With the rest of the state watching via the internet and/or twitter, #2-seed Saddleback made a strong statement about who is the team to fear during the rest of the playoffs, overwhelming #7-seed Mt. San Jacinto, 99-75, Wednesday night in a regional semifinal in Mission Viejo.
Saddleback (30-2) fell behind, 2-0, but dominated the remaining 39 minutes, shooting nearly 60% from the floor and matching its season-high scoring total.
After state scoring champ Sam Williams scored to give Mt. San Jacinto (23-8) a 2-0 lead, the Gauchos scored the game's next 7 points and led the rest of the way. Saddleback set the tone by making 7 of its first 10 shots of the night in taking a 16-6 lead after a 3-pointer by Maleke Haynes just 5:20 into the game.
Mt. San Jacinto rallied to cut the deficit to three points at 22-19 after Pee Wee Gardner hit a short jumper midway through the first half.
But that would be the Eagles' last real rally as Saddleback just kept making shots and began to pull away. Two free throws by Andrew Bournes with 3:13 left in the first half pushed the Gaucho lead back to double digits at 40-30. Conor Clifford scored on a hook shot in the final minute of the half to make it 47-36, and Dusty Baker added a short jumper in the final seconds of the half to push Saddleback's lead to 49-36 at the break.
Saddleback led by 13 early in the second half when Baker was forced to heave a desperation shot just as the shot clock expired. It missed, but Collin Host grabbed the rebound. He got the ball to Clifford in the post, and the talented 7-footer passed it back to Host along the baseline for a reverse lay-up. Then Haynes scored on a driving lay-up on the offensive end, and blocked a Gardner lay-up attempt on the defensive end. That led to a free throw by Baker that made it 58-40.
That sequence seemed to remove any remaining resistance from Mt. San Jacinto. The teams traded baskets for the next several minutes, until Josh Mishler drained a 3-pointer to push Saddleback's lead to 19 at 70-51. Then he fed Clifford for a basket that pushed the Gaucho lead beyond 20 points with 9:50 left, and Saddleback led handily the rest of the way.
Clifford led all scorers with 22 pts, which came on 10-for-15 from the floor, and he also had 5 rebs, 4 asts and 2 blocks. Bournes had 19 pts, including 3 threes, and 6 rebs. Host had 17 pts on 8-for-10 from the floor, and Baker flirted with a triple-double before settling for 11 pts, 9 rebs and 7 asts. Haynes was the only scorer not to reach double digits, but he had 9 pts on 4-for-5 from the floor and dished out a game-high 9 asts. Mishler had a huge game off the bench with 15 pts on 6-for-6 from the floor plus 4 rebs and 5 asts.
For Mt. San Jacinto, Williams had 20 pts, and Blake O'Donnell also had 20 pts and added 8 rebs, 2 asts and 2 steals. Tre Hunter came off the bench for 12 pts.
With the win, Saddleback advances to a highly-anticipated showdown against #3-seed San Bernardino Valley on Saturday. The teams have met three times already this season, with Saddleback winning twice.
Aside from those games Saddleback and San Bernardino Valley are a combined 58-1 so it's safe to say whoever wins Saturday will be the heavy favorite in next weekend's state tournament, especially with SoCal #1 seed Mt. SAC losing tonight and both of NorCal's top 2 seeds losing this week.
box score
Wednesday, March 4, 2015 - 7 pm
at Saddleback College, Mission Viejo
Regional Semifinal
Mt. San Jacinto Eagles 75:
0-Isaiah Jones, C - 1/1 fg, 2 reb, 2 blk, 4 pf, 2 pts
2-Blake O'Donnell, SF - 6/16 fg, 8/11 ft, 8 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl, 4 pf, 20 pts
12-Nikko Turner, PG - 1/5 fg, 1 reb, 5 ast, 1 stl, 2 pts
22-Alan Palesano, SG - 1/3 fg, 2 reb, 2 pf, 3 pts
33-Sam Williams, PF - 8/17 fg, 3/5 ft, 3 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl, 1 pf, 20 pts
14-Pee Wee Gardner, G - 2/10 fg, 2/4 ft, 3 ast, 2 stl, 1 pf, 6 pts
44-Austin Klug, C - 3/5 fg, 1/4 ft, 4 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl, 2 pf, 7 pts
24-Roosevelt Adams, F - 1/1 fg, 1/2 ft, 4 reb, 1 ast, 1 pf, 3 pts
11-Tre Hunter, G - 5/7 fg, 1/1 ft, 4 reb, 1 ast, 2 pf, 12 pts
5-Traonte Jones, G - 1 ast, 0 pts
34-Andrew Pendelton, F - 1 pf, 0 pts
team rebounds: 3
Totals: 28/65 fg (.431), 16/27 ft (.593), 28 reb, 17 ast, 3 blk, 8 stl, 18 pf, 75 pts
3-pt fg (3): Palesano, Williams, Hunter
Flagrant Foul: Williams (FL-1)
Turnovers (10): Gardner 4, Klug 2, O'Donnell, Palesano, Williams, Hunter
Saddleback Gauchos 99:
10-Andrew Bournes, SG - 5/11 fg, 6/10 ft, 6 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 4 pf, 19 pts
11-Maleke Haynes, PG - 4/5 fg, 4 reb, 9 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl, 4 pf, 9 pts
25-Dusty Baker, SF - 3/8 fg, 4/6 ft, 9 reb, 7 ast, 2 pf, 11 pts
31-Collin Host, PF - 8/10 fg, 0/1 ft, 3 reb, 1 ast, 3 pf, 17 pts
42-Conor Clifford, C - 10/15 fg, 2/5 ft, 5 reb, 4 ast, 2 blk, 4 pf, 22 pts
30-Josh Mishler, F - 6/6 fg, 4 reb, 5 ast, 2 pf, 15 pts
32-Brandon Fagins, F - 1 reb, 2 blk, 2 pf, 0 pts
20-Jalen Hall, G - 0/1 fg, 0 pts
41-Kyle Hoag, C - 0/3 fg, 2 reb, 0 pts
33-Maurice Jones, F - 0/2 fg, 2/2 ft, 1 pf, 2 pts
13-Carlos Jimenez, G - 0 pts
35-Daniel Young, F - 1/1 fg, 2/2 ft, 2 reb, 4 pts
team rebounds: 5
Totals: 37/62 fg (.597), 16/26 ft (.615), 41 reb, 27 ast, 6 blk, 1 stl, 22 pf, 99 pts
3-pt fg (9): Bournes 3, Michler 3, Haynes, Baker, Host
Turnovers (13): Bournes 4, Haynes 3, Baker 3, Host, Clifford, Mishler
Halftime Score: Saddleback 49, Mt. San Jacinto 36
Updated Records: Saddleback (#2-seed) 30-2, Mt. San Jacinto (#7-seed) 23-8
