SBVC (13-2) made another trip to the Holiday Tournament at Riverside City, handed a first round bye, they ended up in the 5th Place Championship game versus and old nemesis, the Mt. San Jacinto Eagles.
In the opening round of the 44th annual RCC Holiday Tournament, SBVC faced off with the Fullerton Hornets (10-3), with SBVC taking a two point lead at the half, 34-32. But their perimeter shooting let them down in the second half, shooting 23.5% (4-17) from beyond the arc proved costly as SBVC fell, 74-67.
Freshman forward Brandon Jolley (Pasadena H.S.) led all scorers with 25 points on 9 of 18 shooting and going 7 of 8 from the free throw line and sophomore forward JaCardo Hawkins (Gonzales (LA) East Ascension) had a solid all-around effort leading the team in rebounds (6), steals (2) and blocks (2), along with adding 12 points on a perfect 6 of 6 shooting from the field.
Freshman guard Robert Lewis (Compton H.S.) contributed 11 points on 5 of 12 shooting and sophomore guard Nino Jackson (Columbus (GA) Kingdom Prep) came off of the bench to put up 9 points, going 6 for 6 from the charity stripe in the loss.
On the other side of the bracket, SBVC ran into a pesky Citrus Owls (6-6) team. SBVC had a 12 point lead halfway through the first half, 18-6, and then the Owls went on a 15-3 run to tie the game at 21-21 with 6:00 left. Both teams would eventually go into the half with SBVC taking another two point lead, 33-31. Early in the second half, the Owls took a six point lead, 44-38. SBVC would then go on a 12-6 run to tie the game at 50-50 and proceeded to pull away fast, going on a 13-2 run to put the game away with 6:16 left in the game on a layup by sophomore guard Perris Hicks (Pasadena H.S.). The rest of the game was back-and-forth as the Owls could never get any closer and SBVC couldn't really pull away, when the horn sounded, SBVC had claimed an 87-76 victory.
Lewis led all scorers with 20 points on 6 of 10 shooting and Hicks had 19 points and was perfect from the field and from beyond the arc, going 7 for 7 from the field and 4 for 4 from 3-point range. Hawkins had a double-double with 16 points on 8 of 10 shooting and 14 boards and Jolley had 12 points and was 8 of 12 from the free throw line. Jackson added 13 points off of the bench and was 4 of 5 from the charity stripe in the win.
In the 5th Place Championship game, SBVC ran into their former Foothill Conference rival the Mt. San Jacinto Eagles (10-3). This match-up of SoCal powerhouses had so many violent point swings it made fans dizzy as SBVC blew the doors open in the first half, then held on for dear life in the second half. The Eagles took an early lead 8-2, and then SBVC leveled the score at 13-13 with 11:31 left in the first half. SBVC turned on the jets and went on an 18-3 run and with 3:30 left, SBVC was turning this match-up of beasts into a beat down, taking a 16 point lead into the break, 39-23.
The Eagles would not be defeated easily and in the second half they showed that this game was not only going to be contested, but that they wanted to win. Mt. San Jacinto immediately started to chip away at the SBVC lead. SBVC maintained an 14-point lead until there was 8:30 left in the game, when the Eagles would go on a 16-2 run to tie the game at 64-64 with 3:09 left in the game. With each team battling for local supremacy, it came down to free throws and Jolley made the final six points for SBVC, four of those points at the free throw line to secure the narrow victory.
Lewis was the leading scorer for SBVC with 16 points on 5 of 10 shooting and was perfect from the free throw line, going 4 for 4 and Hicks added 14 points on 5 of 12 shooting.
Jolley contributed 13 points on 2 of 8 shooting, going an impressive 9 for 10 from the charity stripe and leading the team with four assists. Hawkins added a double-double with 10 points on 3 of 6 shooting and 11 boards. Sophomore center Steven Adams (Pasadena H.S.) leapt off of the bench to add 10 points and was perfect from the line going 4 for 4 in the win.
Photo by Wade Byars.
Information, Photos & Story provided by SBVC Sports Information.