dpoxnard

SoCal High School & Prep Report

Channel League: Dos Pueblos
Does It Again! 78 to 76!--(January 23, 1998)

The Santa Barbara News-Press billed this one after it was over as "a play the Brothers Grimm would have drawn up." And they quoted ShanTay Legans, Dos Pueblos' start point guard as saying it was "an ending right out of a storybook."

But with less than 6.8 seconds left to play, and Dos Pueblos trailing 76-75, and with Oxnard's Damien Tafoya shooting the ball (why was he shooting??? Even a shot clock violation in this situation would have been better than no shot at all, since at least it would allow the defense to recover), it was almost an ending from Rod Serling. Next stop, coach Phil Sherman, a sign post ahead . . . . the Twilight Zone.

But with Tafoya shooting and missing, DP's Alex Jenkins grabbed the ball, fed it to Legans, who found a wide-open Ryan Holbrook deep in the corner. Holbrook, a senior who scored a team-high 20 points, nailed a 3-pointer as time expired to give the Channel League-leading Chargers a fairy tale 78-76 win.

And as always, we have a report on the game from Shantay himself, who wrote to SoCalHoops:

This was another squeaker, but we sure didn't blow a lead in this one. They came out smoking and it was 19-4 Oxnard early. Then we drew even and then they crept ahead stayed about 6-8 points ahead most of the game. At half time it was 42-34 Oxnard. They have some good shooters on that team, especially in the first half. I didn't get a tech in this game but our coach did. We were really playing badly, but we came out in the third quarter and had a little mini run and their shooting got cold, so we stayed kinda even. Ryan Holbrook our wing had 6 three pointers. Once again THE MAN! OK to get to the finish - they were up 5 points with 20 seconds to go. I brought it up court and hit Ryan for a 3 - we fouled with 12 seconds on the clock - they made 2 free throws and were up 4 - I brought it down court and busted a 3 - we fouled to put them on the line with 5.2 seconds left - they choked and missed both - I brought it up the court and hit Ryan in the corner and he hit his 6th 3 at the buzzer - game. I didn't shoot much in the game - had 11 points, 10 assists, 7 steals. We really should have beaten this team big, I guess we get off on the stress finishes - NOT. I know we need to play better for sure. About 5 of us were in double figures so that's cool - spreading it around. Hey! At least we got out of the 60's folks.

The win keeps Dos Pueblos perfect in league play, and they are now 16-2 on the year overall and 7-0 in league play. Oxnard, which hopes to make the playoffs, dropped to 11-6 overall and 5-2 in league.

Oh, and about that "almost" trip to the Twilight Zone, Dos Pueblos coach Sherman told the Santa Barbara News-Press after the game: "That was like 31 minutes of hell and three seconds of jubilation. Oxnard made every clutch shot of the night except for the final free throws. They played the best zone against us. If Oxnard can play any better than they did against us, they're gonna be scary."

After a night of adjusting to the Oxnard zone, Dos Pueblos got what turned out to be its best fast break of the game in the final seconds. Legans brought the ball up court and found Holbrook all alone at the other end.

Of the last play, the News-Press recorded several reactions:

Legans: "I couldn't believe he was wide open. We had them completely beat on the play."

Holbrook: "I think we caught them a little tired on that last play. ShanTay is quick enough to outrun anyone."

Oxnard Coach Henry Lobo: " Now you know why they're undefeated. You can't give them any chance to beat you. When they had that last chance, they beat us."

Oxnard led 42-34 at halftime and 55-50 after the third quarter. The Chargers helped themselves at the free-throw line, connecting on 24-of-31 shots. Dos Pueblos clawed back to 68-67 with 1:15 to play. Holbrook, who hit two of his five 3-pointers in the final seconds, nailed a trey with 12.3 seconds to play, slicing the Yellowjacket lead to 76-72. Legans made it 76-75 with 6.8 seconds to play before Tafoya missed his two free throws.

Tafoya scored 22 points while Jeff Fouchey had 23 and Jacob Rogers 17 for Oxnard. Jenkins added 18 points for Dos Pueblos. Dan Hoefer and Kapena O'Neal each added 10 points.

The complete scoring for Dos Pueblos was Holbrook 20 including 5 three pointers, Jenkins 18, hoefer 10, O'Neal 10, Sears 9--including one three--, and Legans 11.

For Oxnard the scorers were only Fouchey with 23 points and Tafoya with 22. Each of them had 3 three-pointers.

Again, congratulations to Shantay, Holbrook and the rest of the crew from Dos Pueblos. We don't know how you guys can top this one, but we're sure you'll think of something.