After 31 games and more than 1,200 minutes played, a highly anticipated rematch of last year’s 3C2A semifinal between Citrus College and City College of San Francisco came down to one final play.
With 8.6 seconds left and the Owls down two points, Citrus’ Amiri Meadows drove to the free throw line and kicked it out to Leo Ricketts, whose fading three at the buzzer hit the back of the rim and bounced out, ending the game 73-71 San Francisco.
“We wanted to get downhill, put pressure on the rim, we were only down two,” Ricketts said. “That’s what we’re looking for them to converge and get a three if available.”
Ricketts had shown earlier his tough 3-point shot-making, hitting an and-one three right before halftime that prompted Justin Labagh, head coach of the Rams, to storm off the court into the locker room while time was still on the clock.
The final shot was one that Citrus could live with, just not the result they were looking for.
An off-ball foul from Citrus’ Ian Salmon sent San Francisco’s James Moore to the line with a chance to take a three-point lead late in the second half. Moore missed the first free throw and made the second, pushing the lead to two and giving Citrus an opportunity to tie or win the game.
Both teams struggled from 3-point range in the first half, with Citrus going 3-for-12 and San Francisco going 1-for-13. San Francisco, however, dominated the glass, outrebounding the Owls 20-12 in the first half largely due to 6-foot, 9-inch Kenyon DeMunyck, who had seven rebounds in the first half.
A bright spot for Citrus in the first half was sophomore Dylan Victorio, who led the team’s scoring in the first half a majority of the time with eight points and kept the team within striking distance.
“Realizing that this could be the last one, realizing that I have been here for three years … that confidence drove me to just do everything I needed for the team,” Victorio said.
The Owls started slow, falling behind 15-7 during a stretch in which they went scoreless for more than 4 minutes, while San Francisco’s offensive rebounding and paint defense controlled the pace.
“Getting baskets or even getting penetration off the first couple seconds of the shot clock is hard against a good defensive team like that,” Ricketts said.
Despite the early struggles, Citrus ended the half scoring seven straight points in the final 1:07 and went into halftime down 34-33.
Citrus came out strong in the second half, trading baskets with San Francisco and matching its physicality from the get-go. The Owls appeared ready to pull away later in the half, taking their largest lead of the night, 69-63, with 5:41 left.
The lead soon disappeared, as San Francisco responded with a 9-2 run, taking a 72-71 lead with 2:07 remaining and shutting out the Owls the last 3:46.
DeMuynck proved too much for the Owls, continuing his dominance in the second half with 11 points and four blocks. He added three more rebounds to secure a double-double and finished the game with 24 points on 10-for-11 shooting, 10 rebounds, and five blocks.
While the loss stung, Citrus head coach Brett Lauer said that he was proud of his team’s effort, even if they fell short.
“This program is built on tough competitors, who are unselfish and give everything they had,” Lauer said. “I thought our guys emptied the tank tonight… and we just didn’t get it done.”
JJ Sanchez led Citrus with 15 points while going 6-for-6 at the free-throw line and dishing out four assists. Amiri Meadows also recorded four assists to go along with his 14 points, while Ricketts ended the game with 12 points on 3-for-10 shooting from three.
The Owls will finish the season 30-2, the best record they’ve had in 18 years, but their shot at redemption will have to wait another year, as San Francisco has now beaten Citrus three of the last four final four appearances.
San Francisco (31-1) will play Fullerton (31-1) at 3:30 p.m. March 15, a rematch of last year’s 3C2A championship game that San Francisco won 75-58.
