I-AA Title Is Won by Jordan : Boys’ basketball: Ratleff fuels a 61-59 double-overtime victory over Simi Valley.

Everett Ratleff made no secrets he wanted to be the player who scored the winning basket in Saturday night’s Southern Section boys’ Division I-AA championship game between Long Beach Jordan and Simi Valley at the Sports Arena.

Ratleff, a 6-foot-3 senior guard, got his wish when he drove the lane for a layup with two seconds remaining to lift Jordan to a 61-59 double-overtime victory before an estimated 5,000.

With the score tied at 59, Jordan called a timeout with 13 seconds left. Coach Ron Massey told his team to get the ball to Ratleff, and the senior responded by taking the inbound pass and dribbling to the basket untouched.

“There wasn’t any chance I was going to dish the ball off,” said Ratleff, who finished with 29 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. “The coach wanted me to take the last shot, and I wanted to also. I was just praying I would make it. It’s a great feeling.”

The title was the second in three years for the Panthers, who defeated Long Beach Millikan, 69-67, in the I-AA championship in 1991.

The Moore League champions improved to 21-6 and are ensured of a berth in the Southern Regional of the State Tournament, which will begin Tuesday. Jordan will probably not get a No. 1 or No. 2 seeding, however, because I-A champion Santa Ana Mater Dei and City 4-A titlist Crenshaw have better overall records.

Simi Valley, a surprise finalist that finished second in the Marmonte League, dropped to 24-6. The Pioneers have an outside chance at receiving an at-large invitation to the Southern Regionals.

“A lot of people didn’t give us much of a chance before the season,” said Dean Bradshaw, Simi Valley’s coach. “And a lot of people didn’t give us much of a chance before the tournament. But I think we changed a lot of those people’s minds about the quality of our team.”

Jordan held small leads most of the first half and was ahead, 25-21, at halftime.

The Panthers opened the margin to as many as nine points during the third quarter before Simi Valley converted several back-door plays into easy baskets. Junior center Vernon Simmons was the key, finishing with a team-high 20 points and eight rebounds.

Simi Valley was ahead, 52-49, when senior guard Ken Johnson made a three-pointer with one minute remaining to send the game into overtime.

The Pioneers were ahead by as many as five points during the first overtime until Ratleff got the hot hand. He scored the final four points of the overtime, including two free throws with 46 seconds remaining to tie the score at 57 and send it into a second extra period.