The 2005-06 JC Basketball season is now in the books! Fullerton finished a remarkable 37-0 (that’s the most wins ever for an undefeated champion) and captured the state title with an 81-67 win over West Valley, the top seed from Northern California, in the final.
During the season I managed to see a total of 63 games. Most of that was in Southern California, but it also included a road trip to the north and I ended up seeing 66 different teams (and two more from schools outside California).
Recently, I noticed that the Minnesota Timberwolves use the same phrase in their Game Notes. Apparently I've started a trend (I've used the phrase for this feature for several seasons now)!
In any case, here's my list of the best and the brightest from the 2005-06 season...
Season Superlatives:
Most Points, Team: 111 – San Bernardino Valley, 11/26 vs. Moorpark
Fewest Points Allowed: 44 – Sequoias, 2/24 vs. Sierra
Largest Margin of Victory: 35 – Chaffey 106 vs. Desert 71, 2/18
Most Points, Player: 41 – Jamar Smith, San Bernardino Valley, 11/26 vs. Moorpark
Most Rebounds, Player: 23 – Jerome Habel, San Bernardino Valley, 12/29 vs. Valencia All-Stars
Most Assists, Player: 14 – Jacob Letson, San Bernardino Valley, 11/26 vs. Moorpark
Most 3-point FG, Player: 6 – Michael Martin, West LA, 12/27 vs. Riverside
…………………………….6 – Gary Thomas, Antelope Valley, 12/4 vs. Diablo Valley
…………………………….6 – Michael Wilson, Mt. San Jacinto, 3/4 vs. Fullerton
Most Blocked Shots, Player: 8 – Shakir Johnson, Santa Monica, 2/11 vs. Canyons
Most Steals, Player: 8 – Kevin Ochoa, Foothill, 12/15 vs. San Jose
Best Player: Michael Earl, Fullerton.
Fullerton was most definitely a team, with each of their 8 rotation players providing key contributions. But the thing that set them apart from other good teams was Earl. A dominant post scorer, he also had range on his jumper. He could rebound with California’s best, and was also among the state’s best shot-blockers. What Elton Brand has been to the Clippers this year, Brand was to the Hornets.
Best Team: Fullerton
Their record speaks for itself: 37-0. And that came despite playing in the Orange Empire Conference, the toughest conference in the state this year.
Best Team (Women): Mt. San Antonio
Again, their record (36-2) speaks for itself, as does their state championship. But their win 2/3 at Pasadena really shows how good this team was. Even though SoCal Player of the Year Lauren Ervin was hampered by foul trouble and finished with just 8 points, Mt. SAC beat the then-#3-ranked (in the state) Pasadena, 62-55, at Pasadena. And of course, in the state championship game, I got to see how good Ervin is when she had 23 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals and 2 blocks en route to Most Valuable Player (of the state tournament) honors.
Best Game, Men: Ventura 82, Southeastern Iowa 81 (2 OTs), 12/30.
It was technically an exhibition, but you couldn’t have figured that out from being there. A packed house, many of whom were there to see 7-foot-8 Sun Ming Ming make his only Pirate appearance, was on hand. And though it wasn’t a particularly strong year for SE Iowa, they are a scholarship school and a national JC power, having won three of the last five national championships. Ventura, of course, entered as one of the top teams in California.
For most of the first half, Ventura held a slight lead and led, 30-26 at the half. But in the second half, SE Iowa rallied to tie the game at 47 and took a 52-51 lead with just over 5 minutes remaining. Then Terrance Carter made a pair of free throws to make it 54-51. But Ventura rallied, tying the game on a three by Hylas Smith. As the time wound down, the lead went back and forth and it was tied until Danny Tavares scored to give Ventura a 64-62. But SE Iowa not only tied the game on two free throws by Courtney Horton, but took a 66-64 lead on a basket by Carter with 49.3 seconds remaining. However, Ventura tied the game on a basket by Danny Mena with 36 seconds left, making it 66-66.
Ventura had a chance to win the game at the end of regulation, but Charles Dillon missed a last-second shot. Then in overtime, SE Iowa took a 4-point lead at 73-69 and still led 74-72, only to see Dillon tie the game with a basket with 7.8 seconds remaining. In the second overtime, each team had a 2-point lead early on but it was tied again at 78 when Ventura had the ball.
