Glendale Loses Way Against San Jose City in 68-63 Loss

No upset special this time.

Glendale College, the little team that could, ran out of steam and out of miracles Thursday night, losing to San Jose City, 68-63, in a quarterfinal game of the men’s basketball state championships at the University of the Pacific’s Spanos Center.

The Vaqueros (23-11) advanced to the Final Eight by upsetting L.A. City, 76-70, Saturday in a Southern California playoff bracket final. L.A. City was ranked No. 1 in the state.

They came to Stockton knowing that, to win it all, they would have to knock off San Jose City (31-5), the top-seeded team among the four Northern California entries in the tournament. The Jaguars were ranked No. 4 in the state.

It wasn’t to be, although Glendale gave San Jose City a scare by jumping to a 31-20 lead with 4:07 to play in the first half.

But the Jaguars, who trailed, 33-24, with 1:20 remaining in the half, scored eight consecutive points to pull to within 33-32 going to intermission.

Six of the points came on consecutive three-point baskets by Jamaal Hill and Eric Swan.

“I was concerned, more than a little,” Coach Percy Carr of San Jose City said. “We wanted to keep it close in the first half and go at them in the second half.”

The Jaguars face Moorpark (26-5) in a semifinal game tonight at 6. Moorpark defeated Foothill, 55-49, in another quarterfinal. The Raiders lost to San Jose City, 65-53, in December.

Reserve forward Eskias McDaniels, a sophomore from Valencia High, helped put pressure on San Jose City with 20 points in the first half, on eight-of-10 shooting, including four of six three-point shots.

“I’m disappointed we came this far and didn’t get it done,” McDaniels said.

The Vaqueros, making their first appearance in the Final Eight since 1985, fell asleep on defense after making several substitutions in the final 49 seconds of the half.

“The [players] who came in didn’t know who they [were guarding],” McDaniels said.

San Jose City came out blazing in the second half, scoring 10 consecutive points for a 42-35 lead. The Jaguars repeatedly worked the ball inside to 6-foot-5 Antonae Roberson, who scored 17 points in the half with an assortment of short hooks, banks and jumpers.

“[Roberson] really hurt us,” Coach Brian Beauchemin said.

The Vaqueros made one last run at San Jose City, going on an 11-1 blitz to come within 52-50 with 9:58 remaining. But they couldn’t stop Roberson, who scored eight of his team’s final 16 points.

McDaniels finished with 26 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks. Guard Michael Schnyder scored 15 points and center Tim Taylor had 10 rebounds.

Besides McDaniels and Schnyder, the Vaqueros had little offense.

“I told my [assistants] we would have a little trouble if they zoned us,” Beauchemin said. “We weren’t getting any punch from our wing players.”

The Vaqueros shot 38.8% (26 of 67) from the field and 22.2% (six of 27) from three-point range. They were five of 12 (41.7%) at the free-throw line.

Roberson finished with 23 points and Jamaar Walker added 13.