Irvine Valley Men Lose Control, Then Lose Game

Irvine Valley certainly had the opportunity to win its Southern California men’s basketball playoff game against visiting Southwestern Wednesday.

Southwestern’s best player went down with a knee injury with about eight minutes left but Irvine Valley couldn’t control the ball on some key possessions and lost, 81-73.

The Lasers had 23 turnovers but none bigger than two down the stretch. Irvine Valley trailed, 72-71, and had the ball with 2 minutes 30 seconds left. After a 20-second timeout, sophomore guard J.C. Timmons threw a poor pass that Daryl Todd couldn’t reach.

Southwestern’s Demetrius Brown rushed the ball to the other end and scored on a driving shot to put his team up, 74-71, with 2:16 left. Timmons and sophomore forward Todd, both All-Orange Empire Conference selections, combined on another turnover on Irvine Valley’s next possession, but this time it was Todd who threw the bad pass.

Brown drove to the basket again, was fouled and made one of two free throws for a 75-71 lead.

Irvine Valley worked the ball inside to Brandon Hearvey (18 points, 16 rebounds), who scored on a turnaround jumper to cut the lead to 75-73 with 1:20 left but the Lasers didn’t score again.

“They go to the zone,” Irvine Valley Coach Jerry Hernandez said, “and we turn it over twice. I told our kids we had to outrebound them and not turn the ball over, we only did half the job.”

Things looked bleak for Southwestern when forward Charles Dinkins, who is averaging 27 points, hurt his knee during a collision while driving toward the basket with 7:52 left. He didn’t return.

Timmons (17 points) made two free throws with 5:25 left to put the Lasers ahead, 67-66, but it was the last time Irvine Valley led. Southwestern then went on a 6-0 run.

Allen Fletcher had three three-pointers in the final five minutes of the first half and Robert Griffin made another with 28 seconds left to get within two, 39-37, at the half. Southwestern had led, 14-2, early on.

Damian Raibon, a swing player, started the second half in place of center Donald Williams and Irvine Valley continued to run with Southwestern (23-11). The Lasers led by as many as three, 45-42, early in the second half but Southwestern then went on an 11-0 run.

“Every time we hit a three or did something positive,” Hernandez said, “we just couldn’t contain them at the other end.”

In other second-round men’s playoff games:

Cerritos 82, Fullerton 70--Cerritos (24-7) had six players score in double figures, led by Tony Harvey, who had 16 points and 12 rebounds. Sterling Rachel scored 16 points to lead Fullerton (19-13), which trailed, 39-31, at the half.

Chaffey 108, Cypress 95--Willie Allen scored a career-high 32 points (seven three-pointers) and Frankie Floyd scored 20 points for Cypress (15-16), which trailed, 52-42, at halftime. Shomario Richard scored a team-high 26 points for Chaffey (26-10).

In the second round of the Southern California women’s playoffs:

Cuesta 66, Cypress 46--Cypress couldn’t overcome a seven-point halftime deficit at Cuesta. Linda Rodriguez, Janine Shaw and Holly Pawlowski scored 12 points each for the Chargers (22-9).

Victor Valley 77, Orange Coast 63--The Pirates led by two at the half, but were then outscored, 46-30, in the second half. Dianne Pulido scored 19 points and grabbed 14 rebounds for Orange Coast (20-11).

In Orange Empire Conference softball:

Fullerton 3, Golden West 2--Lynette Velasquez had an RBI double in the third inning for Fullerton (14-6, 4-0). Jenny Hart pitched a complete game, giving up five hits for Golden West (3-6-1, 1-3).

Cypress 6, Orange Coast 5--Cypress (23-1, 4-0) scored the winning run on a two-out double by shortstop Aimee Weathers in the seventh inning to help Cypress stay undefeated in conference play.

Rancho Santiago 3, Saddleback 0--Remy Amaro was two for two with a triple and an RBI for Rancho Santiago (12-9, 2-2). Sheryl Anderson (8-5) pitched a complete-game three-hitter for the Dons.