VEGAS INVITATIONAL: Guard’s rebound saves Bengals
December 30, 2014 - 12:21 am
It was a big man’s game for nearly four quarters between Bonanza and Capistrano Valley Christian (Calif.) on Monday night.
But it was guard Jamal Logan who came through in the clutch for the Bengals.
Logan hit two free throws with 6.9 seconds remaining to lift the Bengals to a 57-56 win over the Eagles in a semifinal of the Vegas Invitational at Mountain View. Bonanza (8-4) will face the Spring Mountain-Chadwick (Calif.) winner at 8 p.m. Tuesday in the tournament championship at Mountain View.
“I knew they were going to be scrappy, so I had to just come in and get the board,” Logan said of 6-foot-6-inch teammate DaVonta Price and 6-10 opponent Simon Okolue who were battling inside all game. “I got fouled (on the put-back), luckily.”
Bonanza, which trailed 56-55 after an Okolue layup with 17.6 seconds, designed an inbounds play for Price under the basket.
Price received the ball in the short corner and drove to the lane before missing a shot over Okolue. But Logan picked up the ball and was hacked on the put-back attempt.
Logan, who had 23 points, hit both free throws in front of a rowdy gym. He scored 14 of his 23 points in the second half and added seven rebounds and three steals for Bonanza.
“It was very loud,” Logan said. “But it felt nice (to make the shots). We played hard and got a good win.”
Capistrano Valley Christian drove the length of the floor after Logan’s free throws, but Okolue missed the potential game-winning layup and could not get off another attempt before the buzzer sounded. Okolue finished with 11 points, 15 rebounds and four blocked shots despite sitting for much of the second quarter with foul trouble.
Price had 18 points, nine rebounds and three assists for Bonanza, which trailed 54-50 with 1:08 remaining in the game.
Jacob Perez started the Bengals’ comeback by hitting two free throws, and teammate D.J. Fletcher came up with a steal on the other end before calling a timeout with 40.5 seconds.
Out of the timeout, Price converted a three-point play to give the Bengals a 56-55 lead.
He then rebounded a missed free-throw attempt over Okolue on the other end but was swarmed by defenders, leading to a turnover and layup that put the Eagles up 57-56 seconds later.
Cameron Conley had 17 points, and Peter Abramsky scored 10 for Capistrano Valley Christian.
Bonanza’s Davian Jordan had 13 rebounds.
Sage Hill (Calif.) 78, The Meadows 63 — C.J. McCord scored 14 of his 25 points in the second half and the Lightning used a 19-7 third quarter to defeat the Mustangs.
Mario Nark had 20 points, and Tyler Hague scored 13 for Sage Hill, which led 39-37 at halftime.
Asheesh Chopra had 20 points, and Jake Epstein scored 18 for The Meadows, which got 11 points from Max Hisatake and 10 points from Ethan Fridman.
Capistrano Valley Christian (Calif.) 59, Mountain View 54 — Okolue had 19 points to rally the Eagles by the Saints.
Conley had 15 points, and Abramsky scored 12 for Capistrano Valley Christian, which trailed 34-30 at halftime.
Connor LeBoeuf scored 10 of his 15 points in the first half for Mountain View, which made 10 3-pointers to keep it close. Christian Bennett and Tyrell Brooks each scored nine points for the Saints.
Spring Mountain 43, Brethren Christian (Calif.) 39 — Steve Jones scored 20 points to send the Golden Eagles past the Warriors.
Jones scored 14 in the first half to give Spring Mountain a 27-23 halftime advantage.
Josh Duren and Jake McKay scored 12 points apiece for Brethren Christian.
Mountain View 50, Lake Mead 21 — LeBoeuf had 20 points, including 17 in the second half, to lift the Saints over the Eagles.
Christian Bennett added 10 points for Mountain View, which outscored Lake Mead 40-11 in the last two quarters.
Shay Rutledge led Lake Mead with five points.
Spring Mountain 61, Lincoln County 47 — Jones hit five 3-pointers and scored 28 points as the Golden Eagles topped the Lynx.
Jones had 18 points in the first half to make it 28-19 at halftime.
Shakori Clark had 14 points for Spring Mountain, and Stitt scored 11.
McClain O’Connor had a team-high 16 points for Lincoln County, which got 12 points from Derek Shumway and 10 points from Mike Wood.
Brethren Christian (Calif.) 40, Lincoln County 36, — Duren had 17 points to lead the Warriors by the Lynx.
Wood and Shumway each scored 11 points for Lincoln County, which trailed 24-12 at halftime.
Box scores:
Brethren Christian (Calif.) 40, Lincoln County 36
Bonanza 57, Capistrano Valley Christian (Calif.) 56
Capistrano Valley Christian (Calif.) 59, Mountain View 54
Mountain View 50, Lake Mead 21
Sage Hill (Calif.) 78, The Meadows 63
Spring Mountain 43, Brethren Christian (Calif.) 39
Spring Mountain 61, Lincoln County 47