FONTANA, CA – Temecula Valley High School nearly breezed to two easy wins in the Inland Empire Classic last week -- a 24-team event that featured a pair of Riverside County and San Bernardino County teams in the Final Four.
There was a slight hiccup in Temecula Valley’s 67-62 triumph over Kaiser-Fontana in the championship game on Saturday night at A.B. Miller-Fontana, site of the winners' bracket games.
The Golden Bears held a 22-point lead against a hard-nosed Cats’ team in the championship game – a lead that disappeared in a swirl of defense and tempo.
Trailing by 50-28, Kaiser’s white-hot comeback was capped by a steal, basket and a free throw from senior Ebrahim Salman to cut Temecula Valley’s lead to one point with 1:35 left in the game.
What was left was a string of points from Temecula Valley’s Bryce Denham, who hit four free throws, a layup, and came up with a steal and feed to teammate DeWayne Holmes in a 67-62 win on Saturday night.
Said Holmes: “A couple of plays by Bryce … he saved us.”
One night earlier: The most intriguing part of Friday night’s twin semifinals came came down to Kaiser holding off a highly energized comeback launched by Redlands East Valley.
In Kaiser’s 74-63 win over the Wildcats, the Cats’ 22-point lead was a threat to blow last year’s CIF-Southern Section finalists out the gym.
“They beat our zone by passing the ball against us,” said REV junior Kim Aiken, whose 18-point, 12-rebound effort wasn’t enough.
Which was the plan, said Kaiser coach Jarel Perry, whose team took an 8-1 record into Saturday night’s finale against Temecula Valley.
“Anybody can have a bad night shooting,” Perry said. "But there are no excuses for a bad defensive game.”
It comes down to defending various approaches.
Temecula Valley coach James Profit said, “You see a lot of different styles of basketball in these tournaments. Our job is to try and adjust to all of it.”?
REV, trailing 41-19 at one point, pulled to within 50-47 before Kaiser pulled away to win.
One night later: This time, it was Kaiser’s turn to fall behind by 22, 50-28.
For a while, it seemed as if Holmes had saved the Golden Bears in a defensive contest that was being dominated by Temecula Valley, leading 50-28 with 3:20 left in the third quarter.
But Kaiser ran off a 9-0 spurt over a 4:05 span to pull within 50-39 in the early stages of the fourth quarter.
“Both teams,” said Holmes, an all-tournament selection along with teammates Scott Hollingsworth and MVP Riley Schaefer (22 points, 9 rebounds, 4 steals), “were playing tough defense.”
It was hard to get off a shot, he said.
Salman waited, his 20-point performance punctuated by a pair of 3-pointers in a 22-second span in the fourth quarter that brought Kaiser from a 58-50 deficit to 58-56.
Denham’s two free throws broke Kaiser’s run, but Salman came up with a steal, scored a basket and got fouled, hitting the free throw, which narrowed the Golden Bears’ lead to 60-59.
“They pushed the tempo on us,” said Holmes. “It was the same thing we did to them in the first half.”
Schaefer’s MVP prize was related to a hard-nosed effort that not only included scoring and rebounding, but fighting off the tense pressure that Salman, among others, had waiting for him.
It offset Kaiser’s Armani Dodson, who fouled out with 14 points and 13 rebounds, amid a hustling effort that seemed consistent to players from both sides.
REV, meanwhile, had nailed down third place in the preliminary game. Trailing by four at halftime against Tahquitz-Hemet, REV got a 3-pointer from Ryan Aranda, two free throws from Aaron Andreas and an Aiken steal, feeding Brett Vansant for a slam dunk, grabbing a 32-27 lead.
REV held on, despite 23 points from Jordan Williams, to pull off a 48-42 victory.
Temecula Valley beat five teams – Upland, Oak Hills-Hesperia, Colony-Ontario, plus REV and Kaiser – to wind take a 9-1 into its Dec. 22 showcase Extravaganza against Elsinore.
Kaiser was tough, said Holmes, “but I think we were tougher at the end. We wanted it more.”
