Mt. San Jacinto Slows Antelope Valley Again, 74-72

The game was on the line, and the Antelope Valley College basketball team thought it had found the right man for the situation when sharp-shooting Tony Madison went up for a three-point shot.

But Madison’s shot missed everything--including the rim--and visiting Mt. San Jacinto showed it had Antelope Valley’s number again in the Foothill Conference game. And that number was something less than 80.

Mt. San Jacinto, the only team to hold high-scoring Antelope Valley to less than 80 points this season, did so for the second time Saturday night in a 74-72 upset at Antelope Valley.

The loss was only the fifth of the season for Antelope Valley, which is ranked ninth in the state by the JC Athletic Bureau. But it was the second against a Mt. San Jacinto team struggling to reach .500. It was also the first home conference loss for Coach Newton Chelette in his two seasons at Antelope Valley.

Chelette was frustrated by the game’s slow pace.

“If I was anybody playing us, I’d hold the ball, too,” Chelette said. “That’s probably, in terms of start to finish, our worst performance of the year.”

Mt. San Jacinto (12-13, 8-4 in conference play) slowed the game from the beginning. Running a windmilling, four-corners offense, Mt. San Jacinto appeared to be tilting at windmills when it fell behind by as many as 11 points in the first half.

A three-point basket by Madison put Antelope Valley ahead by 10 to begin the second half, but Mt. San Jacinto--which trailed by 13 at one point--refused to panic and continued to hold the ball for 30 or more seconds on nearly every possession.

Antelope Valley (20-5, 10-2) led, 56-46, with six minutes 45 seconds to play when it was hit with a pair of technical fouls, one on J. R. Rider and one on the bench.

Mt. San Jacinto’s Don Leary hit all four free throws, and Chris Meshack made a layup on the ensuing possession to cut the margin to 56-52. Rider, who had scored before the technical, did not score again, finishing with 27 points.

Leary, who finished with a game-high 33 points, hit a three-point basket to make it 63-63 with 2:28 remaining, and Madison made a three-point basket to tie the score again, 72-72, with 21 seconds to play.

But Aaron Butler knifed in for a layup with 11 seconds remaining to move St. San Jacinto back in front.

Antelope Valley called a timeout to set up its final play, but Madison missed.