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Long Beach Poly's size and depth wore down Narbonne in the second half. And the Jackrabbits, who had the ball for the final 31 seconds of regulation, could have finished it.
But two shots by the Jackrabbits both teasingly bounced around the rim and fell away.
At the end of regulation the score is 44-44.
-- Mike Terry
Long Beach Poly's superior size wore down Narbonne in the second half. And the Jackrabbits had a chance to win it in regulation, holding the ball for the last 31 seconds and getting two shots off.
Both tantalizingly bounced around the rim but would not fall in.
The score was tied, 44-44, after four quarters, and the teams were headed for overtime.
-- Mike Terry
Jasmine Dixon returned to the game with 6:46 left in the fourth quarter and trailing, 35-32. She scored 19 seconds later, and scored five of Poly's first six points. Narbonne has been resilient, though, and build a 44-38 margin despite Dixon's presence. Poly tied the score at 44-44 on Monique Oliver's free-throw with 21 seconds to go, and Dixon ripped the ball out of a Narbonne player's grasp for the rebound.
Poly called timeout with 17 seconds left. The ball eventually found its way into Dixon's hands, and as she was converged on, she made a head's up pass to Kellie Thompson who missed the shot from underneat the basket. Dixon got the ball but was tied up with four seconds left. The Jackrabbits still had possession, but Lauren Payton stole the inbound pass and the clock expired.
The best program from the Southern Section and the best program from the City Section are headed to overtime tied at 44-44.
Campbell Hall has opened a 34-18 halftime lead over San Joaquin Memorial, which means its fans might want to start calling Southwest Airlines to book those flights from Burbank to Sacramento for Friday's Division IV final.
Dallas Rutherford has scored 12 points and Jrue Holiday has nine while also contributing some nifty assists. Memorial got as close as 24-18 with 3:13 left in the second quarter before the Vikings turned up their defensive intensity.
Yes, there's 16 minutes to go, but don't expect Campbell Hall to lose this lead. It's only going to expand, depending on how long Holiday plans to stay in the game.
-- Eric Sondheimer
Narbonne lost the lead in the third quarter but managed to regain it with Gabrielle Clark's rebound and basket with 28 seconds left.
Narbonne holds a 33-32 lead, far more tenuous than its 25-17 halftime margin.
Jasmine Dixon, on the bench with three fouls, didn't play the last 5:27. By that time, she had helped bring Poly back to within 27-25. Poly scored 14 of the first 16 points of the quarter, and even took a lead, 31-29, on Monique Oliver's layup with 2:41 left.
-- Martin Henderson
The Narbonne-Long Beach Poly game was stopped for a few minutes in the third quarter because the game ball was trapped on top of the Jackrabbit basket.
A shot attempt by Poly forward Thaddesia Southall bounced high off the back rim and nestled on the back support of the basket. There were several attempts to use a broom handle to knock the ball free, but the handle was too short.
Finally someone got another ball and, after four throwing attempts, dislodged the offending game ball from the backboard.
-- Mike Terry
By the time Jasmine Dixon picked up her fourth foul -- and it took less than three minutes into the second half -- Poly had closed to within two points, 27-25. Dixon scored half of her team's points in its 8-0 run. But now she's on the bench with 5:27 left in the third quarter.
We always talk about Poly's depth. We'll see as we head toward the fourth ...
-- Martin Henderson
North Hollywood Campbell Hall's average margin of victory over its last 12 games is 37 points, so it should come as no surprise that Fresno San Joaquin Memorial's best chance for its Southern California Regional Division IV final would be to hope the Lopez twins, Robin and Brook, could come back for a day.
Campbell Hall has too many weapons, not to mention All-American Jrue Holiday, and leads, 19-10, after the first quarter. Dallas Rutherford leads the way with eight points.
My ears are ringing sitting courtside at Mater Dei after Holiday just clapped his hands three times playing defense. It was the loudest handclap I've heard, which makes him ready for a UCLA eight clap.
-- Eric Sondheimer
Narbonne is not playing as slowly as I thought it might. But the Gauchos' 25-17 halftime lead can credited to one thing: defense.
Long Beach Poly already has 12 turnovers and missed 24 of 30 first half shots thanks to the pressure Narbonne has applied. There have been at least three occassions where the Jackrabbits had 3-4 shots at the basket, often from point blank rage, and could not score.
There is also something about the Sports Arena that seems to bring out the best in Narbonne's Reiko Thomas.
The senior guard has nine points to lead all scorers, and has broken more than a couple of ankles with her dribbling dexterity.
-- Mike Terry
Narbonne is halfway home to a huge upset. The Gauchos are living on the free-throw line, and Poly hasn't dominated the boards like one would have expected. Narbonne is up, 25-17, at halftime. Not exactly a scintillating offensive performance.
One of the reasons is that Poly's Jasmine Dixon is out of the game. She picked up her first foul 38 seconds in, and her third foul with 3:28 left in the half. At the time it was 16-13.
Narbonne is 13 of 16 from the free-throw line, Poly four of eight. Narbonne's Gabrielle Clark is six of seven, accounting for all of her scoring; Reiko Thomas is five of seven, and has a team-high nine points.
Poly has been whistled for 13 fouls to Narbonne's seven, and rebounding is almost even. Poly has 22 rebounds, Narbonne 19. Those are the kinds of numbers that Narbonne needs to maintain.
When the teams aren't shooting from the free-throw line, Poly is six of 30; Narbonne is six of 22.
By no means is Narbonne out of the woods. I suspect that the third quarter will be pivotal. That really is when Poly begins to establish itself, and I'd be surprised if the lead is still eight points (or more). When Poly turns it up a notch, and it will, this game should tighten up -- all it has to do is convert its layups.
-- Martin Henderson
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