Photo by Dave Keefer
Champion SV Cagers Standing, from left: Assistant coach Brian Whalen, Mark Friedman, Alex Tiffin, Daniel Cox, Grant Keller, head coach Tim Bruen. Kneeling, from left: Ren Westerline, James Whalen, Nicholas Kahui-Bruen.

It was supposed to be the Westsiders vs. RC Bulls in the Championship game. That was the talk of the day as bracket play started to work its way to crunch time. But when the SV Cagers topped the Westsiders in a semifinal game, fans took notice. This team from Simi Valley was now on the 14U map, at least for those who hadn't seen them before. Still, one prominent coach was still calling them the "Cougars" as the championship game was about to start. And many still thought the athletic and well coached RC Bulls would be too much to handle for any team in this tourney. What took place on the court was a terrific game that could have gone either way and wasn't decided until the final buzzer.

14Uchampionship: SV Cagers 51, RC Bulls 48

Buoyed by an impressive overtime win over the Westsiders in an earlier semifinal game, the Cagers weren't intimidated by the rep of the Bulls and quickly gained a 4-0 lead. It didn't last long as Chinedu Amaniyo completed a three-point play later to tie it at 4-4 and Dion Hudson tossed in a runner to give the Bulls their first lead 6-4. That was the first of a total of twelve lead changes that occurred in this tense and tight game.

Photo by Dave Keefer
Nicholas Kahui-Bruen

Nicholas Kahui-Bruen nailed a three to give SV the lead back. But neither team held the lead for long in the early going. Christian Ngandu made a nice post move to put the Bulls back in front. Ngandu was quite impressive in the post area whenever he got the ball. Back came the Cagers as another impressive player Daniel Cox went coast to coast for a layup. He soon added another driving hoop to his total and the Cagers led 11-8.

Photo by Dave Keefer
Alex Tiffin

Later, Shane Hunter stepped in the limelight for the Bulls and gave them the lead for a while after hitting a three-pointer to make it 12-11. Ngandu extended the lead to 20-15 with another strong move in the paint. Although not as strong, Cager Alex Tiffin was equally as effective as Ngandu in the post. His bucket cut the Bulls lead to three at 20-17 but a great putback by Joe Stein at the halftime buzzer gave the Bulls a 22-17 lead and growing confidence that they were starting to gain control.

Not so, as the Cagers would come out for second half play with an 18-6 run. Trailing 24-19, the Cagers ran off six straight points, four by Tiffin, to reclaim the lead at 25-24. In yet another lead change, the Bulls answered to go ahead 26-25 and then regained possession of the ball. But Grant Keller got a steal and layup and soon the Cagers would begin to pull away a little.

Layins by Mark Friedman and Cox finished the 18-6 run and the Bulls were reeling a bit as the scoreboard read 35-28. Ngandu restored some order for the Bulls with a strong hoop in the paint. SV Cagers answered with a hoop and it was 37-30. Time was called with 8:17 remaining in the game. That was the last "breather" either team had the rest of the way because the game tightened up and stayed that way.

Back came the Bulls. Ngandu got the ball under the hoop and that meant two points. Joe Stein drove in for another two and the Bulls were back in business, trailing only 37-34. Stein soon got open for another short hoop but Cox was there to stuff this one and started a fastbreak the other way that culminated with a James Whalen putback. The Cagers led 39-34 with 7:10 to play.

Photo by Dave Keefer
Dushon Carter

There were still multiple lead changes on the way. The Bulls' three-point specialist Dushon Carter fired one up but was fouled and went to the line for 3 FTs. He made 2-3 but the Cagers followed with a deuce to regain the five-point lead at 41-36. The Bulls were not deterred and when Ngandu converted a layin they led 42-41. Friedman didn't let the Bulls enjoy a long lead as he quickly put the Cagers on top with two free throws at the 4:22 mark. With time winding down, much of the remainder of the scoring would come from the free throw line.

Ngandu hit 1-2 FTs to tie the game at 43-43. Cox hit both ends of a one-and-one to give the edge to SV 45-43. With 3:47 left John Stein got a huge putback for the Bulls to tie it up again at 45-45. Free throws became critical as time started to become a big factor. Keller hit two for the Cagers; Hudson answered with two for the Bulls. 47-47 with 2:50 left. Amaniyo had a chance to put the Bulls back on top with 2:20 left and did so, hitting the front end of a one-and-one. Neither team scored again until 1:01 remained.

Photo by Dave Keefer
James Whalen

That's when Whalen hit two free throws to give SV Cagers the lead for good at 49-48. Whalen added to his heroics by converting a back door layup with 32 seconds left to give the Cagers a three-point lead at 51-48. The Cagers did a beautiful job of handling some great pressure by the Bulls before Whalen finally broke free. The Bulls had their chances down the stretch but they couldn't get the shots to fall. After Whalen's layup, Hudson made a strong drive in traffic but his shot rimmed out and the Bulls had to foul.

The Cagers had a chance to put the game away but missed two free throws with 16 seconds left. Given another chance, the Bulls needed a three to tie. They almost got it. Hudson forced one up from the corner and missed but Carter got open behind the arc and had a good look. He fired at the buzzer and the shot looked good but wouldn't go down. The Cagers avoided a second overtime in one day and prevailed for the win. (In the Cagers' semifinal the Westsiders' Derek Brown hit a three at the buzzer to send the game into overtime).

Photo by Dave Keefer
Dion Hudson

Post-game notes:
This result should really come as no surprise. Coach Tim Bruen's SV Cagers have now won 7 of the last 10 tournaments they've entered and during this streak have won 38 of 40 games. RC Bulls coach Ron Austin was gracious in defeat and had many nice words for the Cagers, calling them "a very quality team."

We'd love to see a rematch and hope fans would keep some of the rhetoric low key and follow the lead of the players who played all out and showed respect out there for each other. There's no need for either team to make excuses. Both teams are well coached and have players that understand the game.

	Photo by Dave Keefer
	Daniel Cox

One factor we think that played in the Cagers' favor was that the Bulls could never gain a large enough lead to take the Cagers out of their zone. The Bulls had an advantage in athleticism that may have worked in their favor in man-to-man coverage.

We wondered why Ngandu didn't get the ball more. He seemed unstoppable every time he got a touch in the post. The Cagers strong zone obviously was a major factor.

We quickly jotted down a few stats out of the scorebook before gathering the teams for team photos after the game. Hopefully we got them correct:
SV Cagers: Alex Tiffin 18, Daniel Cox 15.
RC Bulls: Joe Stein 14, Christian Ngandu 12.