And the ball went to 5-8 point guard Trevor Breland, who had only taken one shot all night to that point. But Breland released the 3-point try, and it swished through the net. That gave Ventura an 81-78 lead with 1:30 left.
Ventura guard David Van Someren did the rest to help hold the lead. First, he made a free throw to extend the margin to 4 points at 82-78 with 29.2 seconds left. Then, on the game’s last sequence, he guarded SE Iowa’s Carlos Taylor, who was unable to get off a last-second (potential game-winning) shot before the buzzer sounded, giving Ventura a hard-earned 82-81 victory.
Best Game, Women: Orange Coast 87, Fullerton 84 (5 OTs), 1/25.
It was a bit of a fluke I was even there; I’d made the trip south to see the first and second-place mens teams in the OEC square off. That one ended in a 70-45 rout for Fullerton, but since I was already there I figured I’d stick around for the women’s game as well.
I had no idea how long I would be there! Orange Coast entered the game as the #2-ranked team in the South, while Fullerton came into the contest with a rather undistinguished 8-15 overall record. And when OCC jumped out to a 14-2 lead in the game’s opening minutes, it looked like it would indeed be a one-sided game.
Then things changed. Fullerton rallied to trail by just 2 points late in the first half before OCC scored the half’s final 4 points to take a 34-28 lead at intermission. But by midway through the second half, Fullerton had pulled even, tying the game at 46 with just over 10 minutes remaining. Then Fullerton took a 49-48 lead on a three by Joy Saleapaga with just over 8 minutes left.
But Orange Coast hung tough and soon went back in front, and after a three by Crystal McCormick had a 55-51 lead with about 5 minutes left. However, Fullerton rallied again, tying the game at 55 after baskets by Megan Lenn and Miriam Baeza, Then OCC got another three from McCormick, but Baeza answered back with a three to tie it at 58. Then OCC went back in front, 60-58, after a putback basket by McCormick. But Fullerton got a basket by Ashley Broughton with 10 seconds left to tie the game at 60 and send it to overtime.
Or, I should say, the first overtime. Fullerton took a 65-62 lead in OT, only to see OCC rally and take a 67-65 lead. But a basket by Broughton with 9.3 seconds left again tied the game and sent it to another OT. In overtime #2, McCormick drained another three to put OCC ahead, 70-67, but Fullerton came back and took a 71-70 lead until Jillian Ricks made a free throw to tie the game again at 71. Then in overtime #3, yet another McCormick three put OCC ahead, 77-75, but Sarah Hoffman’s putback basket tied it again and sent the game to a fourth overtime. In OT #4, still another three by McCormick gave OCC an 81-79 lead, but Fullerton got a basket by Hoffman to tie the game at 81 with 34 seconds left and it was off to OT #5.
Finally, in the fifth overtime, Orange Coast prevailed. A pair of free throws by McCormick and a basket by Ricks made it 85-81, and this time Fullerton was unable to rally. A free throw by Caitlin Kilroy made it 85-82, but then two more free throws from Ricks made it a 5-point game at 87-82. Broughton scored in the final seconds to cut the margin to 3, but Orange Coast at last had the win.
For Orange Coast, McCormick finished with 46 points, including 10 threes. Hoffman led Fullerton with 22 points and 16 rebounds. Nobody else at the game could remember a women’s game that had gone five overtimes (and I’d never seen a game at any level go more than four).
Best Game, Team: Canyons, 1/11 vs. Citrus.
In their 100-85 win over the Owls, COC fell behind as Citrus used some hot shooting to take an early 25-20 lead. The Owls made 9 of their first 12 shots from the floor, including 6 threes, in building that lead.
But COC showed that they could shoot a little as well. That they only trailed by 5 points after that outburst showed they were making some shots, and by the end of the first half, not only was COC ahead, 52-43, but were shooting a sizzling 74% from the floor. For the game, COC shot nearly 68% from the floor and reached the century mark. Citrus, which cooled to 47% for the game, just couldn’t keep up.
Best Game, Player: Jerome Habel, San Bernardino Valley, 1/28 vs. Rio Hondo
Granted, Habel enjoyed a considerable size advantage against the Roadrunners. Even so, this was still quite a performance. Habel went 12-of-15 from the floor to finish with a game-high 29 points. But he also grabbed an amazing total of 21 rebounds to post the only 20-20 game I saw all season. SBVC won the game, 91-71.
