DIVISION II BOYS : O’Bannon, Jones Push Artesia to the Final

The Charles O’Bannon and Avondre Jones era at Lakewood Artesia High will last one more week.

That was ensured when the Pioneers defeated East Bakersfield, 68-54, in the Division II Southern Regional State Tournament final Saturday at the Sports Arena.

The two All-American seniors have helped turn Artesia into one of Southern California’s winningest programs during the three years they have started together.

O’Bannon, a 6-6 forward, and Jones, a 6-11 center, played key roles in the team’s State Division II championship last season. They hope they can make it two in a row before selecting their college choices next month.

“Although we didn’t win the Southern Section title,” O’Bannon said, “in our eyes we accomplished one of our major goals by getting back to the state finals.”

Artesia (28-4) will play the winner of the Pleasanton Amador Valley-Mountain View St. Francis game Friday night at 8 at the Oakland Coliseum for the Division II crown.

The road to the final was not a smooth one.

The Pioneers were upset by Pasadena Muir, 70-63, last week in the Southern Section Division II-A title game. The loss gave them an unfavorable draw in the regional tournament, which began Tuesday.

Artesia escaped its first-round game with a 67-64 victory at Oceanside El Camino, the San Diego Section champion. It advanced to the regional final by upsetting top-seeded Riverside J.W. North, 71-53, at Riverside Thursday.

Although O’Bannon said the Pioneers would have preferred a rematch with Muir, the victory against East Bakersfield (25-5) was sweet.

It was also tougher than expected. East Bakersfield’s 6-9 center, J.R. Henderson, gave Artesia fits under the boards for most of the game. The junior player had 21 points and 12 rebounds before fouling out with two minutes remaining.

Henderson, projected as one of the state’s top recruits next season, hit a pair of three-pointers and added a layup midway through the fourth quarter to cut Artesia’s lead to 55-52 with 2:21 left.

Then O’Bannon and Jones went to work. O’Bannon, who finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds, drove the length of the court and hit a layup to put the Pioneers ahead, 57-52, with 1:58 to go. Jones, who scored a game-high 22 points, added four free throws down the stretch to help thwart the Blades’ comeback.