PF Codye Hatcher had 18 pts and 14 rebs to lead LA Pierce to an 81-79 win over Orange Coast Sunday afternoon as the Brahmas captured the championship of the Neil Edwards Classic tournament in Glendora.
But it was anything but easy for the Brahmas, who saw Orange Coast erase most of a 23-point lead, all in the second half, before the Pirates finally ran out of time.
It was a strange game with three distinct chapters. The first chapter saw the teams battle on even terms for the first 13-plus minutes. The second chapter featured an 18-0 run by Pierce as the Brahmas built a 50-27 lead. And the third chapter saw Orange Coast get that deficit down to a single point in the final seconds and have a chance to win or tie, but ultimately never got a last-second shot away before the final buzzer sounded.
For much of the first half, the score remained close. Pierce (6-1) jumped out to an early 6-0 lead, at which point Orange Coast coach Steve Spencer subbed out all five players. The shock troop strategy succeeded as Orange Coast cut the deficit to 7-6 and took an 11-9 lead on a 3-pointer by PG Spencer Poston. Pierce went back in front, 16-11, but Orange Coast re-took the lead and held a 24-23 lead after a steal & lay-up by SF Jordan Pellum.
Then came the 18-0 run that saw Pierce take control of the game. A basket by SG Victor Evans after a steal made it 31-24 with 4:16 left, and then Evans scored on a euro-step move to make it 33-24. A driving lay-up by SF Donte Williams and two slam dunks by Hatcher made it 39-24. A steal & dunk by Evans made it 41-24 with just under a minute left in the first half.
Pierce held a 43-25 lead at halftime, and continued to expand its advantage in the second half. A basket by Evans and a 3-point play by Hatcher made it 47-25. The lead reached 23 points at 50-27, at which point it looked like Pierce was going to win easily.
But Orange Coast battled back, going on a 15-2 run to get back into the game in just a few minutes. SG Jo Jo Trinidad sparked the run with a pair of three-pointers, and he hit another to make it 52-42 with 12:45 left in the second half.
The Pirates cut teh deficit to eight points at 53-45 on a driving lay-up by SF Billy Nguyen with 11:20 left. Pierce pushed its lead back to 14 points at 70-56 after a basket by SG Terrel Funches with 4:44 left in the game, seemingly putting the Brahmas back in control.
But Orange Coast battled back again, cutting the deficit to six points on a crazy 4-point play by Trinidad on which he banked home a 3-pointer with 3:28 as he was fouled. He made the resulting free throw to make it 72-66.
Poston made two free throws with 1:51 left made it 74-70. Pierce pushed the lead back to six and led, 78-72, but Trinidad made another three to make it 78-75 with 36.5 seconds left. After PG J.R. Williams made two free throws for Pierce, Poston scored for Orange Coast with 24.2 seconds left to make it 80-77.
Then Pierce SF Myles Mungcal missed two free throws, and Orange Coast had the chance to tie it. Trinidad missed a 3-pointer, but Poston scored on a putback to make it 80-79. J.R. Williams was fouled with 6.2 seconds left, but made only one of two free throws to make it 81-79, giving Orange Coast a chance for the win or tie.
But they never got a shot away. Pierce challenged the ball near midcourt, and time expired before the ball got to PF Marquis Ransom, who was ready to take a potential game-tying shot from the left elbow, allowing Pierce to escape with the victory.
For Pierce, Hatcher finished with a team-high 18 pts, a game-high 14 rebs, 4 blocks and 3 assists to earn tournament MVP honors. Evans, who had 16 pts, 3 rebs and 3 asts before fouling out with 3:28 left, and Donte Williams, who had 15 pts, 7 rebs and 2 steals, joined him on the all-tournament team. J.R. Williams added 13 pts and dished out a game-high 8 asts.
It was a strange statistical game for Pierce, which shot 61.5% from the floor but managed just 39 field goal attempts. The Brahmas also had 41 free throws (making 31) but committed an astounding total of 34 turnovers.