Best Performance in a Losing Cause: Leon Jacob, LA Pierce, 11/13 vs LA City.
Pierce came into the game against heavily-favored LACC with a 1-2 record, which already included a loss to the Cubs at the Y-Nasium. But Jacob was aware that LACC could be beaten in its cozy gym as he had been a member of the 2004 state champion Compton team that had eliminated LA City in the regional final on the its way to the state title.
In the first half, LA City dominated, building a 44-21 lead. But in the second half, Jacob led the Pierce comeback. Combining strong drives to the basket with a few threes, Jacob led the Brahmas to within 4 points at 56-52 with just under 9 minutes to play.
Ultimately, the comback failed, and LA City came away with a 78-65 win. But Jacob had been superb, making 9 of 13 shots (4 threes) for a game-high 27 points. He also had 5 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 assists. He was the only Pierce player to score more than 7 points.
Unfortunately, that was one of the last games Jacob would play for LA Pierce thanks to some bureaucratic nonsense brought about by the Pierce administration. Fortunately, Jacob will be able to continue his career and education as he has signed with Utah Valley State.
Best Game, Player, Playoffs: Tim Denson, Fullerton, 3/4 vs. Mt. San Jacinto
In the regional final, Fullerton fell behind, 25-15, midway through the first half and star point guard Corey McIntosh was battling foul trouble. Then the Hornet defense kicked in and held the Eagles without a field goal for over 8 minutes. But that would have matted little had someone not stepped up and shouldered the scoring load.
Denson was the man. On the night, he made 11 of 19 shots from the floor, including 3 threes. He finished with a game-high 26 points, and the result was an 86-74 win. And the game just began things for Denson, who had averaged a solid 13.3 points per game during the season. Beginning with that game, he averaged 20.3 points over the last four playoff games, and ended up being named the Most Valuable Player of the state tournament.
Best Offensive Play To Win The Game: Kevin Thomas, Compton, 12/8 vs. West LA.
After West LA’s Joseph Bolden tied the game with a pair of free throws, just 6.2 seconds remained on the clock. The ball went inbounds to Thomas, and he never hesitated. Up the court he went, weaving through Oiler defenders and tossing in a diving lay-up with 1 second left. The end-to-end dash, reminiscent of Tyus Edney’s winning basket against Missouri during the Bruins’ NCAA championship run a few years back, ended up being the difference in Compton’s 64-62 win.
Best Defensive Play To Save The Game: David Van Someren, Ventura, 12/30 vs. SE Iowa.
With Ventura clinging to a narrow 82-81 lead at the end of the second overtime, SE Iowa’s Carlos Taylor took the ball up the court. He drove to the basket as the clock wound down. But all the way down the floor, he was hounded by Van Someren, who never allowed him to break free. The buzzer sounded. Thanks largely to Van Someren’s defensive pressure, Taylor never got a final shot away, giving Ventura the 1-point win.
Best Overtime, Player: Brandon McQueen, Antelope Valley, 1/4 vs. Victor Valley.
After a last-second, potential game-winning tip-in by Victor Valley’s Brandon Henderson was ruled to be after the buzzer, Antelope Valley got a second chance to win the game. And thanks to McQueen, AVC would indeed get the win, and amazingly, the final score wasn’t even that close.
At the end of regulation time, Brandon McQueen had 7 points and 4 rebounds for the game. But in the extra session, he had 11 points and 5 rebounds! Not only did he end the game as the high scorer, his 11 points in OT were more than any of him teammates, except Donte Bell, had for the entire game. He finished with 18 points and 9 rebounds, and the 9 boards were also a game-high total.
Oh, and AVC won the game, 69-57.
Best Games by Position (men):
PG – Pearson Smith, Long Beach, 1/20 vs. El Camino. In LBCC’s 72-58 win, Smith scored a team-high 20 points (on 7-of-10 from the floor, including 2 threes), grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds and dished out 5 assists. Considering he’s a 6-1 guard, the rebounding total is particularly remarkable; nobody else had more than 9 boards in the game. It was just one of many impressive games for Smith, who was eventually named the South Coast South Most Valuable Player.
SG – Andre Murray, Canyons, 12/29 vs. West LA. The question here isn’t so much who had the most impressive game among shooting guards, but which of Murray’s games was the most impressive. In an 86-82 overtime win over West LA in the consolation final of the COC Holiday Classic, Murray made 13 of 16 shots for 34 points, and added 4 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals. Then, just less than two weeks later, he made 11 of 15 shots against Citrus for 30 points plus 6 rebounds and 4 assists in a 100-85 COC victory. The Performance Index says the West LA game was a little better, but Murray was just outstanding both times.
