From AngelFire
Here are the Bests from the games I saw during the 2001-02 season:
Most Points, Team: 118 - Skyline, 12/22 vs. Cosumnes River
Fewest Points Allowed, Team: 39 - Irvine Valley, 12/5 vs. San Bernardino Valley
Largest Margin of Victory: 46 - Skyline 118 vs. Cosumnes River 72, 12/22
Most Points, Player: 35 - Horace Wormley, Pasadena, 1/4 vs. LA Southwest
Most Rebounds, Player: 23 - Matt White, LA Southwest, 1/4 vs. Pasadena
Most Assists, Player: 16 - David Doubley, Skyline, 12/22 vs. Cosumnes River
Most 3-point FG, Player: 8 - Calvin Afualo, Chaffey, 12/29 vs. LA City
Most Blocks, Player: 10 - Jonathan Oliver, Ventura, 3/9 vs. Riverside
Most Steals, Player: 10 - Sheldon Pace, Chaffey, 12/29 vs. LA City
Best Team: Saddleback. The deserving State Champions were dominant the time I saw them (a 67-56 win @ Fullerton) and their 33-4 record is outstanding, especially considering the conference they played in. They didn't have the most talent, but they played as a team and rose to the challenges presented which is the mark of a true champion.
But "Special Mention" has to go to Skyline. They played 2 of the best games I've ever seen at this level in beating Cosumnes River by 46 in December and handing CCSF its first loss of the season in February.
Best Game, North: For the second straight year, the nod goes to SJCC vs. Chabot in the championship game of the December Tournament at Chabot. Once again San Jose prevailed by the slimmest of margins. But this time the game wasn't settled in 40 minutes; it went to double-overtime. And the winning bucket came from reserve forward Donnie Davis, who played about 5 minutes the whole game and sank his only shot attempt with 11 seconds left to win it for the Jaguars. All-Staters Jamal Hill of SJCC (28 pts) and Kameron Gray of Chabot (21 pts, 6 asts) played big roles in this one. So did SJCC's Nicolai Iversen (15 pts, 20 rebs, 6 asts) and Michael McFadden (21 pts, 9 rebs). And Chabot's E.J. Costello (22 pts incl 5 threes) and Anthony Shavies (22 pts, 10 rebs, 4 steals). But in the end it was Davis who gave SJCC the 95-93 win.
Best Game, South: Less than a week later, I was at the championship game of the LA City Egg Nog Classic between LA City and Chaffey. LACC entered 18-1 while Chaffey was riding a 10-game winning streak. And this one was one for the ages. It was close all the way, with Chaffey hanging tough against the favored Cubs. LACC took a lead into the final minute, but Chaffey's Sheldon Pace tied the score at 75 on a diving layup with 1.8 secs left in regulation. Then in the first OT, Pace capped a huge Chaffey comeback with a steal and feed to Chris Pacana, whose basket tied the game at 88. Pacana nailed a three near the end of the second overtime to tie it up again, this time at 93-93. It was LACC's Justice Graham's turn to knot things after 3 OTs; his 2 FTs in the final seconds made it 101-101. The Panthers finally held on for a 113-111 quadruple OT win to take the tournament championship. Pace had 32 pts, 11 asts and 10 steals to lead Chaffey.
Best Comeback: Chaffey, 12/29 vs. LACC. After tying the game with 1.8 secs left in regulation, the Panthers watched LACC score the first 8 pts of overtime to take an 83-75 lead. But Chaffey battled back, tying it up again on Chris Pacana's basket following one of Sheldon Pace's 10 steals. Chaffey went on to win, 113-111, in 4 overtimes.
Best Comeback that just fell short: Bakersfield, 1/14 vs. Moorpark. The Raiders started the game 24-3 in the first 7 minutes and still led by 11 will into the second half. But the Renegades wouldn't quit, and Cody Victor helped bring them back with some fine outside shooting. Bakersfield even managed to take a 54-53 lead with just over 5 mins left before Moorpark came back with some 3-point shooting of their own to prevail, 63-60.
Best Shot: Bobby Russo, Riverside, 12/28 vs. Palomar. This game was a hard-fought battle all the way with two of the South's better teams squaring off in the semifinals of the COC Holiday tournament. An Anthony Bolton FT made it 72-70 Palomar with 11 seconds left when Riverside ran their final play. The ball ended up in the hands of Frederick Bernard, who was quickly surrounded. So he passed the ball across the court to Russo, who put up a 22-footer...NOTHING BUT NET with 1 second left. The final: Riverside 73, Palomar 72.
Other Best Shot: Eddie Rodriguez, East LA, 12/29 vs. Cuyamaca. This was another game that was close all the way, as evidenced by the halftime score (38-38). Cuyamaca's Adrian Givens completed a 3-pt play with a free throw to tie it one final time at 78 with 11.3 secs left. With star Center Danny Rosales on the bench having fouled out, it was up to Rodriguez to take the big shot. It was a running 10-footer, which fell through the net as the buzzer sounded, giving the Huskies an 80-78 win.
