Jordan (5-3) tried to give away their second-round league matchup against Compton (7-2), but the Tarbabes came up just short in a defeat to the Panthers, 73-71, in another exciting edition of the league’s most even matchup (Compton won by one last time they played). The Panthers did two things they usually don’t do well—staying out of foul trouble and hitting their free throws—to cinch the victory, despite giving up a number of leads.
It looked like a blowout early, with Jordan going up 15-4…before Compton roared back on a 13-0 run to see a 17-17 tie after the first quarter. Jordan went up by 8 early in the second quarter…but their lead was eroded to just four points at half. There finally seemed to be permanent separation in the third, as the Panthers went up by 12, and held a nine-point lead at the end of the third quarter…but a 9-2 open to the fourth quarter for Compton made it a four-point game with four minutes left. The Jordan pulled away again in the fourth, going up 70-58…only to have Compton march back furiously at the end, scoring four points in five seconds, finally running out of time while still down by two.
“That’s typical Compton,” said Jordan coach Ron Massey. “They just don’t ever give up.”
Jordan fans must have been a little nervous throughout, but the ending was truly a fitting cap to a bizarre game. Jordan was up 73-67 with under thirty seconds left. Compton ran downcourt and got off an awkward shot that bricked, only to see Allan Guei, the shortest player on the court, leap and convert the put-back in the key. Then a sloppy Jordan inbounds was grabbed by Cliff Sims, Jr., who grabbed and shot, making it 73-71 with a second on the clock. Finally Raynard Tyler got a clean pass in to Darius Williams, who hugged the ball till the buzzer blew.
What was most impressive—and surprising—about Jordan’s game was their free throw percentage. After their win over Millikan game, Massey admitted, “We shoot so poorly, we’ve stopped talking about free throws. We don’t even bring it up in practice.” He was a little puzzled in acknowledging that’s still their strategy—yet somehow, Jordan started 13-13 from the free throw line, and finished 23-29 (Compton finished 17-27). The Panthers also did a good job of keeping their starters out of foul trouble for the bulk of the game. Usually they lose a guard early, or Darius Williams, but everyone stayed in till the waning moments. The Panthers’ starting five is about as good as anybody’s, and they combined for 65 of Jordan’s 73 points.
Leading scorer for the Panthers was “super sophomore” Isiah Hicks, a 6-4 guard/forward tweener who could give the league fits next year and the year after. He finished with 21 points on 7-10 shooting, going a perfect 6-6 from the line. “It was a great win,” he said after the game. “A great team game.” He was backed up by Williams, who had 15 points, and Jesse Jones, who also had 15.
For Compton, the big three trio of Guei, Sims, and Anthony January just didn’t put enough points on the board. They shot just over 40% as a group, and combined for 47 points (18 for Sims, 16 for January, and 13 for the point guard Guei). Compton coach Tony Thomas says his team needs to focus if they want to maintain second place, or compete for the title should Poly slip up. “We’re just not ready to play,” he said. “We have to make a commitment to being here and playing hard. They jumped on us early, because they came to play—we weren’t prepared.”