The 3 Stripes JC Shootout (formerly known as the California JUCO Showcase) took place July 30 & 31 at the American Sports Center in Anaheim. 40 teams affiliated with schools from all over California – as well as dozens of college coaches – were on hand. I managed to get to 12 games over the two days. Here’s a game-by-game report of that dozen games.
Teams are listed by their summer travel names, but each team was comprised of players planning to attend a specific community college in the fall and coached by a member of that school’s coaching staff. That college is listed in parentheses after the name. So a team listed as “The Cats (Canyons)” played under the name The Cats this weekend but is made up of players planning to attend College of the Canyons.
High Desert Hoops (Victor Valley) 47, Street Ball-N (West LA) 47
After 40 minutes of regulation and 5 minutes of overtime, the game was still even so officially it ended in a tie. High Desert led much of the way, holding a 25-19 lead at halftime and clinging to a 39-35 lead late in the game. But then Street Ball-N went on an 8-2 run to take a 43-41 lead. With about two minutes left, Keegan Hoover took a pass from Daniel Ellis to tie the game at 43. Neither team scored again in regulation time and when each team managed just 4 point in OT, the game was declared a draw.
Jerard Moret, who played at Cal State Fullerton last year, led Street Ball-N with 13 pts and 11 rebds. Sudan Daniels had 10 pts, 7 rebs and 3 blocked shots. Josh Gordon added 10 pts off the bench.
For High Desert, Hoover led the way with 10 pts. Jose Sanchez came off the bench to add 8 pts.
Pier Pressure (LA Harbor) 72, The Warriors (Citrus) 59
Chris Mark had 19 pts and 13 rebs, and was joined by four teammates in double-figure scoring as Pier Pressure led virtually wire-to-wire and knocked off the Warriors. Keith Mason also posted a double-double for the winners with 10 pts and 10 rebs. Allen Harris had 14 pts and 5 asts. Chris Campbell had 13 pts while Antoine King came off the bench and added 10.
The Warriors were led by Buchi Awaji and Phil Friesen, who each had 10 pts. Aaron Arango had 9 while Deonta Black and Chad Allan each had 8.
Team KG (Antelope Valley) 41, Westec Tanks (American River) 29
Adeola Dagunduro had team-highs of 9 pts and 7 rebs to lead Team KG to the win in a defensive-minded affair.
Both teams shot 34% from the floor and neither team had a scorer reach double figures. After Westec held a 17-13 lead late in the first half, Team KG finished the half on a 5-0 run and pulled away in the second half.
Joey Shank had 9 pts to lead Westec.
Yosh Basketball (West Valley) 50, Costa Mesa (Orange Coast) 37
Dominic Cruz-Duncan had 10 pts and Yosh had 10 players in the scoring column, and that depth wore down a game Costa Mesa squad for the win.
Both teams used full-court pressure the whole game, and the result was a scrambly, turnover-filled game. Yosh had 21 turnovers, but also generated 17 steals and forced 28 Costa Mesa turnovers.
Aaron Woods led Costa Mesa with 10 points. Shaun Engle had 7 pts, 4 asts and 6 steals.
South County (Saddleback) 47, The Warriors (Citrus) 37
Gerard Anderson had 10 pts and Derek Richie had 9 as South County led virtually the whole way over The Warriors.
Brandon James and Leandre Richardson each had 8 pts, while Lamont Morgan had 7 pts and 4 steals.
For The Warriors, Aaron Arango led the way with 7 pts.
Team Inland (Riverside) 37, Redding (Shasta) 36
Claude Williams had 7 pts as Team Inland held on by the slightest of margins for the win over Redding. Inland led virtually the entire game, but had to withstand a late rally that saw Redding climb to within a point in the last minute. Defense was a key for Inland, which held Redding to 29% from the floor.
Chron Tatum had 6 pts and 5 rebs for the winners. Andew Jenkins had 4 pts and a game-high 8 boards.
Ryan Groom led Redding with 12 pts, and he also had 4 steals.
17th Street Ballers (Santa Ana) 44, Speed City (San Jose) 35
The second day began with a mild upset as 17th Street went on a 9-0 run to finish the first half and led the rest of the way in a win over Speed City.
Cartier Carter led the way for the winners, scoring a team-best 14 pts and spurring the late first-half run with 5 points.
For Speed City, Dave Smith had a strong game with a game-high 17 pts and 3 steals. Craig Hunter added 8 pts and a game-high 7 rebs.
Valley Blue (Irvine Valley) 45, Sehorn’s Summer Squad (Yuba) 39
Marcus Blackshire had 14 pts and 8 rebs and Valley Blue held Sehorn’s without a point for the first 12:40 of the second half as Valley Blue overcame a 6-point halftime deficit for the win.
