SG Kyle Wallace's free throw with 14.8 seconds left, his only point of the game, gave Saddleback its only lead of the game, as the Gauchos rallied from a 10-point second-half deficit to edge Citrus, 55-54, in the second semifinal of the day to reach the state championship for the second straight year Saturday night at Cal Lutheran in Thousand Oaks.
As the clock ticked down, Saddleback had already rallied after trailing, 43-33, with 13:19 left in the game. The Gauchos had still trailed by seven points at 51-44 with 6:27 left, and after going on a 7-0 spurt to tie the game at 51 saw Citrus PF Keith Thompson convert a 3-point play with 1:55 left to give the Owls a 54-51 lead. Then Saddleback got a free throw from Ctr Robert Curtis and a driving lay-up from SF Tyler McManaman with 55 seconds left to tie the score at 54.
Citrus got the ball to Ctr Randy Hunter as the clock passed the 20-second mark, but Hunter was unable to get the ball into the basket. The rebound went to Wallace along the baseline, who grasped the ball with the score still tied.
Then the unthinkable happened as SF DeAndre Haskins of Citrus rushed over and fouled him. Apparently Haskins was unaware of the score and thought Saddleback had the lead. In any case, Wallace made one of two free throws with 14.8 seconds left to give Saddleback a 55-54 lead.
Still, Citrus had plenty of time - 14.8 seconds - left to answer. After a timeout, the Owls got the ball to Thompson, but the 6-6 forward's shot missed. He got his own rebound, but his fallaway shot also missed. The rebound went to Hunter, but the horn sounded before he could try another shot, allowing Saddleback to escape with the 1-point victory.
All that came after Citrus had seemed in control for much of the game. The Owls scored the game's first three points and held a narrow lead or been tied throughout the first half, which ended with the Owls ahead, 32-28. The largest lead of the first half was seven points at 16-9 after a baseline jumper by Thompson with 10:16 left; Saddleback scored the game's next six points to get within a point at 16-15 and Citrus held a narrow lead the rest of the half.
When the second half started, Citrus gradually increased the margin, taking a 41-33 lead after a 3-point play by Thompson with 15:03 left. Then a spinning lay-up by PG Derrick Rodgers with 13:19 left made it 43-33, Citrus' biggest lead of the game. Saddleback answered with a 7-0 spurt to get within three points at 43-40, but Citrurs got a driving lay-up from PG Donnel Phifer and a 3-point play from PG Hakeem Washington to push the margin back to eight points at 48-40 with 9:26 left.
Citrus still led by eight points at 50-42 and by seven at 51-44 with 6:27 left when Saddleback rallied for the tie. Curtis scored two straight baskets to make it 51-48, and then PG Perry Webster drained a 3-pointer with 2:31 left to make it 51-51, the first tie since 13-13 at the 13:55 mark of the first half, setting up the dramatic final sequence.
For Saddleback, Curtis had a tremendous game off the bench with a game-high 21 pts and a team-high 13 rebs. Webster had 18 pts and a game-high 5 asts. McManaman had 9 pts, including the game-tying basket in the final minute. Three Saddleback starters - Wallace, PF Nathan Gibbs and SF T.J. Lipold had just one point each, but in this game every point was important, especially Wallace's free throw.
For Citrus, Thompson led the way with 12 pts, 4 rebs, 3 blocks and 3 steals. Hunter had 7 pts and a team-high 13 rebs. Off the bench, Washington had a huge game with 11 pts and a team-high 4 asts.
box score
Saturday, March 13, 2010 - 7 pm
at Cal Lutheran, Thousand Oaks
State Semifinal #2
Saddleback Gauchos 55:
12-Kyle Wallace, SG - 0/1 fg, 1/2 ft, 5 reb, 3 ast, 1 pf, 1 pt
20-Perry Webster, PG - 5/12 fg, 6/7 ft, 1 reb, 5 ast, 3 pf, 18 pts
23-Nathan Gibbs, PF - 0/3 fg, 1/3 ft, 2 reb, 3 pf, 1 pt
24-T.J. Lipold, SF - 0/3 fg, 1/2 ft, 4 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 3 pf, 1 pt
35-Wendell Faines, C - 1/4 fg, 3 reb, 2 blk, 1 stl, 1 pf, 2 pts
10-DeAndre Myles, G - 0/2 fg, 2/2 ft, 3 reb, 3 pf, 2 pts
31-Tyler McManaman, F - 3/10 fg, 3/6 ft, 2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 9 pts
34-Robert Curtis, C - 9/11 fg, 3/4 ft, 13 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl, 2 pf, 21 pts
33-Sarunas Jackson, F - 0/1 fg, 0 pt
25-Johnel Gray, F - 1 pf, 0 pts
team rebounds: 5
Totals: 18/47 fg (.383), 17/26 ft (.654), 38 reb, 11 ast, 4 blk, 3 stl, 17 pf, 55 pts
3-pt fg (2): Webster 2
Turnovers (12): McManaman 3, Curtis 3, Wallace 2, Webster 2, Gibbs, team
Citrus 54:
3-DeAndre Haskins, SF - 2/7 fg, 1/2 ft, 4 reb, 1 stl, 4 pf, 6 pts
15-Jose Rivera, SG - 2/3 fg, 1 reb, 3 stl, 6 pts
20-Randy Hunter, C - 3/5 fg, 1/2 ft, 13 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 2 pf, 7 pts
23-Derrick Rodgers, PG - 1/8 fg, 3 reb, 1 ast, 4 pf, 2 pts
45-Keith Thompson, PF - 5/15 fg, 2/4 ft, 4 reb, 1 ast, 3 blk, 3 stl, 1 pf, 12 pts
5-Jerry Santos, G - 0 pts
10-Donnel Phifer, G - 1/2 fg, 1 reb, 1 ast, 1 pf, 2 pts
32-Darrin Stewart, F - 0/1 fg, 1 ast, 1 pf, 0 pts
14-Cameron Nettles, F - 0/1 fg, 1/2 ft, 1 ast, 4 pf, 1 pt
50-Tom Granado, C - 1/5 fg, 5/6 ft, 2 reb, 2 pf, 7 pts
12-Hakeem Washington, G - 4/9 fg, 3/4 ft, 1 reb, 4 ast, 3 pf, 11 pts
40-Cameron Khoury, F - 0/1 fg, 3 reb, 1 pf, 0 pts
team rebounds: 4
Totals: 19/57 fg (.333), 13/20 ft (.650), 36 reb, 10 ast, 3 blk, 8 stl, 23 pf, 54 pts
3-pt fg (3): Rivera 2, Haskins
Turnovers (9): Hunter 2, Haskins, Rivera, Rodgers, Thompson, Phifer, Washington, Khoury
Halftime Score: Citrus 32, Saddleback 28
Updated Records: Saddleback 28-5, Citrus 29-3
Citrus led by 10 midway through the 2nd half.
Wallace's FT with 14.8 seconds left broke a 54-all tie and gave Saddleback its only lead of the game.
