West Valley uses second-half run to turn back Citrus in CCCAA Quarterfinal matchup
LEMOORE – In a game of streaks, West Valley used a 13-3 run midway in the second half to take control and eventually hold off Citrus, 79-68, in a CCCAA Men's Basketball Championship quarterfinal game at West Hills College in Lemoore on Friday afternoon.
West Valley (27-3), the north's No. 2 seed, advances to play the south's top seed West Los Angeles on Friday, March 12 at a time to be determined later tonight. West Los Angeles advanced with a 77-64 victory over Las Positas.
Tied at 52-52 with 10:33 remaining, West Valley went on a 13-3 run. Citrus, the south's No. 3 seed, went scoreless for stretches of 2:38 and 2:39. A Cedric Reed three-pointer was the Owls' lone points. Despite Citrus' inability to score, the Owls were only down eight points. The Owls would get within seven on a Jayden Johnson three-pointer with 1:03 remaining, but West Valley made four free throws in the final 16 seconds to seal the victory
West Valley also used a 12-0 run at the end of the second half to erase a 24-20 deficit. Five of 12 Viking points came via free throws. Meanwhile, Citrus went scoreless the last six minutes of the half. The Owls (23-7) struggled in every aspect of the game, shooting 26.3 percent (10 of 28) from the floor, 10.5 percent (2 of 19) from the three-point line and 33.3 percent (2 of 6) from the free throw line.
West Valley wasn't much better, shooting 10 of 28 (35.7 percent) from the floor; 3 of 10 (30 percent) from the three-point line and 9 of 14 (64.3 percent) from the free throw line. West Valley's Ben Baker was the only player to reach double figures with 11 points, six coming from the free throw line.
"Citrus' ball pressure is unbelievable," Danny Yoshikawa, head coach of West Valley, said on his team's inability to advance and move the ball in their offense. "That is the best (team) we have played against all year. (Citrus head coach) Brett does a tremendous job. We knew coming in here it was going to be hard to move the ball against their pressure.
"We are a team that likes to move the ball in order to create open shots. Unfortunately, against that kind of pressure it is very difficult to do that."
Each team improved in shooting in the second half, but not enough to pull away or make a comeback.
"When we have our energy, we are pretty good," Yoshikawa said. "But Citrus' defensive stats are unbelievable. That was some of the best coaching we have played against this year. I knew it was going to be a knock down type of game.
"In the end I have to give credit to our guys. They seemed to settle in better in the second half and it resulted in them playing better. I thought we guarded better, and we rebounded a bit better in the second half and that is a credit to our players."
(Robert Schmidt, CCCMBCA)
