GOLDEN WEST TOURNAMENT : Outside Shooting Gives Antelope Valley Edge

Antelope Valley played a little bit of give and take Friday night against Golden West in the semifinals of the Golden West tournament.

The Marauders gave up a lot of two-point shots, but took and made plenty of attempts from three-point range to earn an 88-85 victory.

The win, Antelope Valley’s closest of the season, gave the Marauders a 9-2 record. Antelope Valley, ranked 12th in Southern California by the JC Athletic Bureau, advanced to tonight’s championship game against sixth-ranked Cypress, an 83-65 winner Friday over Cerritos.

Golden West (7-4) will play Cerritos for third place.

Antelope Valley, shooting 46% from three-point range this season, made 10 of the long-range shots against Golden West.

“Coach wants either a three or a layup,” said Antelope Valley guard Dedan Thomas, who had a team-high 19 points and a school-record 17 assists.

That might be overstating things a bit, but then, this is an Antelope Valley team that averages 88 points a game with a bench full of players who clap in time while chanting “defense, defense.”

Antelope Valley led, 41-39, at halftime, and went ahead by as many as 11 points in the second half before holding off a late Golden West surge.

Guard Paul Ernst had 16 points for the Marauders, including three three-point field goals. Reserve guard Tony Madison also had three three-point shots and 14 points.

The Rustlers held a nine-point lead late in the first half before Antelope Valley turned itself around. Ernst’s three-point basket pulled the Marauders within 39-35 and Thomas took over from there, handing out assists on consecutive alley-oop dunks by Danny Griffin and sinking two free throws to give Antelope Valley the 41-39 halftime lead.

In another tournament game:

Glendale 92, Riverside 77--Glendale forward Gary Fowler had a team-high 19 points as the Vaqueros advanced to the consolation championship. Glendale (5-5) will meet Citrus, a 70-60 winner over San Diego Mesa, for the consolation title today at 4 p.m.

Forward David Swanson had 15 points and a team-high nine rebounds for Glendale. Vigen Serop had 12 points and six assists for the Vaqueros, and Justin Lord and Bruce Heicke added 12 and 10 points.