Box Score Game 5
Box Score Game 6
FAIRBANKS, AK - California (PA) used a fast start and timely shooting to down the Alaska Nanooks in the final game of the inaugural Fairbanks Youth Sports Alaska Invitational.
Parrish West (Chicago, IL) had 18 points and 13 rebounds but the Nanooks could not overcome the clutch shooting of the Vulcans.
The Vulcans jumped out early on the Nanooks 10-3 and forced Alaska into four turnovers. A three-pointer by Travis Williams highlighted the four-minute run where the Nanooks also committed four fouls.
The Nanooks got back on the board at the 13-minute mark when
Nashorn Maynard (Saint Paul's, Saint Kitts) broke a scoreless drought of almost five minutes after knocking down their first basket of the game.
Alaska got hot after the slow start and hit three of their next four shots to cut the lead down to only two erasing the slow start. California shot right back at the Nanooks and built a ten point lead by the three minute mark after leading by seven for most of the half.
The Nanooks never got on another roll as they only went 8 for 35 (23%) from the field in the first half and only went 1 for 13 from behind the three-point arc. California shot 39% for the half (10 of 26) and hit three of their five attempts from down town. Cal also out-rebounded the Nanooks 27-22 to go into the locker room up 33-19.
Alaska came out on fire in the second half and hit three of their first five shots to cut the Cal lead to five. The Vulcans finally got on the board four minutes into the half with a Ryne Niemiec lay up after missing the first four shots of the half.
West helped the Nanooks by hitting back-to-back runners during the second half to close the lead to four with 12 minutes to play in the game. The Vulcans, however, would bend but not break during the adverse time. California answered with five straight points to pad their advantage.
Despite going scoreless for 4:58 of play during the middle of the half the Vulcans were still able to hold the lead by smothering Alaska's offence. The Nanooks were able to close the gap to four thanks in part to a steal and score by Bo Edwards.
After California knocked down two free throws the Nanooks scored six points in 27 seconds to tie the contest at 56 after being down by as many as 14.
California never gave the Nanooks the lead despite only holding a three-point lead or less in the last five minutes. The Nanooks could only close the gap to four with 13 seconds left but Cal was able to hit three of their four free throw chances and watched as the Nanooks last second desperation shots fall short.
California ended the game shooting 46% from the field while their tournament best defense held the Blue and Gold to 36% shooting which included Alaska only going 2 of 20 from downtown.
Alaska was led by 18 points from all-tournament selection
Parrish West, while he pulled down a team-high 13 rebounds.
Nashorn Maynard was the other Nanook with double-digit rebounds, as he pulled down 11, six of them offensive.
Emmanuel Jenkins (Tacoma, WA) joined West on the all-tournament team while scoring 14 points and going 7 of 9 from the charity stripe.
Jon Moe (Granite Falls, Washington) was the only other Nanook in double-digits with 11 points.
California (PA) was carried by four players who registered 10 or more points, led by Travis Williams with 17. Andrew Young (16), Kelsey Williams (12), and Jerial Nixon also topped the scoring leaders for California.
Due to the Alaska lost Bloomfield was the winner of the invitational with California (PA) finishing in second.
The loss drops the Nanooks to 1-2 on the season and they will return to action next on November 27 and 28 when they travel to Owensboro, Kentucky to play in the Owensboro Classic. Alaska will compete against Brescia and Kentucky Wesleyan.
The 2009 Fairbanks Youth Sports Alaska Invitational All Tournament Team:
Leon Porter – Dominican College
Kelsey Williams – California (PA)
Andrew Young – California (PA)
Parrish West – Alaska
Emmanuel Jenkins – Alaska
MVP – Daye Gage - Bloomfield
Bloomfield College 85, Dominican College 80
It proved to be an exciting game as Bloomfield and Dominican took the court to play their final game of the Alaska Invitational in the Patty Center on Saturday. Both teams entered the game with a 1-1 record, and Bloomfield's Gage Daye was the first to score with a successful break away lay up. However, Dominican College soon answered tying the game at six and captured the lead for a majority of the first. Bloomfield was able to tie the game with 45 seconds remaining before Dominican forward, Marquis Reddick, found the bucket finishing the half with a two point lead, 38-36.
After the half, things turned in Bloomfield's favor, as Elias Brantley found the hoop and captured the lead. Bloomfield continued to set the pace with Dominican not far behind. With 27 seconds remaining, Leon Porter made a lay up and forced a foul. After swishing his free throw, Dominican College only trailed by one. But with the final push, Bloomfield managed to take the game with a final score, 85-80.
Although Bloomfield shot 0-17 in three pointers, they were still able to take the game shooting 45% from the field. Daye had a game high in points (29) shooting a perfect 7-7 in free throws. Chris Sampson and Matt Wafula both had six rebounds for Bloomfield and had double-digit points with 14 and 12 respectively. Leon Porter was the top scorer for Dominican College with 20 points shooting 7-15 in the field. Dominican's Cory Quimby had a game high in rebounds (8) with 16 points to finish out the night.
