Recaps of Quarterfinal Action

Saturday's Semifinal Schedule
Yuba vs. West Valley, 5 pm
Sequoias vs. Fullerton, 7 pm

Photos by Richard Quinton

Game 1 - Yuba vs. San Diego City • Box • Photos

Yuba starts slow but finishes fast to defeat San Diego City College

With a big second half, the Yuba 49’ers, the #3 seed from the North, opened day one of the 3C2A Men’s State Championship with a come-from-behind 90-83 win over San Diego City College, the south’s #2 seed. The quarterfinal victory moves Yuba, winners of 23 straight, to the semifinals on Saturday against the winner of West Valley-Cerro Coso.  

Yuba (29-2) is trying to make the state finals for the second time under head coach Doug Cornelius. In 2012, the 49’ers lost to Fresno City College in the state finals. San Diego City College concludes its season with a 26-6 record. One of Yuba’s two losses came to the Knights in the championship game of the Grossmont Tournament this season.

The 49’ers outscored San Diego, 51-39, in the second half after trailing nearly the entire first half.

“We’re a second half team and obviously when you had a kid like (Devon Malcolm) who is one of the best players in the state and two other all-state players, things are in your favor,” said Cornelius, who won his 500th game earlier this season. “We feel like this is the year that we got to make the run.”

With the Niners leading by six, 86-80, with 30 seconds left, San Diego’s Kjay Bradley, Jr. connected with a three-pointer to get the Knights within three points, 86-83. In the last frantic moments of the game, the Knights had a chance to tie it with a three-pointer, but a costly turnover and two subsequent free throws by Lewis-Cooper iced the game for Yuba.

Leading the way for Yuba was Malcolm with a game-high 27 points, followed by all-state player Demarreya Lewis-Cooper with 24 points. Leading the way for San Diego City was sophomore guard Al Green with 25 points, while All-State First Team sophomore forward Alex Crawford added 21.

The Knights led by as much as 13 points with 11:39 left in the first half, 26-13, behind multiple three-pointers. Green, who led all scorers in the half with 15 points, connected for three long-range baskets. Lewis-Cooper added eight points in the first half for the Knights, while Caden Flowers and Majer Sullivan added seven and six, respectively.

San Diego City, which has won two 3C2A titles and was making its first trip to the Final Eight for the first time since 2018, hit six of nine three-pointers in the half. Yuba, which was making its first trip to the state tournament since 2018, cut into the lead in the final minutes of the first half behind a long-range basket by Lewis-Cooper. The Knights eventually took a 44-39 halftime lead.

Yuba started the second half with a 6-0 run, taking a 45-44 lead; its first lead since the first few minutes of the game, on a tip in by Malcolm. With 12:47 left, it was tied, 55-55 and remained close until the final minutes. Yuba stretched its lead to 67-62 with a three-pointer by Rohan Sheemar and a lay-up by Lewis-Cooper. Their biggest lead of the second half, 69-62, came on a basket by Malcolm with 7:09 left in the game.

 Game 2 - West Valley vs. Cerro Coso • Box • Photos

West Valley Defeats a Determined Cerro Coso Squad

A dominating performance by the No. 1 North West Valley Vikings led to a rather easy 79-64 victory over Cerro Coso, #4S in a 3C2A State Quarterfinal game at Mt. San Antonio College.

The fans got what they expected from state-favored West Valley with the 15-point victory, but Cerro Coso didn't go quietly. The Vikings came into the game with an undefeated 30-0 record. 

“At this point it’s survive and advance,” said West Valley coach Danny Yoshikawa, who was selected the north Coach of the Year. “We did what matters and got the job done. I felt like we played with a lot of stress and (Cerro Coso) is hard to play against. Give Chris (Coso coach Chris Dugan) all the credit in the world. They had a good game plan for us and weren’t going to let us run or stuff. With that being said, I thought our guys had a little bit of nerves, which is very normal for the first game down here.” 

West Valley, which lost in the first-round last season to eventual champion Fullerton, started fast and never let up throughout the first half. West Valley had built up a 20-point lead, 28-8, with 8:55 left in the opening half. The Vikings took a 17 point lead at the end the half on a reverse layup by sophomore guard Jeremiah Dargan. 

In the second half, the Cerro Coso trimmed the margin to eight points, 70-62, on a three pointer by sophomore guard Malachi Greenwich with 5:29 left. However, it would be the closest the Coyotoes would get. It was a disappointing loss for Cerro Coso as this team became the college's first athletic program to qualify for a state championship event. Cerro Coso finished the season at 25-7.

Although, West Valley needs to get past Yuba in a semifinal match, Fullerton is clearly on the Vikings' mind. Dargan was a freshman last season when they lost to Fullerton in the state quarterfinals. He simply said: “I want that matchup.”

“We emphasize energy a lot, and just (try) stay composed, because every team will be coming for us,” Dargan said. “Everyone believes in ourselves and we’re deep and have like 10 guys that can just go in the game.”

West Valley got a game-high 26 points from 6-6 sophomore forward Elijah Maji, the north Player of the Year. He also had seven rebounds. Freshman center Shakir Odunewu, another all-state player, added 17 points for the Vikings, while sophomore guard Aaron Ragen had 12. Darnell Turner, Jr. led Cerro Coso with 15 points, followed by Sincere Edwards and Eddie Garner with 10 each.

Game 3 - West LA vs. Sequoias • Box • Photos

Sequoias Holds off West LA; Advances to the Semifinals

A year ago, Sequoias suffered a two-point loss to Citrus in its state tournament quarterfinal game. This year, the Giants were determined to not let it happen again. And, thanks to four free throws from Jose Cuello over the course of the final 19 seconds, Sequoias advanced to the semifinals after a 73-69 victory over West LA at Mt. San Antonio College.

