Victor Valley Gets Eye-Opener From Jordan

Please forgive Victor Valley High, for it has not seen this before. Not the big crowds, not the Pond of Anaheim, and certainly not a team as quick and talented as Long Beach Jordan.

Please forgive the Jackrabbits (27-3) for their performance in losing the boys’ Southern Section Division I-AA title, 54-38, Saturday night before a crowd of 11,354. They had no intention of letting a 24-22 halftime lead turn into a lopsided rout. No game plan that called for nearly six scoreless minutes in the fourth quarter or only four field goals in the second half.

“I read that they said no one could stop them,” said Jordan forward Ortege Jenkins, whose team improved to 29-3. “We love to hear stuff like that.”

Pregame talk was only the first of many bad decisions made by Victor Valley.

The second came when the Jackrabbits opened the game in a tight man-to-man defense and Jordan took a 9-0 lead.

“We had heard about their pressure defense, but we knew they weren’t going to stay in that long,” Jordan Coach Ron Massey said.

But the Jackrabbits adjusted, and went on an 8-0 run of their own. Their 1-2-2 zone held Jordan to only seven points in the second quarter, and Victor Valley built a two-point lead at the half.

But the defensive switch came at the expense of its offense.

Victor Valley had relied on an up-tempo game all season, with defense creating for an offense that averaged over 70 points a game, and whose previous low scoring total was 48 in a 52-48 loss to Fontana earlier this year.

The zone slowed the game down, playing into the hands of Jordan, which adjusted at halftime and used the inside play of Jenkins (15 points and 10 rebounds) and Jeff Parris (13 points) to blow open a close game in the third quarter.

During that quarter, Victor Valley scored only six points, and went the final 4:45 without a field goal. During that time, Jordan built a 39-30 lead, capped by Brian Chambers three-pointer at the buzzer.

It was more of the same in the final quarter, but aided by Victor Valley’s return to a pressure defense. Jordan scored only two field goals in the quarter but made 11 of 16 free throws. Victor Valley, meanwhile, continued to shoot poorly. Trevor Beal scored all of his six points in the period but as a team, the Jackrabbits managed only eight points. They shot only 17% (four of 24) in the second half.

“We just had a very poor second half shooting the ball,” Victor Valley Coach Kurt Herbst said.

Victor Valley had 14 of its 21 turnovers in the second half, and found pressuring the Jordan guards, particularly Trelton Spencer, was suicidal.

“We see them pressuring Trelton and it’s like layup drills,” Jenkins said.

Spencer finished with 11 points for Jordan, and is one of 10 seniors on its roster.

“We were in the bracket with all the players,” Jenkins said. “The Schea Cottons, the Corey Benjamins. But like tonight, we just took over.”

Total attendance for the entire day’s action was 19,363, the third-highest ever.