Best Game, Player: Marques Crane, Saddleback, 1/25 vs. Fullerton. In a 67-56 win, Crane had 30 pts (he was the only Gaucho to hit double figures), 10 rebs (team high), 3 blocks, 2 steals and an assist. PLUS, he held Fullerton's top player, Texas A&M-bound Kevin Turner, to 9 pts on 2 of 13 shooting.
Best Half, Player: Will Brown, Oxnard, 12/29 vs. Mt. SAC. Ever have one of those streaks where you simply cannot miss? Well Brown did - he went 11 of 11 from the floor in the second half of the consolation final of the LACC Egg Nog tournament. He finished 16 of 20 for 34 pts in the game.
Most Inspirational: Walter Bratton, Citrus. It was a bit of a lost season for the Owls, who finished 4-26, but a big bright spot was Bratton. Bratton started at PG for Citrus vs. Glendale on 2/9 and finished with 15 pts, 4 asts and 7 steals. He was clearly the best player on the court for Citrus. And that's not even considering the fact that Bratton does not have a right hand.
Best Games by Position:
Point Guard: David Doubley, Skyline, 12/22 vs. Cosumnes River. 18 pts (6/10 fg), 16 assists, 5 rebounds and NO turnovers in a 118-72 win.
Shooting Guard: Keith West, Ventura, 2/16 vs. Moorpark. 23 pts, 10 rebs and 8 asts (all game-highs) look good enough, but if anything West's performance was better than the numbers. Moorpark concentrated on Ventura's powerful inside game, but that just allowed West to go off in a 77-59 win.
Small Forward: Marques Crane, Saddleback, 1/25 vs. Fullerton (see above).
Power Forward: Jeremiah Massey, Oxnard, 11/25 vs. LA City. Any one of several Massey performances could qualify - he had double-doubles all 7 times I saw him - but this game served as his coming-out party and put the region on notice about Oxnard. Massey had some foul trouble, which limited him to about 28 mins, but Oxnard outscored LACC while he was on the floor. The Condors lost the game (90-74) but Massey's 34 pts (including 4 threes) and 10 rebs let everyone know he's a force to be reckoned with.
Center: Jonathan Oliver, Ventura, 2/2 vs. Oxnard. In a showdown between two of the South's top big men, Oliver got the better of the matchup if not the numbers. His 19 pts, 16 rebs and 7 blocks allowed the Pirates to post a 59-52 win at Oxnard. His defensive dominance inside helped hold the Condors to 29% shooting on the night.
Off the Bench: Eric Butler, Compton, 1/18 vs. Pasadena. PCC led 45-40 midway through the second half when Butler entered the game, and with his quickness and energy he changed the game. The Tartars immediately went on a 16-2 run, and pulled away to win, 76-63. Butler finished with 14 pts (on 6 of 6 from the field including 2 threes), 4 steals and 3 asts in about 15 mins playing time.
Other Notable Notes:
Mr. Perfects: Tony Key, LACC, went 8 for 8 from the floor 11/11 vs. LA Harbor. And Mario Davis, Desert, went 10 for 10 from the floor 2/6 vs. Antelope Valley.
Nice Passing: Cypress. On 12/15 vs. Fullerton, the Chargers had 22 assists on 22 field goals on the day (at least by my count). But they lost the game, which shows that while passing is important, relying on perimeter shots for the entire offense doesn't work so well.
Not so nice Ballhandling: When San Bernardino Valley topped Citrus in the first round of the Ventura holiday tournament, it was not due to their extraordinary ballhandling. They committed 35 turnovers. Which might have really been a problem, except that Citrus matched their performance with 35 turnovers of their own. That's 1.75 turnovers per minute in all. SBVC won, 80-68.
Nice Recovery: LA Valley got off to a miserable start vs. College of the Canyons on Jan. 26th, shooting just 17% in the first half and falling behind, 30-14, early in the second. But LAVC roared back late to win, 61-55, at COC.
Where'd THAT come from? College of the Canyons' PG Murat Yildiz averaged about 7 pts per game in the first 4 games I saw him play, and with 3 pts at halftime it looked like he would continue at that pace vs. Bakersfield, Feb 13th. But Yildiz exploded for 11 pts in the 2nd half to help send the game to OT, and then scored 11 more (of COC's 13 pts) in OT to win it for the Cougars. And he managed to find time to hand out a team-best 6 assists as well.
And Finally...a preview of coming attractions: In CCSF's game at Delta just before Thanksgiving, City's Vince Fowler scored just 4 pts. But they were on 2 of the most spectacular dunks of the season - a flying putback jam and a standing reverse jam. That kind of elevation - not to mention style - put us all on notice that this guy was someone to watch. Well, by midseason, Fowler was starting for CCSF as the winning streak continued, and he scored 17 pts vs. Skyline in the game that ended the streak. He got very little publicity, but he's a star waiting to happen for whichever team ends up with him next season. (a late note: Fowler signed with Northern Colorado).
