Valley Dodges Shots to Beat Santa Monica

In a seesaw battle between Southern California junior college men’s basketball powers, Valley overcame poor free-throw shooting and two first-half deficits to defeat Santa Monica, 85-82, in a Western State Conference South Division game Saturday night at Valley.

The Monarchs (18-5, 2-0 in division play), ranked No. 12 in the state, trailed top-ranked Santa Monica (18-3, 1-1) by seven points and again by 10 before taking a 49-46 halftime lead.

The lead changed hands several times in an exciting second half before Gianandrea Marcaccini’s free throw with 11 seconds to play gave Valley its margin of victory.

Still, the Corsairs managed three-point shots by Darwin Carter from the top of the key and Darnai Thomas from the corner before the final buzzer.

“We played a hard game,” Valley center Leon Brisport said. “We knew they were good and we knew we’d be ready for them. We can’t wait to play them down the road.”

Brisport, a sophomore from Brooklyn and the Monarchs’ top offensive threat throughout the season, scored 24 points, despite making only 12 of 20 free throws.

Valley made only five of 10 free throws in the final three minutes.

“Coach says we’re going to be shooting a lot of free throws next week in practice,” Brisport said.

Santa Monica, which had previous losses to Antelope Valley and Moorpark, switched to a zone defense in the second half that temporarily slowed the Monarchs.

“They did a good job of mixing their defenses,” Valley Coach Doug Michelson said. “But we became acclimated to their zone.

“We made some mistakes in the first half that led to baskets. We had intensity early but we were a little hyper.”

Santa Monica played without three key players because of injury, including sophomore forward Calvin Criddle, the Corsairs’ scoring leader last season.

The Corsairs moved ahead, 67-66, midway through the second half on an inside basket by Darius Tehranchi.

Darnai Thomas scored 20 points for the Corsairs.

Forward Alex Carcamo, who waged an inside battle with Brisport throughout the game, scored 15 points before fouling out in the final minutes.

“He’s a good post player,” Carcamo said of Brisport. “I was outmanned without our other guys. It was hard for me.”

Valley moved ahead for good, 75-73, on a three-point basket by Germaine Chase. Chase scored 13 points, including two three-point baskets.

The Monarchs stretched the lead to 81-75 on a putback by Faheem Nelson after a missed foul shot by Ronnie Noel.

“My guys played with a lot of heart to stay in the game,” Santa Monica Coach John McMullen said. “With three guys on the bench, that says a lot for them. I don’t feel like we gave it away at all.”

Said Michelson: “We played with a lot of intensity. Santa Monica is our rival. It doesn’t matter if they’re No. 1 or not.”

The game will be telecast Monday night at 7:30 by Valley cable company TCI.