Overtime thrillers highlight night of exciting and close regional basketball playoffs
Eight games, four overtime periods – three of them in one matchup - and an average margin of win that was a razor-thin 4.8 ppg., provided the backdrop for exciting second-round action on Friday night as the California Community College Athletic Association men's basketball regional playoffs heated up.
Regional Brackets: NorCal l SoCal
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Eight games, four overtime periods – three of them in one matchup - and an average margin of win that was a razor-thin 4.8 ppg., provided the backdrop for exciting second-round action on Friday night as the California Community College Athletic Association men's basketball regional playoffs heated up.
Fifth-seeded Cerritos provided one of the most thrilling wins of the night as sophomore Riley Hamilton canned a three-pointer with 1.8 seconds left in the third OT to lift the Falcons past No. 12 Riverside City, 76-75. Meanwhile, 13 miles away at Fullerton College, visiting Allan Hancock, seeded 10th, didn't let the effects of a three-hour drive from Santa Maria slow it down as the Bulldogs beat No. 7 and 2017 state finalist Hornets, 70-67, in overtime.
Only two games - Ventura's 87-75 win at first-year program Copper Mountain in the Southern California Regionals, and Cabrillo's 60-50 victory at Columbia in the NorCal bracket - were decided by more than four points. In the SoCal Regionals, Orange Coast edged Mt. San Jacinto, 84-81 while in the north, Gavilan beat Modesto, 67-63; College of the Sequoias beat Shasta, 75-72 and Foothill slipped by Butte, 70-68.
Eight more games on Saturday will set the table for the regional finals on March 3 with winners then advancing to the state championship tournament on March 9-11 at Ventura College.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA REGIONAL RECAPS
(5) Cerritos 76, (12/10) Riverside City 75
CERRITOS, Calif. - Cerritos College sophomore guard Riley Hamilton (Rancho Verde HS) has a flair for the dramatic. On Friday, Hamilton hit a three-pointer with 1.8 seconds left in the third overtime to give the Falcons a 76-75 win over visiting #12-seeded Riverside City College (16-11) in the second round of the Southern California Regional Playoffs. The win by #5-seeded Cerritos (25-5) advances them to the third round and they will play next Saturday.
The location of the game will be determined based on the winner of the Santiago Canyon-East Los Angeles winner, which takes place tomorrow. A win by Santiago Canyon and the Falcons will be at home, while a Huskies win sends Cerritos to East Los Angeles, the same location their season came to an end in 2016.
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(Courtesy Cerritos College Athletics)
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(10/12) Allan Hancock 70, (7) Fullerton 67
FULLERTON, Calif. - Devin Davis scored a game-high 24 points, while Shane Carney and Glenn Jordan added 15 apiece to lead the Allan Hancock College men's basketball team to a thrilling 70-67 overtime win at Fullerton on Friday in the second round of the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) Southern Regional.
The Bulldogs clawed their way to the program's first postseason win since 2001 to improve to 22-9 overall and advanced to the regional finals. Hancock will either play at No. 2 San Bernardino Valley (26-4) or host No. 18 Antelope Valley College next Saturday. SBVC hosts AVC on Saturday, Feb. 24 at 7 p.m. AVC defeated Cuesta in Wednesday's first round 64-58.
(Courtesy Allan Hancock College Athletics)
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(6) Orange Coast 84, (11/13) Mt. San Jacinto 81
COSTA MESA, Calif. - Just another ho-hum, snoozer inside the Peterson Gym on Friday night -- sarcastically speaking -- as the Orange Coast College men's basketball dug into its bag of tricks and pulled out another heart-stopping 84-81 win over visiting Mt. San Jacinto in the second round of the Southern California Regional Playoffs.
