McCutcheon Gets the Last Word for Antelope Valley
It isn’t bragging if you can back it up.
Crystal McCutcheon backed it up on Tuesday night, a week after predicting that her team would waltz through the Golden League girls’ basketball race.
The Pepperdine-bound guard hit a 17-foot jump shot with 28 seconds left to give Antelope Valley a 54-52 victory over visiting Palmdale in a game that was more bump-and-grind than waltz.
Ragged at times, the game featured 34 turnovers, 19 by the Antelopes (18-3, 4-0 in league play).
“I’m still sticking behind that [prediction],” said McCutcheon, who scored all 14 of her points in the second half as Coach Mark Trakh of Pepperdine watched. “We didn’t blow them out--I think I underestimated them--but I still have confidence in our team.”
Judy Collier scored 23 points and Teiosha George added 14 for Palmdale (12-8, 3-1), which won five consecutive league championships until the Antelopes wrested it away last season.
The Falcons led, 46-40, in the fourth quarter before McCutcheon led the comeback.
“She had the courage to win the game for them,” Palmdale Coach George Corisis said of McCutcheon, who scored six of Antelope Valley’s final eight points. “That’s what you need at crunch time.”
Said McCutcheon: “That’s what I needed to do at that point as a leader.”
McCutcheon was covering Collier when she missed a potential game-tying shot with eight seconds left, but the Falcons got the ball back five seconds later when Antelope guard Shaquina Mosley was called for traveling.
George, a 6-foot-3 center, got the ball inside the three-point line, but her 17-footer was deflected by Mosley as time expired.
Mosley scored 11 points and post players Jacquana Young and Kristal Fox of Antelope Valley each scored 10.
Young played tight defense on George, who scored 27 points on Friday in Palmdale’s 58-45 victory over Quartz Hill.
“I knew it would be hard,” Coach April Davenport of Antelope Valley said. “Palmdale is never easy.”
The energy shortage and the threat of rolling blackouts in the Antelope Valley Union High School District forced half days at the six Golden League schools and caused the postponement of several athletic events.
But not at Antelope Valley, where the balance of power was decided on Tuesday, although Davenport would prefer to prove that on the court in the future.
“We’ve got to stand up for what Crystal said, but it’s putting pressure on all of us to play harder,” Davenport said. “That’s not necessarily a bad thing . . . but no more. I’m calling a gag order.”
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* REUNION
Harvard-Westlake Coach Melissa Hearlihy and two players return to Alemany. D10