had 3 asts. He was the only Laser in double figures, but Elgin-Taylor and Cheek each had 9 pts while Schmidt had 8 and Pinto had 7. PG Jason Toney came off the bench to dish out a game-high 4 asts. And grab 3 steals.
For Cerritos, Jones led all scorers with 13 pts, and he also grabbed a team-high 6 rebs. Clark had 12 pts and Ferguson had 10. But the Falcons shot just 34% from the floor and after forcing 19 first-half IVC turnovers, they were able to cause just 7 Laser turnovers in the second half.
box score
Friday, December 8, 2006 – 5 pm
Roadrunner Round-Up @ Rio Hondo College, Whittier
Championship Semifinal #1
Cerritos Falcons 53:
31-Demetrius Turner, SF – 3/10 fg, 1/ 2 ft, 1 reb, 1 pf, 8 pts
32-Arthur Clark, SG – 4/10 fg, 3/ 4 ft, 5 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk, 4 stl, 2 pf, 12 pts
33-Xavier Carpenter, PG – 0/1 fg, 1 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 2 pf, 0 pts
52-Travele Jones, C – 6/12 fg, 1/ 2 ft, 6 reb, 2 ast, 2 blk, 2 stl, 1 pf, 13 pts
54-DeAndre Ferguson, PF – 3/7 fg, 4/5 ft, 5 reb, 1 blk, 3 pf, 10 pts
34-Jerrell Elder, G – 0/4 fg, 5/6 ft, 3 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 2 pf, 5 pts
42-Lawrence Robinson, F – 3 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl, 3 pf, 0 pts
41-Keith Canzater, F – 1/ 2 fg, 2 reb, 1 stl, 3 pf, 2 pts
44-Andre Zaumault, G – 0/2 fg, 0 pts
55-Brandon Bell, C – 0/2 fg, 2/2 ft, 2 reb, 1 pf, 2 pts
35-Clyde Thomas, G – 1 /2 ft, 2 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 2 stl, 1 pt
team rebounds: 2
Totals: 17/50 fg (.340), 17/23 ft (.739), 32 reb, 10 ast, 5 blk, 14 stl, 18 pf, 53 pts
3-pt fg (2): Turner, Clark
Intentional Foul: Clark
Turnovers (20): Clark 4, Carpenter 3, Jones 3, Elder 3, Ferguson 2, Robinson 2, Turner, Thomas, team
Irvine Valley Lasers 58:
3-Ceylon Elgin-Taylor, PG – 2/6 fg, 5/8 ft, 3 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl, 2 pf, 9 pts
4-Josh Cheek, SF – 3/7 fg, 1 reb, 1 ast, 3 pf, 9 pts
20-Jordan Schmidt, SG – 3/8 fg, 1/ 2 ft, 3 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl, 4 pf, 8 pts
21-Marcus Blackshire, PF – 4/9 fg, 4/5 ft, 11 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl, 1 pf, 12 pts
32-A.J. Kapanoska, C – 1/ 2 fg, 3/ 4 ft, 4 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 3 pf, 5 pts
42-Jaron Devine, C – 1/ 2 fg, 2/2 ft, 2 reb, 1 blk, 1 pf, 4 pts
22-David Ekott, F – 1/1 fg, 2 reb, 1 pf, 2 pts
5-Jason Toney, G – 1/ 4 fg, 1 reb, 4 ast, 3 stl, 2 pts
11-Carlos Pinto, F – 2/4 fg, 2/2 ft, 1 reb, 1 stl, 2 pf, 7 pts
team rebounds: 5
Totals: 18/43 fg (.419), 17/23 ft (.739), 33 reb, 14 ast, 1 blk, 10 stl, 17 pf, 58 pts
3-pt fg (5): Cheek 3, Schmidt, Pinto
Turnovers (26): Cheek 5, Blackshire 5, Ekott 5, Elgin-Taylor 4, Schmidt 2, Toney 2, Kapanoska, Devine, Pinto
Halftime Score: Cerritos 29, Irvine Valley 23
Updated Records: Irvine Valley 7-3, Cerritos 4-6
