Ctr Ken Alexander scored 18 pts and grabbed 8 rebs as top-seeded West Valley (16-2) used a high-pressure game and a deep bench to overwhelm Shasta (8-8) in the championship game of the Kris Kringle Classic at Santa Rosa Saturday night.
With a 12-man rotation, full court man-to-man pressure and a considerable size advantage, West Valley had little trouble posting the win and laying claim to the #1 spot in next week's Northern region poll. The Vikings broke open a close game by finishing the first half on a 18-4 run to take a 10-point halftime lead, and after a brief Shasta surge to start the second half it was all West Valley from there.
Alexander got the Vikings started with a pair of baskets in the first minute to give WVC a 4-0 lead. But Shasta rallied, tying the game at 17 on a basket by SF Hayden Heiber. And after a steal & lay-up by SG Jon Baird, the Knights had a 19-17 lead. The lead got as large as 4 points at 24-20 after a basket by PF Darern Brous.
But then came the late-first half West Valley run. A three by SG Lamarr Hunt, who was later named Most Valuable Player of the tourney, put WVC ahead, 27-24. A steal and basket by PG Greg Russell increased the lead to 5 at 29-24. And the run continued until PF Michael Turner, who was also named to the all-tournament team, scored just before the halftime buzzer to push the lead to 10 at 38-28.
In the second half, Shasta began with a 7-0 run to cut the Viking lead to 3 as West Valley had 4 turnovers and 5 fouls in the first 3 minutes. But a basket by SG Dominic Cruz-Duncan seemed to stabilize things, starting an 11-0 run that pushed the West Valley lead to 14 at 49-35. From there, it was all Vikings.
In addition to Alexander, the double-digit scorers for West Valley were Cruz-Duncan (10 pts, 4 stl) and PG Darrell Birton (10 pts, 5 asts). Russell had just 2 points - on 1-of-2 shooting - but had 9 asts and 5 steals. SG Tim Jones added energy as well as 8 pts and 2 asts off the bench. And energy was a key as the Vikings generated 21 steals and forced 32 Shasta turnovers.
For the Knights, Heiber had 15 pts while Baird had 12 pts plus 5 asts and 4 steals. Both were named to the all-tournament team. PF Ryan Groom grabbed a game-high 9 rebs and blocked 2 shots.
box score
Saturday, December 17, 2005 - 8 pm
Kris Kringle Classic @ Haehl Pavilion, Santa Rosa
Championship Game
West Valley Vikings 78:
11-Greg Russell, PG - 1/2 fg, 0/1 ft, 2 reb, 9 ast, 5 stl, 2 pts
25-Lamarr Hunt, SG - 3/11 fg, 2 reb, 3 stl, 7 pts
34-J.D. Adams, SF - 2/4 fg, 4 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 5 pts
44-Ivan Elliott, PF - 3/8 fg, 6 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 2 stl, 7 pts
53-Ken Alexander, C - 8/12 fg, 2/3 ft, 8 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl, 18 pts
22-Darrell Birton, G - 3/8 fg, 1/2 ft, 5 ast, 1 stl, 10 pts
32-Marcus Morgan, F - 2/7 fg, 1/1 ft, 4 reb, 1 stl, 5 pts
33-Dominic Cruz-Duncan, G - 5/6 fg, 0/1 ft, 4 reb, 4 stl, 10 pts
42-Drew Pearson, C - 0 pts
52-Michael Turner, F - 1/4 fg, 1/2 ft, 5 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl, 3 pts
50-Tim Jones, G - 2/3 fg, 4/4 ft, 2 reb, 2 ast, 8 pts
31-Dan Wendt, F - 1/5 fg, 1/2 ft, 1 ast, 3 pts
23-Ryan Wilkinson, F - 1 reb, 0 pts
team rebounds: 5
Totals: 31/70 fg (.443), 10/16 ft (.625), 43 reb, 23 ast, 1 blk, 21 stl, 78 pts
3-pt fg (6): Birton 3, Hunt, Adams, Elliott
Turnovers (25): Russell 7, Birton 6, Adams 3, Morgan 2, Turner 2, Jones 2, Hunt, Elliott, Cruz-Duncan
Shasta Knights 52:
3-Jon Baird, SG - 4/10 fg, 2/4 ft, 4 reb, 5 ast, 4 stl, 12 pts
4-Hayden Heiber, SF - 5/13 fg, 4/5 ft, 2 reb, 2 st, 1 blk, 2 stl, 15 pts
20-Dean Wilson, PG - 1/5 fg, 1/2 ft, 3 ast, 2 stl, 4 pts
22-Darren Brous, PF - 2/2 fg, 2/5 ft, 1 ast, 6 pts
32-Gary Workman, C - 0/1 fg, 3 reb, 1 blk, 1 stl, 0 pts
10-Trevor Ray, G - 3/5 fg, 1/2 ft, 3 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl, 7 pts
23-Ryan Groom, F - 1/1 fg, 1/2 ft, 9 reb, 1 ast, 2 blk, 1 stl, 3 pts
44-Tyson Hetzer, C - 1/4 fg, 2 pts
14-Brad Tweedy, G - 0/2 ft, 0 pts
30-Zach Keplinger, F - 1/1 fg, 1/2 ft, 1 reb, 3 pts
5-Chad Putnum, G - 0/1 fg, 1 ast, 0 pts
31-Triston Hopson, F - 0 pts
24-Chad Cavender, F - 0/1 fg, 0 pts
team rebounds: 8
Totals: 18/44 fg (.409), 12/24 ft (.500), 30 reb, 15 ast, 4 blk, 12 stl, 52 pts
3-pt fg (4): Baird 2, Heiber, Wilson
Turnovers (32): Ray 8, Baird 6, Heiber 5, Brous 3, Workman 3, Groom 3, Wilson 2, team 2
Halftime Score: West Valley 38, Shasta 28
Updated Records: West Valley 16-2, Shasta 8-8
Notes: Hunt (WVC) was named tourney MVP. Turner (WVC), Baird (Shasta) and Heiber (Shasta) were named to the all-tourney team
