Valley View Takes Winter Shootout, Paloma Takes Fourth

#20 Izaiah Cameron scores on a layup

In the final day of the Paloma Valley High School Winter Shootout tournament, Paloma Valley battled against Canyon Springs High School for third place, but lost 56-47. The game remained close for the first three quarters, but the Cougars of Canyon Springs ran away with the game in the fourth quarter for the win.

The championship game between Elsinore High School and Valley View High School, was a battle of two high-octane offenses, clashing together to claim the tournament title. Valley View outlasted Elsinore and claimed the Winter Shootout's title after winning 66-54.

#44 Cameron Whatley goes after a loose ball

Out of the gate, Paloma Valley (5-10) looked strong, starting the game with a 10-3 scoring run in the first four minutes of the game. With intense defense, good box-outs on missed shots, and solid ball-handling, the Wildcats finished the first quarter with a 14-7 lead.

Unfortunately, this was the largest lead that Paloma Valley held in the game. In the next quarter, Canyon Springs (8-8) became revitalized by moving the ball better and developing a scoring game in the paint.

By the halfway point of the second quarter, Canyon Springs took the lead away from Paloma Valley when sophomore Robbie Roy, drilled a three-pointer, to give the Cougars a 20-18 lead. The score remained neck-to-neck for the remainder of the quarter.

Canyon Springs allowed Paloma Valley to stay in the game with free throw shots. In the second quarter alone, the Wildcats scored 8 points on free throws, including 2 free throws made by Blake Bouman (pictured left), that came after a technical foul on the Cougars' Arturo Moran, when he shoved the Wildcats' Manny Sandoval. Paloma Valley could only manage to shoot 61 percent from the free throw line in the second quarter, which kept the score even at 27 going into the half.

The third quarter became a defensive battle by both teams. Paloma Valley held Canyon Springs to only 9 points in the quarter, but were held to only 8 points themselves, leading to a score of 36-35.

Canyon Springs opened the fourth quarter with a 6-0 scoring run in the first two minutes, to set the tone for the rest of the game. Despite Paloma Valley running a full court press, Canyon Springs were able to hang tough by not folding under pressure. Gradually adding to their score throughout the quarter, the Cougars held onto their lead and won 56-47.

Bouman led Paloma Valley with 12 points, followed by Cameron Whatley who scored 11 points. Out of the 56 points scored by the Cougars, 37 were scored by senior forward Frankie McQuay.

In the championship game of the Winter Shootout, the game started out as just that -- a shootout. Valley View High School (9-3) of Moreno Valley came out running up and down the court, nonstop, taking any remotely open shot they could.

In the middle four minutes of the first quarter, the Eagles of Valley View went on a 12-2 scoring run against the Tigers of Elsinore (9-4), to put the score at 19-6 with two minutes left in the quarter. The Tigers were able to keep up with the Eagles physically, but during Valley View's scoring run, Elsinore could not buy a bucket. The first quarter ended with a dominating score of 24-12, in favor of Valley View.

Not to be discouraged too much, Elsinore took control of the first four minutes of the second quarter, when junior Michael Taylor (pictured right) put the team on his shoulders and became too much for Valley View's defense to handle. Taylor's play, cut Valley View's lead to 6.

On offense, Valley View didn't fair much better. They came out without the energy that they opened up the game with. With a couple of Eagles players looking winded and only three players on their bench, it appeared that Valley View might have run out of gas.

Valley View still held onto a 35-29 lead at halftime, partially in thanks to the 5 three-pointers their offense hit in the first half. Elsinore hung tough after one half of play and 15 points scored by Taylor.



#10 Gabe Hicks drives past #25 Kobe Williams

Both teams started the second half, matching each other shot for shot. After a quick third quarter, Valley View, still remained up, 50-43.

Defense ruled in the fourth quarter. In the first four minutes of the quarter, both teams were only able to score 3 points each. Elsinore fans woke up and chanted "Defense" to try to motivate their Tigers to cut the lead. Unfortunately for Elsinore, Valley View shifted into a possession offense, running down the clock and finding better shots for the last few minutes of the game.

In the end, Valley View held off Elsinore to take the Paloma Valley High School Winter Shootout championship title, winning by a score of 66-54.

The Eagles were led by Devin Fleming who scored 19 points and Gabe Hicks who scored 13 points. Notable performances by Elsinore include Taylor's 21 points scored and senior Preston Beverly, who scored 17 points, 14 of which came in the second half.

Valley View High School celebrates tournament victory