The562’s coverage of Long Beach Wilson Athletics is sponsored by Joel Bitonio, Class of 2009.
The562’s coverage of Jordan Athletics is sponsored by former LBUSD superintendent Chris Steinhauser.
The Wilson Bruins picked up a valuable Moore League win on Wednesday evening, holding off Jordan for an 85-70 victory. The game ended in bizarre fashion, with referees declaring the game finished with :06.3 remaining on the fourth quarter clock.
Airus Allen had 22 points to lead the Bruins, followed by 21 points from Nathaniel Parris and 13 from Hayden Rodriguez.
Wilson led for most of the night, but fell behind midway through the fourth quarter after a steady Jordan comeback. The Bruins were able to weather that storm and finish the game with a flurry, going on a 19-3 run over the last 4:41 to pull away for the win.
“I’m extremely happy,” said Wilson head coach James Boykin after his team’s win. “The resiliency to play a really good game and then have them kind of punch us in the mouth and take the lead. But to have that character and that competitiveness and the resiliency to fight back and take control of the game down the stretch, I’m so proud of those guys.”
The host Bruins led 22-11 after the opening quarter, and grew their lead to 20 points during the second quarter.
J-Town was able to chip away at the Bruins’ lead, cutting the deficit to 42-35 at halftime. The Panthers took a brief lead in the fourth quarter on a three-point play from Gerald Pickens, which gave them a 67-66 lead with 4:41 left. Pickens finished with 10 points, freshman Samajay Jackson led the team with 15 and Jaymari Redmond added 14 for Jordan.
But Wilson settled in and responded with huge buckets the other way. Allen recorded a three-point play in transition to give Wilson a 71-67 edge with 3:23 to go, then a four-point play by Karim Caldwell put the game out of reach, with the Bruins on top 81-68 with just over a minute left.
Wilson took its biggest lead of the second half with :06.3 left on the clock, and that time didn’t change the rest of the night. The decision to stop the game early was based on four consecutive timeouts called at that late stage of the game.
After a made basket by the Bruins, two consecutive timeouts were called by Boykin; then after Jordan used a timeout, Boykin attempted to call another. At that point, the referees determined they’d seen enough and sent the teams to their locker rooms.
The flurry of timeouts appears to be a carry over from last year’s game at Wilson, which also featured a series of late timeouts in a game that Jordan won 94-70.
“Really no comment,” said Boykin, when asked about his timeouts in Wednesday’s win. “I don’t know if they were asked the same question last year.”
Jordan assistant coach Sean Hochmuth appeared to be the most agitated with Boykin during the timeout saga, and he voiced his displeasure toward the Wilson bench on multiple occasions. Jordan head coach Chris Francis said he wasn’t bothered by the timeouts, and he doesn’t feel it will serve as any added motivation in advance of the rematch on Jan. 30 in J-Town.
“I had no problem with it. Sean was mad, and if my assistant coach is mad then I’m standing with my coaches,” Francis said of the situation. “If my players would have played basketball the way they’re supposed to, we’d have won the game. So all the other theatrics don’t mean nothing to me.”
Jordan (9-8, 3-2) will be back in action on Friday with a trip to Lakewood while Wilson (13-8, 3-2) will travel to Cabrillo.
