Late blunders cap off quarterfinal loss for LCC
Saturday, March 1, 2008 6:37 AM PST
By Rick McCorkle
rmccorkle@tdn.com
Printable version
E-mail this articleKENNEWICK - It wasn't even close to the play that Lower Columbia College men's basketball coach Jim Roffler drew up during a timeout with 24 seconds remaining.
And Roffler let his players know about it after the game.
The fourth-ranked Red Devils squandered an eight-point lead in the second half as Yakima Valley took advantage of a botched Devils play in the final minute to claim a 70-66 victory in the quarterfinals of the NWAACC Men's Basketball Championships at the Toyota Center on Friday.
LCC (22-8) meets Bellevue in a consolation game at noon today. A Devil victory would put them in the fourth-place game at noon Sunday.
"We're in a situation where if we win (today) we can still play Sunday and get fourth place," Roffler said. "You'd feel a lot worse if you were in this same situation and lost like that in the title game."
LCC trailed 69-66 following two free throws from Anthony Johnson with 34 seconds left. Devils point guard Marice Tolliver got the ball to midcourt and attempted a pass to John Troyer, which bounced over his head and off the hands of a Yakima player.
Tolliver, Troyer and Yakima's Nico Sandoval all dived for the ball and got tangled in a crumpled heap as the ball rolled out of bounds.
The Devils got the ball back to midcourt and Roffler called timeout. He drew up a play and during the pause, the Devils also substituted in their "shooters" - Ryan Hoff and Elisha Moaning - along with Tolliver, Troyer and Robert Edwards.
The ball was passed inbounds to Tolliver, who took two steps before launching a 35-foot jump shot that bounced off the rim and into the hands of Yakima's Johnson, who was fouled. He converted one free throw for a 70-66 lead with five seconds left, and the Devils were unable to get up a good shot before the buzzer sounded.
"We were trying to run an open set to penetrate and hand it off, or hit an open seam with shooters in the corners," an agitated Roffler said after the game. "I don't know why that shot was taken, and it shouldn't have come down to that shot because we missed a lot of uncontested layups and had a lot of botched passes during the game."
LCC had 22 turnovers compared to 17 for the Yaks. Yakima Valley also used its quickness to make 19 steals.
Yakima Valley struggled early with its offense, missing nine consecutive shots in the opening minutes as the Devils grabbed a 10-3 lead. But the Yaks, led by Johnson, came roaring back to trail 33-30 at the break. Johnson, who led all scorers with 10 points in the first half, bettered his league-best 25-point average with a game-high 33.
The Devils built a 52-44 lead midway through the second half when the Yaks turned up the tempo. Yakima Valley went on a 14-3 run, which included three midcourt steals converted into layups, for a 58-55 lead with 6:45 left.
LCC took a 60-58 lead when Troyer sank a 3-ball and added a pair of free throws with 5:45 left, but LaMar Anglin stormed the lane and hit a layup moments later to tie the game at 60.
A pair of Troyer free throws, along with two putback layups from Michael Hallin, pushed LCC ahead 66-65 with 3:20 left. But Johnson converted a steal under the LCC basket into a layup with 1:50 left, and hit two free throws with 34 seconds remaining for a 69-66 lead.
The Devils made 24-of-64 shots (37 percent), and many of the misses came on botched layups or missed dunks at the end of fast breaks. Yakima Valley didn't fare much better offensively (25-of-67, 37 percent), but the Yaks hit 20-of-24 free throws.
"We're not a good passing team and our weaknesses caught up with us, but I didn't think missing layups was a weakness," Roffler said. "The thing I'm probably the most disappointed in is the attitudes of a few of the guys. They bickered with each other right to the end. Pressure effects some of these guys differently, and that seems to accentuate the attitudes and mentality of some of the players."
Three LCC players scored in double figures. Troyer netted 15 points, Alex King added 13 and grabbed five rebounds, and Edwards had 12 points and seven rebounds. Tolliver also grabbed 11 rebounds and had six assists, and Hallin grabbed nine rebounds.
Yaks 70, Red Devils 66
YAKIMA VALLEY (70) -
Anthony Johnson 33, Jody Johnson 11, Nico Sandoval 6, LeMar Anglin 3, Mario Allen 1, Spencer Adams 8, D.J. Whitsett 8, Trent Spellman 0, Ben Wilson 0.
LOWER COLUMBIA (66) -
Josh Troyer 15, Alex King 13, Robert Edwards 12, Michael Hallin 8, Marice Tolliver 2, Isaac Jimcoily 6, James Gehring 6, Ryan Hoff 3, Elisha Moaning 1.
Halftime:
LCC 33, YVC 30.
Past Month's Most Commented Stories