For Orange Coast, Trinidad had 18 pts, including 5 threes, and added 4 asts. Ransom had 16 pts and was named to the all-tournament team. Poston had 15 pts, 4 rebs, 4 asts and 2 steals.
box score
2012 Neil Edwards Classic
Sunday, November 25th @ Citrus College, Glendora
Championship Game - 6 pm
LA Pierce Brahmas 81:
1-J.R. Williams, PG - 2/3 fg, 8/10 ft, 3 reb, 8 ast, 2 stl, 2 pf, 13 pts
3-Donte Williams, SF - 4/7 fg, 7/8 ft, 7 reb, 1 blk, 1 stl, 2 pf, 15 pts
13-Victor Evans, SG - 5/9 fg, 6/6 ft, 3 reb, 3 ast, 2 blk, 1 stl, 5 pf, 16 pts
15-Bobby Johnson, C - 0/1 fg, 3/4 ft, 4 reb, 4 blk, 2 stl, 1 pf, 3 pts
23-Codye Hatcher, PF - 8/10 fg, 2/5 ft, 14 reb, 3 ast, 4 blk, 4 pf, 18 pts
25-Terrel Funches, G - 3/5 fg, 2 reb, 1 ast, 1 pf, 7 pts
24-Myles Mungcal, F - 0/2 ft, 1 reb, 2 ast, 2 pf, 0 pts
32-Andre Smith, C - 1 pf, 0 pts
21-Michael Claus, F - 2/3 fg, 5/6 ft, 4 reb, 1 blk, 1 stl, 2 pf, 9 pts
22-Chris McCarthy, G - 0/1 fg, 1 pf, 0 pts
34-Charles Honest, F - 1 pf, 0 pts
team rebounds: 8
Totals: 24/39 fg (.615), 31/41 ft (.756), 46 reb, 17 ast, 10 blk, 7 stl, 21 pf, 81 pts
3-pt fg (2): J.Williams, Funches
Fouled Out: Evans 3:28 left
Turnovers (34): Evans 7, J.Williams 6, Hatcher 6, D.Williams 5, Funches 3, Mungcal 2, Johnson, Smith, McCarthy, team 2
Orange Coast Pirates 79:
3-Jo Jo Trinidad, SG - 6/18 fg, 1/1 ft, 1 reb, 4 ast, 3 pf, 18 pts
5-Jordan Pellum, SF - 4/9 fg, 1/1 ft, 3 reb, 4 stl, 5 pf, 9 pts
13-Spencer Poston, PG - 5/13 fg, 4/6 ft, 4 reb, 4 ast, 2 stl, 4 pf, 15 pts
24-Nathan Kirschbaum, C - 2/5 fg, 1 reb, 3 pf, 5 pts
32-Marquis Ransom, PF - 5/19 fg, 6/7 ft, 5 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 2 pf, 16 pts
15-Jonah Ganz, G - 1/2 fg, 1 ast, 2 pts
21-Dominique Nelson, F - 1/1 fg, 1/2 ft, 9 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl, 4 pf, 3 pts
23-Chris Nelson, G - 1/6 fg, 1/2 ft, 3 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 3 pts
25-Billy Nguyen, F - 2/4 fg, 1 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl, 1 pf, 4 pts
33-Broderick Dunlap, C - 1/3 fg, 1 reb, 2 pf, 2 pts
34-John Joyce, C - 0/3 fg, 2 pf, 0 pts
31-Daniel Dedeaux, F - 1 stl, 1 pf, 0 pts
20-Kimo Wakim, G - 2/4 ft, 1 pf, 2 pts
14-Sean Steinke, F - 0/2 fg, 1 reb, 0 pts
11-Matt Nuthall, G - 0 pts
40-Josh Walker, C - 0/1 fg, 1 reb, 0 pts
42-Joshua Hurst, F - 0/1 fg, 1 pf, 0 pts
team rebounds: 6
Totals: 28/87 fg (.322), 16/23 ft (.696), 36 reb, 16 ast, 0 blk, 14 stl, 30 pf, 79 pts
3-pt fg (7): Trinidad 5, Poston, Kirschbaum
Technical Foul: Coach Spencer
Fouled Out: Poston 6.2 seconds left
Turnovers (12): Trinidad 2, Ransom 2, Nuthall 2, Pellum, Poston, Ganz, Nguyen, Dunlap, Steinke
Halftime Score: LA Pierce 43, Orange Coast 25
Updated Record: LA Pierce 6-1, Orange Coast 3-3
Pierce went on an 18-0 run to lead 41-24 late in the 1st half, and led by 23 at 50-27 early in the 2nd half.
Orange Coast rallied and got within a point at 80-79 with about 10 seconds left and had a chance to tie or go ahead in the final seconds, but couldn't get a shot away before time expired.
Tournament MVP: Hatcher (Pierce). All-Tournament team: Evans, D. Williams (Pierce), Ransom (OCC), Jaree Crawford (ELAC) and Steven Thornton (Citrus)
