Prep Basketball : Idolor Hits Key Shot as Van Nuys Wins, 56-53

Guard Maurice Idolor’s jump shot with 20 seconds left in overtime foiled Marshall’s plan and lifted visiting Van Nuys to a 56-53 victory in an East Valley League game Friday afternoon.

Idolor added a free throw with seven seconds left to put the finishing touches on a 13-point performance, including 11 in the second half. He also directed two perfect alley-oop passes to center Anthony Cook, who turned them into slam dunk baskets.

Van Nuys is 11-2, 2-0 in league. Marshall, 9-4 overall, 1-1 in league, tied the score at 53-53 on a shot by Jasen MacKenzie with 1:10 remaining in the extra period, then fell back into a tough man-to-man defense, focusing on the 6-8 Cook, who has signed with Arizona.

So that left things up to Idolor, who took the game-winner from just inside the foul line on the right side. “The play wasn’t really designed for me,” Idolor said. “We just worked it around and were hoping for a good shot. But they were really overplaying Anthony. All of a sudden there was no one in front of me. So I just dribbled in. I knew it was in as soon as I took it.”

Marshall, paced by MacKenzie’s 18 points, had a chance to tie, but Jimmy Rudy’s jump shot would not drop and Idolor grabbed the rebound, was fouled and then made the clinching free throw.

Cook was relieved that he and his teammates had not lost their poise against Marshall.

“This is a tough place to win at,” Cook said. “Man, last season we lost by 18 in this place. They beat us bad. It’s smaller than a regular court and with the wall so close it really makes their press tough. We talked about how important it was to come here and get ‘em back. I’m just glad to get out of here. Now, we get them at our place.”

Marshall Coach Sandy Greentree, who has won league titles in three of the last four seasons, saw a possible chance to win in regulation disappear when his team was whistled for a three-second violation with three seconds remaining. Just as the whistle blew, junior Jerry Simon, who finished with 17 points, went up for a jump shot and appeared to be fouled by Van Nuys’ Pat Meyer.

“We could have won with a little luck there at the end,” said Greentree, who also lamented the fact that his team managed to convert only 5 of 14 free throws. “It was a tough time to get that call. But we just couldn’t make our free throws.

“At the end we didn’t want to give them an unguarded shot. We concentrated on Cook, but I have to admit 20 (Idolor) surprised me when he went to the basket. It was a nice move.”

Meyer, who also finished with 13 points, had been a game saver earlier when he made one of two free throws with 1:21 left in regulation to tie the score at 49-49.

Van Nuys Coach Jeff Halpern was elated.

“I wasn’t coaching last season, but they came here and got beat real bad,” Halpern said. “We talked about how important it was to keep our patience. This place is very tough to win at. It’s a great advantage for them and they play very well here. Sandy does a great job. So, you better believe that this feels good.”