PC men beat Reedley, close in on state playoff berth

The Porterville College men’s basketball team moved one step closer to earning a state playoff berth for the second straight year by rolling to an 83-52 win at Reedley on Wednesday.

PC also received help in its cause to earn a state playoff berth when it was awarded a forfeit win over Cerritos College. PC had lost that game to Cerritos 81-60 in the College of the Sequoias Tournament in December, but now that it has been awarded the forfeit win over Cerritos the Pirates now stand at 15-12 on the season.

PC is also now tied for third in the Central Valley Conference at 8-5 with Columbia after Columbia lost at West Hills Lemoore on Wednesday. Fresno City is also now 9-4 in the CVC after losing 86-68 at COS on Wednesday. The Giants remained unbeaten in the CVC at 13-0.

Porterville will end the regular season today when it hosts West Hills Coalinga at 7 p.m. while Fresno City is hosting Columbia at 3 p.m. today. If Columbia and PC win the Pirates, Rams and Claim Jumpers would all end up in a tie for second place in the CVC at 9-5.

Twenty-four teams will be selected for the Northern California playoffs when the selections are announced on Sunday. PC coach Amaurys Fermin said with a strong finish to the season he was hoping his team would be seeded anywhere from No. 10 to No. 16, which would mean it would receive a first round playoff game at home.

At Reedley, PC led 38-29 and then poured it on in the second half, outscoring the Tigers 45-23. The Pirates had a balanced scoring attack with eight players scoring between six and 13 points. PC also dominated the boards as Porterville outrebounded Reedley 5422.

PC was led on the boards by Assad Madassalia, who had eight points and 15 rebounds and Julio Phipps, who had six poits and 11 rebounds. Also for Porterville Jalen Foy scored 13 points, Cameron Walker had 12 points, Kiya Mcqueen had 11 points, Jaden Pena and Quincy White each had nine points and Mylo Santos added six points.