With the win -- OCC's 12th in a row and 19th in 21 games -- the sixth-seeded Pirates (21-7) will advance to the third round and will await their fate following Saturday's matchup between No. 3 Citrus and No. 14 MiraMarch If Citrus wins, Coast will play at Citrus College on Saturday, March 3 at 7 p.m. If Miramar wins, the Pirates will return to the Peterson Gym and host the Jets on March 3, at 7 p.m.
(Courtesy Orange Coast Athletics)
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(9) Ventura 87, (8) Copper Mountain 75
JOSHUA TREE, Calif. - It was a 200-mile trip for the No. 9-seed Pirates' men's basketball team to play at No. 8 Copper Mountain College in Joshua Tree Friday night. Ventura College made the most of it with an 87-75 victory over the Fighting Cacti in the CCCAA SoCal Regional Semifinals. Isiah Reyes had a career-high 35 points while Jacob Alonzo contributed 17 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals. Malcolm Ruff recorded a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Ventura (22-8) will play in the CCCAA SoCal Regional Finals on Saturday March 3 against the winner of No. 1 San Diego City and No. 16 Long Beach City. That game is being played on Saturday Feb. 24 in San Diego.
(Courtesy Ventura College Athletics)
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA REGIONAL RECAPS
(5) Foothill 70, (12) Butte 68
LOS ALTOS, Calif. - The Butte College men's basketball team will have a long spring and summer ahead of them after a tough 70-68 loss at Foothill College in the opening round of the California Community College Athletic Association playoffs on Friday night.
Coach Russ Critchfield said the team had its chances, with a 12-point lead early in the first half and a lead for most of the second half until the final two minutes, but Foothill found ways to exploit Butte's mistakes.
Perhaps the biggest mark on the Roadrunners' loss on Friday night was a 19-2 run by Foothill in the first half that helped give them an eight-point lead at the half.
Read more (courtesy Chico Enterprise-Record)
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(9) Cabrillo 60, (8) Columbia 50
SONORA, Calif. - Linton Acliese posted a double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds while Tynan Velasquez contributed 16 points for ninth-seeded Cabrillo on Friday night as the Seahawks post a road upset with a 60-50 win at Columbia.
Cabrillo advances to the regional final round on March 3 where it'll face the winner of Saturday's game between top-seeded City College of San Francisco (28-1) and West Hills (19-7). Lenorris Mincey scored 10 points and had seven rebounds off the bench for the Seahawks.
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(7) Gavilan 67, (10) Modesto 63
GILROY, Calif. - Visiting Modesto took a 34-29 halftime lead at Gavilan but the Rams used a nine-point advantage in the second half to post a 67-63 win on Friday evening, advancing to next week's CCCAA NorCal regional finals against either No. 2 Fresno City (25-4) or No. 15 Cañada, who play on Saturday night.
Ibn Zaid scored 18 points and Brian King, Jr., added 12 for Gavilan, who also got 11 points off the bench from Mrad Abrha. Kenneth Monica, Jr., had a monster game on the boards for the Rams, hauling in 18 rebounds.
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(6) College of the Sequoias 75, (11) Shasta 72
VISALIA, Calif. - Alecszander Check's layup with 50 seconds remaining on Friday night gave host College of the Sequoias a 72-70 lead over visiting Shasta College and the Giants then had to survive a last-second three-point try from the Knights in order to punch their ticket to the CCCAA NorCal regional finals on March 3.
Both teams enjoyed double-digit leads in the first half but most of the second half was much closer with neither team leading by more than four points in the final 10 minutes of the game. Shasta overcame a 43-38 decifit at the break and eventually took a 58-49 lead with a 13:33 lead after a three-pointer by Blake Trent. The Knights didn't trail for the next seven minutes, setting up a close finish.
Kody Wilson scored 15 points for the Giants whle Solomon Taylor (14) and Isaiah Johnson (11) also reached double figures. Johnson added seven rebounds. Trent's six treys helped him score a game-high 24 pints while Kellen Gerig pitched in with 16 points and David O'Brien had 10.