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 final week of the Moore League boys’ basketball season is providing plenty of drama; with playoff spots up for grabs, a title race far from decided, and the potential for an envelope draw and play-in game this Friday.
The defending champions from Jordan stayed firmly in the playoff hunt on Tuesday night, getting payback against Wilson with a 61-53 victory in North Long Beach.
Gerald Pickens scored a game-high 16 points while backcourt mate Jay’mari Redmond added 15 for the Panthers, who did a much better job defensively against the Bruins this time around. After allowing 85 points in a 15-point loss in the first round of league play, J-Town held their visitors to just 34 points through three quarters on Tuesday.
“Our point of emphasis was to play stronger in the half court set and make them earn it,” said Jordan head coach Chris Francis. “We didn’t trap them the entire first quarter, everything was straight man to man. And we missed a lot of layups, but they missed a lot of layups too. I just thought the attention to detail was superb tonight.”
The Panthers led 9-4 early as Wilson struggled to score against Jordan’s man-up defense. But Nathaniel Parris finally got going for the road team, hitting three straight shots to help spark an 8-0 Wilson run to close the opening quarter.
It was then Jordan’s turn to get hot, as they scored 11 straight to open the second quarter, taking a 20-12 advantage. The teams went back-and-forth to close the quarter, with J-Town holding a 28-27 lead at halftime.
The third quarter proved to be the decisive one, as Jordan outscored the Bruins 18-7. J-Town led by as many as 13 thanks to a 14-2 run coming out of the locker room. Interestingly, none of those points came from Redmond, who has been far and away the leading scorer for Jordan this year. But as the season has gone on, roles have become more defined and the Panthers have steadily improved as a team.
“It’s about growth, it’s about trusting your teammates, and it’s about believing in your teammates,” Francis said. “And I think we’re getting better at that. Jay’mari, we had to slow him down a little bit coming out in the second half, and it worked out. I thought he was a little overly excited, just kind of moving too fast. But he got into his groove and made some great decisions down the stretch and we got the W.”
Redmond missed Jordan’s last game against Poly, but was a welcome addition back to the lineup–especially in crunch time. He had nine points in the fourth, and he and Pickens either scored or assisted on all of Jordan’s 15 points in the money quarter.
“That’s all I was on today was just win and get to the playoffs,” said Pickens after the game. “We’ve got a lot of young guys on the team, so I’ve just gotta lead the team, me and Jay’mari. We were in the mix last year, so we’ve just gotta lead the team and show them what it takes, because we know what to do.”
Wilson was able to break through for more points in a sloppy fourth quarter, but still missed their fair share of open looks that could have made things more interesting. Wilson went just 3/9 at the free-throw line on Tuesday after shooting 20/26 in their first meeting with Jordan.
Parris was Wilson’s leading scorer with 14 points. Airus Allen chipped in 12 and Hayden Rodriguez finished with 10.
There’s still everything to play for on Thursday for both of these teams, as Jordan hosts first-place Lakewood while Wilson hosts Cabrillo.
For Jordan, if they win on Thursday, they’re in. And if they lose to Lakewood, they’ll still have a chance to earn an automatic bid. Wilson, on the other hand, must beat Cabrillo to stay in the race for a Top 4 finish.
Below are the playoff scenarios for all three teams battling for the final two guaranteed playoff spots out of the Moore League.
Moore League Boys’ Basketball Playoff Scenarios
(3rd & 4th place receive automatic playoff berths)
Cabrillo (15-12, 6-5 Moore League)
Win vs. Wilson + Jordan Loss: 3rd place
Win vs. Wilson + Jordan Win: Tied for 3rd place
Loss vs. Wilson + Jordan Win: Tied for 4th place. Play-in Game vs. Wilson on Friday.
Loss vs. Wilson + Jordan Loss: 3-way tie for 3rd place (Envelope draw for 3rd place; play-in game for 4th place on Friday between remaining 2 teams)
Jordan (13-14, 6-5 Moore League)
Win vs. Lakewood + Cabrillo Loss: 3rd place
Win vs. Lakewood + Cabrillo Win: Tied for 3rd place
Loss vs. Lakewood + Cabrillo Win: 4th place
Loss vs. Lakewood + Cabrillo Loss: 3-way tie for 3rd place
Wilson (15-12, 5-6 Moore League)
Win vs. Cabrillo + Jordan Loss: 3-way tie for 3rd place
Win vs. Cabrillo + Jordan Win: Tied for 4th place. Play-in Game vs. Cabrillo on Friday.
Loss vs. Cabrillo: 5th place (will need an at-large bid for playoffs)