Demetrius Young finally broke the drought for Sehorn’s with 7:40 left in the game, but by then Valley Blue had taken control. Young finished with 14 pts to lead Sehorn’s. Royal Edwards added 9 pts.
17th Street Ballers (Santa Ana) 68, Sand City (Monterey Peninsula) 50
Cartier Carter continued his excellent play and James Silvie had a breakout game as 17th Street overwhelmed a strong Sand City team in the second half and pulled away for a convincing win.
Carter had 14 of his 16 pts in the second half, helping 17th Street extend a 3-point halftime lead. And Silvie finished the game 7-for-10 from the floor and poured in 21 pts for the winners. Mike Hernandez orchestrated it beautifully, finishing with 4 pts and a team-high 6 asts.
For Sand City, which had lost to The Beach (Long Beach) by just 6 points earlier in the day, Darroll Phillips had a tremendous game with 22 pts, including 6 threes. Marco Ramos had 12 pts, 6 rebs and 4 steals. Will Nganga dished out a game-high 7 asts.
Entelechy (Santa Barbara) 41, Los Altos (Foothill) 41
Entelechy was 3.1 seconds away from victory and only had to inbound the ball, but when they did Los Altos’ Humphrey Jackson stole it away and got it to Chris Jackson, who drained a 25-foot 3-pointer as the horn sounded, tying the game and sending it to overtime.
Entelechy had led most of the game and seemed to have the win secured. But after C.Jackson’s dramatic shot, each team managed just 4 points in overtime, so the game was declared a tie.
C.Jackson and H.Jackson each had 11 pts for Los Altos; Borthwick also had a team-best 4 asts. Jonathan Moe had 9 pts and 6 rebs.
For Entelechy, Mike Archuletta (Mira Costa) led the way with 12 pts.
Team Intensity (LA Southwest) 39, The Cats (Canyons) 38
Jason McKinney drained a three with 30 seconds left that proved to be the difference and Eules Thompson had 15 pts for Intensity, which narrowly averted a huge upset in holding off The Cats.
Fresh off a reported 34-point win over Yosh Basketball (West Valley), Intensity never got its running game untracked against the halfcourt-minded Cats.
And The Cats had several chances to win the game, taking a 2-point lead after a baseline jumper by Jacob Briggs with just under 40 seconds left. After Thompson put Intensity back in front with his three moments later, The Cats still had several more chances. But Shant Bicakci, normally a sure-fire free throw shooter, missed a pair of free throws in the final 20.1 seconds, and Briggs missed a last-second jumper as the horn sounded.
Intensity trailed most of the way, but got back in the game on a rare 5-point play. As Thompson was draining a three, Chris Smith was fouled underneath and was awarded a 2-point free throw attempt. Thompson’s basket was ruled good, and when Smith drained the free throw, Intensity had its first lead since the opening moments of the second half at 29-28.
The Cats got three straight baskets from James Lewis to take a 34-29 lead, but then Intensity scored the game’s next 5 points to tie the game again and the lead went back and forth the rest of the way.
Andre Murray led The Cats with 10 pts. Briggs added 6 pts and a game-high 9 rebs. Bicakci had just 2 pts but dished out a game-high 6 asts.
High Desert Hoops (Victor Valley) 55, San Marcos (Palomar) 45
In the finale, Chase Ealey had 15 pts and Jaron Buchanan added 11 as High Desert led wire-to-wire over San Marcos.
High Desert went in front early, led by 11 at halftime, and was never really challenged in the second half as San Marcos took the opportunity to get all 16 of its players into the game.
Nedai Tartir led San Marcos with 9 pts. Dwayne Davis and E.J. Ross had 8 pts each.
Box Scores
High Desert Hoops (Victor Valley) 47, Street Ball-N (West LA) 47
Pier Pressure (LA Harbor) 72, The Warriors (Citrus) 59
Team KG (Antelope Valley) 41, Westec Tanks (American River) 29
Yosh Basketball (West Valley) 52, Costa Mesa (Orange Coast) 37
South County (Saddleback) 47, The Warriors (Citrus) 37
Team Inland (Riverside) 37, Redding (Shasta) 36
17th Street Ballers (Santa Ana) 44, Speed City (San Jose) 35
Valley Blue (Irvine Valley) 45, Sehorn's Summer Squad (Yuba) 39
17th Street Ballers (Santa Ana) 68, Sand City (Monterey Peninsula) 50
Entelechy (Santa Barbara) 41, Los Altos (Foothill) 41
Team Intensity (LA Southwest) 39, The Cats (Canyons) 38
High Desert Hoops (Victor Valley) 55, San Marcos (Palomar) 45
