Red-hot Mendocino shoots Modesto JC out of its tournament

For two straights nights, the Modesto Junior College Pirates carried leads deep into the game. For two straight nights, they shook hands with a victorious opponent.

That’s why the Pirates are spectators Saturday as the 78th MJC Tournament winds to a close.

The culprit Friday night was Mendocino, which smoked the home team for 59 second-half points in a 96-90 victory. The night before, the Pirates went scoreless against Cuesta over the final 4:52 and gave up a hoop with 2.8 seconds left. Two games, two different kinds of misery for the men in blue.

Which explained the long faces from the players and coaches exiting the MJC locker room.

“It’s not easy,” MJC’s Mason Washington said, “losing like that twice in a row.”

One slight variation on the theme: Unlike Thursday night, when Modesto (5-6) disappeared on offense down the stretch, it was victimized 24 hours later by a smoking-hot Mendocino team that quickly erased a 47-37 halftime deficit.

How hot were the Eagles (6-6)? They hit 21 of 35 shots in the second half (60 percent), featuring a nasty 9-of-16 barrage from behind the three-point arc. The triples by guards Noel Crabtree, Paul Steliga (19 points) and Hermon Brown during a 14-0 blitz weren’t cheap. Three were released from about 25 feet.

David Mlachnik (16 points) also zeroed in from long range. Mendocino weathered foul trouble and bombed away.

“We saw a lot of zone against Columbia and Ohlone. We were more comfortable running our stuff (against Modesto),” said Mendocino coach Billy Offill, a former MJC assistant. “It had to be an up-and-down game for us to have a chance. We have some guys who can shoot it.”

Washington, a former Modesto Christian star, answered the Mendocino onslaught with 33 points. His late flurry nearly brought the Pirates back from a nine-point deficit. Modesto trailed 87-85 with 2:35 left, but slim Mendocino guard Tyrell Jones (28 points) put it away with five points, anchored by a clinching slam dunk with 18 seconds to go.

“Washington was phenomenal,” Offill said. “We tried everything against him, and he still killed us.”

Modesto, 1-2 in the tournament, didn’t need to be told about the lessons learned this week about finishing games and tightening up on defense.

“They hit a lot of tough shots,” Washington said. “A lot of it was defensive lapses, giving up offensive rebounds, miscommunications, not switching. We can clean it up.”

One emerging plus is 6-foot-2 sophomore Brennan Pope, who’s finding his form after his freshman season was cut short by a broken ankle. Pope connected for 22 points against Mendocino and averaged 16 points per game this week.

“I feel like my old self. It took a lot of hard work,” Pope said. “We can’t let teams get into the 90s. That’s not what we want.”

Zack Gonzales, still bothered by a shoulder injury late in the Cuesta game, netted four three-pointers en route to 17 points.

Fresno 88, Allan Hancock 84 – The Rams will chase their record 13th MJC title Saturday night, though they were extended by Hancock in the semifinals. Fresno’s fast start and 20-point first-half lead transitioned to a tense finish, as the Rams’ Aaron Cameron (22 points), Will Dorsey and Jaffrey Stillman (15 points) hit free throws in the final 31 seconds to hold back the determined Bulldogs from Santa Maria (7-6).

Fresno (10-5) played without 6-foot-8 post Josh Sykes, the Loyola Marymount-bound product of Golden Valley High, who received two technical fouls during Fresno’s second-round win over Chabot.

Malik Rhodes (21 points) and Matt Willkomm (17) led Hancock’s comeback. Marcellus Garrick had 16 points.

Cuesta 72, Ohlone 53 – Freshman guard Karem Ozel turned a close game into a rout with 27 points, all in the second half, to vault Cuesta (11-4) into the final. The Cougars scored 14 unanswered points during a 19-2 blitz, almost all of it orchestrated by Ozel.

Roberto Mantovani, Cuesta’s 6-8 center, totaled 15 points as the Cougars – 0-2 at MJC last year – avenged a loss to Ohlone in the 2014 tournament.

Harrison Bandabailla topped Ohlone (4-8) with 14 points.

Columbia 93, Lassen 60 – The Claim Jumpers (9-4) marched to the consolation final by gradually pulling away from the Cougars (4-12) in the morning game. DeAndre Stallings (24 points) and Michael Meserole (20) combined for seven of Columbia’s 12 three-point baskets. Bosten Van Der Veur finished with 19 points and Aaron May had 12.

“If you win two games here, you’re doing something right,” said Columbia coach Rob Hoyt, whose Claim Jumpers went 2-2 at MJC last year. “We get to play on Saturday. Our goal was to be on the right side of the bracket, but I’m not going to lower our expectations.”

David Grayson paced Lassen with 17 points.

Columbia will meet Contra Costa for the second time this season. A putback at the buzzer by Columbia’s Lewayne Grant decided the first game Nov. 5.

Chabot 74, Yuba 70 – Important late baskets by sophomore guard DeAndre Davis helped the Gladiators (10-3) turn away a determined bid by the 49ers (7-7), who closed an 11-point deficit to two with a minute left.

Davis finished with 33 points and Keith Phillips – who both come from Detroit – had 26.

Jojo Zamora topped Yuba with 26 points.

Contra Costa 74, Sacramento 71 (OT) – Anthony Sullen’s driving layup as time expired in regulation opened the door for the Comets’ come-from-behind win. Contra Costa (7-5) trailed by 22 in the second half before Sullen (21 points) and Jeremiah Alston (15 points) launched the comeback.

Alston’s five points keyed the Comets’ 14-11 margin in overtime. Bret Lynch scored 17 points for Sacramento (7-5).

This story was originally published December 18, 2015 at 8:18 PM with the headline "Red-hot Mendocino shoots Modesto JC out of its tournament."