Historic playoff win for PC men
The Porterville College men’s basketball team have had a solid season with an overall record of 16-12 with its second consecutive postseason in as many years. The Pirates were named the No. 12 seed for the Northern California Regional Playoffs and hosted the No. 21 Monterey Peninsula College Lobos at the Pirates gym on Wednesday.
PC won its first playoff game in 23 years, winning 69-47.
The Pirates starting lineup was Mylo Santos, Cameron Walker, Julio Phipps, Jaylen Foy, and finally Assad Madassalia. The tip off went to the Pirates with Santos bringing it down the court and then flinging the ball over to Foy who looked around but found he had to pass to Walker. Walker moved around the Lobos defenders making way for Santos to make a fast drive. With a simple handoff Walker let Santos have the ball and despite the three Lobos defenders trying to block him, Santos sank the Pirates first basket of the game for 2. Walker and Santos responded quite well to their team’s early lead with both players making 3-point shots from deep for an 11-0 lead.
The Pirates maintained their lead with a dominant court presence in the last five minutes of the first half. The Pirates led with 24-16 and they would end the first half up 41-25. A nice pair of baskets by Maurice Peyton Jr. and Elijah Sterling brought the Pirates further ahead. However, it was a fast pass by Foy to Phipps that landed the Pirates their last margin in the first half. Foy dashed past two Lobos players and fed the ball into Phipps hands on the other side of the court and Phipps sank his shot.
The Pirates strong play really started to get to the Lobos in the second half as the early lead the Pirates took started to pay off big time. The second half started with a nice series of plays by the Pirates Demir Conliffe starting a solid play for the team by passing the ball off to Walker who moved the Lobos players around for his teammates before passing it off to Quincy White. White made the catch and slipped between the Lobos defenders with ease for the layup.
A foul from the Lobos led to a nice play by the Pirates with Santos taking the ball in. Santos passed around to Phipps as he tried to work into the Lobos back court. Phipps maintained the ball and brought the Lobos defenders around and then made a pass to Kiya Mcqueen. Mcqueen had no trouble playing keep away from the Lobos; and he saw Santos, free and ready, at the Lobos three point line. Santos took the pass from Mcqueen and swished the ball through the basket for 3.
The last seven minutes the Pirates were in control with Santos and Sterling picking up a pair of layups. The Pirates’ Justin Sabater ran out to take the ball down the court and as he went for a fast layup he was fouled by the Lobos. Sabater nailed one of his free throws and raised the score to 67-43.
The Pirates final basket was thanks to a fast play started by Conliffe. Conliffe made a rebound and passed the ball to Sterling to take it farther down the court. Sterling spun on his heels as he sprinted down the court and he passed the ball to Mcqueen. Mcqueen had no one standing in his way and with a mighty leap he dunked the final basket on the Lobos for the Pirates final score of 69-47.
The Pirates next scheduled game is away at West Valley against the Vikings on Saturday at 7p.m.