Longshot by Lefty Just Right for Valley

LaMarr Thompson couldn’t have picked a better time to make his first three-point basket of the season.

Thompson connected from the left wing with 20 seconds to play to ice Valley College’s 80-76 victory over Cuesta in a Southern California Regional first-round basketball game Friday night at Valley.

The left-handed shot by the sophomore center from Sylmar High put Valley ahead, 78-74, and kept the Cougars from potentially tying the game with a three-pointer of their own.

“The [shot] clock was running down and I heard screaming from the bench, so I just shot it,” Thompson said. “I didn’t want to throw it away. They were doubling up [on defense] on the post, so I just went to the open area.”

The Monarchs (23-10), seeded 13th in the regional, advance to a second-round game Wednesday against the winner of tonight’s Riverside-Victor Valley matchup.

Valley defeated the Cougars (20-14) at Cuesta, 91-69, in a Western State Conference interdivisional game Jan. 11.

The Cougars, seeded 20th, rallied for a 39-36 halftime lead after Valley led most of the first half. They made 55.1% (16 of 29) of their shots, led by freshman forward Justin Mora, who hit five of seven shots and scored 12 points.

Mora entered the game averaging 16.2 points, second best on the team behind Jarrett Wendt’s 17.1-point average. Mora led all scorers with 23 points but the Monarchs made him work hard for everything he got.

The Monarchs worked patiently for shot opportunities early in the game and led three times by six points, the last at 20-14 on an alley-oop layup by center Vernon Simmons with 11 minutes 55 seconds to play in the half.

The second half was a seesaw battle.

Valley trailed, 69-67, with 2:49 left when Wendt sank a 15-footer from the left baseline and Brian Dignan converted a free throw.

Simmons, who had 20 points, gave Valley a 75-71 advantage with a dunk with 1:05 to go. Wendt, however, answered with a three-pointer--one of five he made--with 55 seconds remaining to pull the Cougars to within 75-74.

Thompson hit his three-pointer before Cuesta’s Jamar Hill scored on a rebound and Simmons made two free throws with one second left.

Simmons, a 6-foot-7 sophomore center from Simi Valley High, scored 16 points in the second half. Sophomore guard Michael Farmer, Thompson’s high school teammate, contributed 14 points, 12 in the first half.

Wendt scored 17 points and Hill finished with 15 points.