SF – Jamar Smith, San Bernardino Valley, 11/26 vs. Moorpark. In the championship game of the Moorpark Thanksgiving Tourney, SBVC found Moorpark’s up-tempo style to its liking. Smith, especially, enjoyed the open floor. On the day, he went 15-for-24 from the floor, including a pair of threes, and 9-of-13 from the free throw line for a total of 41 points. He also added 9 rebounds and 3 assists in SBVC’s 111-96 win.
PF – Danny Mena, Ventura, 1/21 vs. Moopark. Ventura lost that game, 102-91, but Mena sure wasn’t to blame. The super sophomore made 13 of 16 shots from the floor, finishing with a game-high 30 points, and also grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds. And though Ventura had a startling total of 34 turnovers, only 2 of those belonged to Mena, who balanced that off with 2 assists.
C – Jerome Habel, San Bernardino Valley, 1/28 vs. Rio Hondo. That game has been described above, but Habel also had a monster game in December against a COC alumni team called the Valencia All-Stars. Playing against older men, who took advantage of a couple of opportunities to rough him up a bit, Habel responded with totals of 19 points, 23 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals in a 96-75 SBVC victory.
Best Game by Position (women):
PG – Leslie Ortiz, Canyons, 2/11 vs. Santa Monica. 12 points (5/7 fgs), 6 steals and…25 assists! COC won the game, 107-69.
SG – Crystal McCormick, Orange Coast, 1/25 vs. Saddleback. In the 5-overtime marathon, McCormick had 10 threes and 46 points (the highest total in the state this year). OCC won the game, 87-84.
SF – Shavonne Smith, Riverside, 12/30 vs. Ventura. In Riverside’s 62-48 win, Smith had 15 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists and 4 steals for the Tigers.
PF – Alexis Pope, Citrus, 1/11 vs. Canyons. Citrus lost the game, 81-79, but don’t blame Pope. She had 37 points, 14 rebounds and 3 blocks for the Owls.
Ctr – Lauren Ervin, Mt. San Antonio, 3/12 vs. Delta. On the biggest stage, Ervin was dominant in the state championship game with 23 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals and 2 blocks in Mt. SAC’s 80-57 win. She was a perfect 6-for-6 from the floor (plus 5 free throws) and had 17 points in the first half, when Mt. SAC established a 15-point lead to take over the game.
Miscellaneous...
Um, how 'bout some help, guys???
It’s relatively rare for a player to score more than half of his team’s points in a JC game (I’ve seen it done 5 times in the 12 seasons I’ve followed JC basketball), but Rio Hondo’s Jabir Jinna accomplished that feat against LA Trade Tech on December 28th. Jinna made 12 of 24 shots, including 3 threes, and added 6 free throws for a game-high 33 points. Unfortunately, nobody else for Rio Hondo scored more than 10 points, and the Roadrunners fell, 70-65.
Déjŕ vu All Over Again Again:
Poor Orange Coast. Mainly because Costa Mesa is so far away, I usually only see them play once or twice a year, and it's invariably against the strongest of competition. Still, though they are usually competitive due to their strong defense, they manage to put up some miserable shooting percentages, even given the circumstances. In 2002-03, Orange Coast shot an anemic 23.9% (16 of 67) from the floor the only time I saw them (against Irvine Valley). Then in 2003-04 they shot just 23.5% from the floor (12 of 51) against a great LA City team. In 2004-05 it was a little better - 31% (22 of 71) against an Ivan Johnson-led LA Southwest team. This year it was back below the .300 mark as they shot just 27.1% in a 70-45 loss to…yep, it was eventual unbeaten state champion Fullerton.
Next year, I’m really going to try to give them a break and see them play somebody a little easier!
Best Kobe Impersonation: Jovan Jester, Glendale, 2/1 vs. Canyons.
No, he didn’t score 81 points, and he didn’t outscore the other team by himself before leaving the game.
But with the game in the balance, he absolutely took over. He scored his team’s last 11 points, including a twisting, contested 15-foot jumper with 6 seconds remaining that gave the Vaqueros a 57-56 win. He finished with a game-high 28 points, including 5 threes, plus 5 rebounds and 3 assists on the night.
