In a battle of fierce Central Valley Conference and geographic rivals, the Pirates (33-4) trailed Sequoias (26-11) by 12, 31-19, after two free throws by the Giants' Damon Jackson with 5:11 to play in the first half, but then went on a 13-2 run to close out the opening stanza by cutting Sequoias advantage to 33-32.
Porterville, seeded first from Northern California took the lead for good, 39-37, with 15:45 to play on a lay-up by Mike Mackell. Holding a 52-50 lead, Porterville put together a 10-2 run for a 62-52 advantage with 5:56 left. Tournament most valuable player Curtis Washington had four points in the decisive run. Washington finished the game with 13 points and led the Pirates' balanced scoring attack during the tournament with 17 points per game.
But it was the Pirate defense that was really responsible for the victory. Porterville held Sequoias to just 13 of 41 (32 percent) from the floor during the last 25 minutes of play and kept in check the Giants' powerful offensive rebounding, which had played an important part in Sequoias' upsets of top-ranked Los Angeles City and Los Angeles Valley the previous two nights. Porterville owned a 44-32 rebounding edge for the game.
All-tourney selection Brad Fields had 22 points to lead the Pirates, who also got 18 points from David Bell and 10 from Mackell. Sequoias' James Hall, who led all tournament scorers with 23 points per game, had 20 points before fouling out. Jackson had 13 points and was joined in double figures by Brandon Guyton (12) and Khalif Nixon (10) for the Giants.
COMPLETE TOURNAMENT RESULTS
Semifinals (Friday, March 10)
North #4 Sequoias 96, South #3 Los Angeles Valley 95
North #1 Porterville 75, South #2 Moorpark 67
First Round (Thursday, March 9)
South #3 Los Angeles Valley 81, North #2 Fresno City 75
North #4 Sequoias 79, South #1 Los Angeles City 76
South #2 Moorpark 46, North #3 San Joaquin Delta 42
North #1 Porterville 77, South #4 Riverside 74 (OT)