West LA had a chance to tie the game when Blake Lander was fouled on a three-point attempt with 9.8 seconds remaining. But Lander made just one of three. A running layup from West LA’s CJ Hardy with 1.8 seconds remaining cut the Sequoias lead to two points at 73-71, but Sequoias was able to inbound the ball and run out the clock.

Sequoias, the north's #2 seed, advances to the semifinals on Saturday against the winner of the Fullerton-Cabrillo game at 7 pm.

Sequoias (26-5) played just seven players. The starters account for all but 16 points. Meanwhile, West LA (26-5) used 11 players, with the bench scoring 28 of the Wildcats’ 71 points. West LA, the south's #3 seed, dominated the boards, outrebounding Sequoias 41-28. Unfortunately, the Wildcats only converted 19 offensive rebounds into 14 second-chance points. West LA, which finished the season 26-4, came into the tournament as one of the state’s most proficient offensive units, averaging over 80 points a game. But Sequoias held West LA to 25 of 63 shooting (39.7 percent) and 7 of 18 (38.9 percent) from the three-point line.

Sequoias, meanwhile, was 24 of 54 from the floor (44.4 percent) and made 9 off three pointers (40.9).

Neither team led by more than eight points. Sequoias, which held a one-point halftime lead, led by eight points with 8:01 remaining in the second half, and West LA led by eight points with 13:44 left in the final half.

Regardless, each half was a slugfest. The score was tied seven times and there were eight lead changes. Two Cameron Clark free throws with eight minutes remaining gave Sequoias’ its biggest lead at 61-53. West LA, however, battled to get within one at 65-64 with 3:17 left on a Page Carey dunk. A minute later, a Chidubem Akametu layup with 2:22 remaining gave the Wildcats a 66-65 lead. But Sequoias wouldn’t go away, scoring the next four points to take a 69-66 lead with 1:36 remaining. Two Hardy free throws got West LA within one at 69-68 with 20 seconds remaining, but it would be as close as the Wildcats would get.

Hardy, the south’s player of the year, finished his West LA career with 17 points, 5 rebounds and 8 assists. Lander added 17 points and 8 rebounds. Akametu, who came off the bench, also scored in double figures, finishing with 10 points. Sequoias had four starters score in double figures, led by Omari Nesbit and Cuello who each had 14. Teammates Jaylon Lee and Alex Argandar added 12 and 11, respectively. Lee also grabbed 9 rebounds.

“I’m just so happy for our guys,” COS coach Dallas Jensen said. “This is a team that’s really connected. “Both teams leaned on their strengths and the game of basketball is a game of runs and you saw that amplified for 40 minutes and we were fortunate to basically have the last run of the game.”

Game 4 - Fullerton vs. Cabrillo • Box • Photos

Big Second Half Lifts Fullerton Past Cabrillo; Hornets Two Wins Away from Defending its State Championship

Fullerton hadn’t trailed at halftime but in maybe five games or less this season, and never in the post-season until tonight. Doing so, may have gotten Fullerton’s attention as the Hornets, the south’s top seeded team and defending state champions, played a near perfect second half as the Fullerton downed Columbia, 78-67, in a quarterfinal game at Mt. San Antonio College.

Fullerton came out in the second half and quickly erased Cabrillo’s one-point halftime lead. The Hornets scored 15 of the first 20 points in the second half, taking a 44-35 lead with 15:21 remaining.

Defense then took center stage as the two teams slugged it out. Both teams went scoreless for 3:13 until a Zavier Sims free throw snapped the Seahawks’ scoring drought. With 12:43 left, Cabrillo had gotten with five at 44-39, but Fullerton turned back Cabrillo. Over the next several minutes the teams continued to exchanged buckets. Eventually Cabrillo managed to get within two at 51-49 with seven minutes left, but it would be as close as they would get.

Five times Fullerton led by seven points before a three-pointer from RJ Banks with 2:15 left gave the Hornets a 10-point lead at 69-59, growing to 13 on another Banks’ three-pointer with less than a minute remaining. Banks, who had 11 points, scored seven of his 12 points in the final 2:15 of the game.

“I don’t think we really got into our flow until the second half,” said Perry Webster, Fullerton coach said of the slow start. “That can happen in games like this in a big game and the biggest thing is to stay in character and I thought we got out of character. But we came back and played back we’re capable of in the second half.” 

Christian Watson led Fullerton with 20 points and 9 rebounds. Teammate Jeremiah Davis added 18. Cabrillo got 18 points from Darius Best; 13 from Quentin Henry, who came off the bench to score 13; and 11 from Solomon Tucker.

The Hornets trailed 30-29 at halftime, despite getting off to a fast start to open the contest. Six minutes into the game, Fullerton led by none, 13-4. Cabrillo, however, in just two minutes got within one at 13-12 with 11:34 remaining. With just over 10 minutes to go the score was tied at 15-15. With 6:50 left, Fullerton reopened a four-point lead at 24-20, but again Cabrillo (25-6) battled back, tying the game at 26-26 with 4:20 remaining.

A four-point run by Cabrillo gave the Seahawks a four-point lead at 30-26 with 2:32 left. A Amound Anderson three pointer with 1:19 left got Fullerton within one at 30-29.

"(Cabrillo) went on the road last week and won at San Francisco City in the regional final and you don’t do that if you’re not a good team and a tough team,” said Webster said. “We knew it was going to be a battle and we fought our way to it and got the ‘W’"

Fullerton, which has won five state men’s state basketball championships, is trying to break a tie with City College of San Francisco for the most championships. The Hornets (27-4) are also trying to become just the fourth college to win back-to-back title. Riverside, under Jerry Tarkanian, won three consecutive titles in the 1960s – an all-time record.