Best Jason Kidd Impersonation: Leslie Ortiz, Canyons, 2/11 vs. Santa Monica.
In COC’s 107-69 victory, Ortiz dished out an astounding 25 assists (a figure determined by me and by the COC statistician independently) against Santa Monica. Time and time again, Ortiz led fast breaks, and it seemed like she always made the right decision. Not only did she have the 25 assists, but also added 12 points (on 5-of-7 shooting) and 6 steals, and committed just 3 turnovers.
Best J.J. Redick Impersonation: Brandt Bangs, Santa Ana, 2/8 vs. Saddleback.
They look kind of similar, and are about the same size. And for about two minutes in the game against Saddleback, the 5-10 sophomore played like the Duke All-American as well. With the Dons trailing, 17-7, Bangs entered the game. In the next two minutes, he drained three 3-pointers, two of which were pull-up threes from well behind the arc, and made a pair of free throws to put Santa Ana ahead, 18-17. Then came another three, making it 21-17 and capping a 14-0 run, all by Bangs.
Alas, then Saddleback called timeout and apparently the spell was broken (largely by having Lamont Morgan guard him more closely). Bangs didn’t make another three, and though he tied for game honors with 19 points, Santa Ana lost the game, 75-67.
Pace Makes The Race
It was a turbulent season for Santa Rosa. After starting the season 4-8 amid teamwide dissension, 6 players were kicked off the team just before the Kris Kringle Classic. The team split its first two games of the tournament, pitting it against Big 7 rival American River in the third-place game.
Now Santa Rosa is normally one of the most free-flowing offensive teams around – they look a lot like Duke in their offense. But with just 6 players left (plus a couple of late recruits added after the dismissals), the Bear Cubs had to conserve energy and fouls, so they slowed the pace against ARC.
And it worked perfectly. The deliberate style resulted in SRJC shooting 49% with just 7 turnovers in a 62-45 win. Point guard Geoff West had 11 points and 3 assists, while Nic Pederson had a very strong game with 18 points, 12 rebounds and 4 assists.
Unfortunately, the season continued to be a struggle for Santa Rosa, which later lost West to injury and won just 2 more games to finish 9-21 for the year.
Rally Saturday in Santa Barbara:
On the final day of the Santa Barbara City Classic, in both the third-place and the championship game, the eventual winner fell behind by double-digits in the early going, only to rally for the win.
In the third place game, host Santa Barbara fell behind Mt. San Antonio, 37-22 and trailed 41-30 at halftime. But the Vaqueros shot 55% in the second half, and Mt. SAC’s lack of depth caught up with them as SBCC claimed a 73-66 win.
In the championship game of the SBCC Classic, Oxnard jumpd out to an 11-point halftime lead over Cypress. But Brandon Void scored 15 second-half points and the Chargers rallied to win, 62-60, after a key 3-pointer by Eric Taylor.
Biggest Comeback That Fell Short:
Monterey Peninsula seemed to have everything under control, leading 65-43 over College of the Redwoods midway through the second half of a first-round game at the Chabot Tournament. Then MPC’s Marco Ramos tried a showboat through-the-legs dunk on a breakaway. He missed, and though MPC scored on the rebound to make it 67-43, that turned out to be the turning point.
Led by the backcourt of Jamar Rankin and Kenneth Goodwin, COR turned up the pressure, and cut into the huge lead. Suddenly, MPC was back on its heels, and the margin dropped to single digits. In the final minute, COR closed the gap to just 6 points at 76-70. But then they ran out of time, allowing MPC to hold on for a 77-70 win.
Touching Tribute:
Forward Terrell Anderson scored 17 points and grabbed 8 rebounds for City College of San Francisco in a 68-66 win over Butte in the championship game of the Delta Holiday Tournament December 18th in Stockton. Anderson, who had already signed with the University of San Francisco for the 2006-07 season, was named to the all-tournament team. I recall him going to midcourt to pick up his award, accompanied by his 2-year-old daughter.
Nine days later, Anderson was murdered outside a San Francisco night club.
The rest of the season, CCSF placed a #22 jersey on a chair on the bench as a tribute to their fallen teammate. And though the Rams were obviously severely weakened without him, they managed to not only win the tough Coast Conference North Division, but they eventually reached the state semifinal and posted a 30-4 overall record.
