In what was easily the best game of the day, #1-South seed San Bernardino Valley (31-2) had four scorers in double figures and finally outlasted a stubborn Foothill squad, 82-74, in a quarterfinal game of the California Community College state tournament Friday evening at Cal Lutheran in Thousand Oaks.
SBVC seemingly had height and atheticism advantages all over the floor, and came into the not having lost a game in 2010. But Foothill battled them every step of the way, holding a one-point lead at halftime and staying even well into the second half. The score was last tied at 60 with 7:14 left, but after that SBVC gradually pulled away, finally building a double-digit lead and clinching the win with 1:01 left.
Early on, it looked as though SBVC might have an easy time of things, jumping out to a 9-3 lead in the game's opening minutes. A 3-pointer by SF Tre Brewer pushed the Wolverine lead to seven points at 14-7.
But then Foothill recovered from the wobbly start, rallying to tie the game at 16 after a 3-pointer by PF Dominic Stewart with 8:50 left in the first half. SBVC went back into the lead, taking a 24-20 advantage after a pair of threes by SG Absolom Smith, but Foothill rallied to take a 35-33 lead in the final minute of the half on a 3-pointer by SG Matt Christman and led by a point at 35-34 at intermission.
In the second half, SBVC went on an 12-2 run to take a 48-39 lead with 13:42 left in the game, seemingly starting to pull away at last. But the gritty Owls answered with a 10-1 run of their own, cutting the margin to a single point at 50-49. A little later, Foothill went back into the lead on a 3-pointer by Christman that made it 56-54 with just over eight minutes to go. The lead went back and forth after that; Foothill last tied the score at 60 on a pair of free throws by Thousand Oaks native PG Bobby Macias, playing less than a mile away from his HS (Thousand Oaks).
A slam dunk by Brewer started the final sequence that at last saw SBVC start to pull away. Then SF Aaron Edwards threw down a jam after a steal by PG Nate Roth to make it 64-60. SBVC nudged the lead to five points when PG David Rawlinson made a free throw with 3:37 left to make it 69-64. Then Roth nudged the margin to six points with a 3-pointer at the end of the shot clock with just under three minutes left that made it 72-66.
At that point, SBVC finally had control of the game. SG Sydney Hall took a pass from Roth and scored to push the lead to eight at 74-66, and then made two free throws - from four attempts - to at last push the margin to double digits at 78-68 with 1:01 left, sealing the win for the Wolverines.
Hall led SBVC with 17 pts, and Brewer added 14 plus 5 rebs, 3 asts and 5 steals. PF Curtis Wilkinson had 12 pts and 8 rebs, and Edwards came off the bench for 11 pts and 8 rebs.
For Foothill, Christman led all scorers with 23 pts, including 5 threes. Macias had 16 pts and 8 asts. D. Stewart had 9 pts while SF Marseilles Stewart had 9 pts, all in the first half as he battled foul trouble in the second half.
box score
Friday, March 12, 2010 - 5 pm
at Cal Lutheran, Thousand Oaks
State Tournament - Quarterfinals
Foothill Owls 74:
4-Bobby Macias, PG - 4/12 fg, 7/7 ft, 4 reb, 8 ast, 1 blk, 2 stl, 3 pf, 16 pts
5-Matt Christman, SG - 7/13 fg, 4/4 ft, 6 reb, 4 pf, 23 pts
20-Austin McQuay, C - 1/1 fg, 1/2 ft, 2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 3 pf, 3 pts
23-Dominic Stewart, SF - 4/9 fg, 4 reb, 1 ast, 11 pts
33-Marseilles Stewart, PF - 3/7 fg, 6 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl, 4 pf, 9 pts
21-Tim Williams, F - 0/2 fg, 1 reb, 5 ast, 3 pf, 0 pts
3-Josh Scheibley, G - 4/6 fg, 0/3 ft, 3 reb, 2 ast, 4 pf, 8 pts
12-Kyle Hypes, F - 2/2 fg, 1 ast, 2 stl, 1 pf, 4 pts
team rebounds: 2
Totals: 25/52 fg (.481), 12/16 ft (.750), 28 reb, 19 ast, 1 blk, 7 stl, 22 pf, 74 pts
3-pt fg (12): Christman 5, D.Stewart 3, M.Stewart 3, Macias
Turnovers (20): Macias 7, M.Stewart 4, Christman 3, Sheibley 3, McQuay, D.Stewart, Hypes
San Bernardino Valley Wolverines 82:
1-Sydney Hall, SG - 7/17 fg, 2/4 ft, 3 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl, 2 pf, 17 pts
4-Tre Brewer, SF - 5/11 fg, 3/6 ft, 5 reb, 3 ast, 5 stl, 3 pf, 14 pts
5-Nate Roth, PG - 1/6 fg, 1/2 ft, 4 reb, 8 ast, 3 stl, 4 pf, 4 pts
32-Orlando Brazier, C - 3/8 fg, 6 reb, 2 stl, 3 pf, 6 pts
45-Curtis Wilkinson, PF - 4/6 fg, 4/5 ft, 8 reb, 1 stl, 2 pf, 12 pts
30-Aaron Edwards, F - 5/7 fg, 1/2 ft, 8 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 3 pf, 11 pts
12-David Rawlinson, G - 2/2 fg, 1/2 ft, 1 reb, 4 ast, 2 stl, 1 pf, 6 pts
23-D'Shaun Holden, F - 2 reb, 2 pf, 0 pts
33-Maurice McGee, F - 2/3 fg, 2/4 ft, 1 pf, 6 pts
3-Absolom Smith, G - 2/2 fg, 6 pts
team rebounds: 4
Totals: 31/62 fg (.500), 14/25 ft (.560), 41 reb, 19 ast, 0 blk, 16 stl, 21 pf, 82 pts
3-pt fg (6): Smith 2, Hall, Brewer, Roth, Rawlinson
Turnovers (17): Roth 5, McGee 4, Rawlinson 3, Hall, Brazier, Edwards, Holden, team
Halftime Score: Foothill 35, San Bernardino Valley 34
Updated Records: San Bernardino Valley 31-2, Foothill 22-8
It was tied 60-60 with 7:14 left, but then SBVC slowly pulled away
