FABULOUS 44 BASKETBALL ALL-STAR GAMES : South Rallies Behind Defense for Victory

IRVINE —  After scoring 24 points in the Fabulous 44 California Prep basketball game Sunday, Earnest Killum of Lynwood High School wasn’t talking about his dunks or his spinning moves to the basket.

He was talking about team defense.

Wait a minute. Team defense? In an all-star game?

But that was how the South rallied from a 15-point deficit in the second half to beat the North, 127-109, in front of 1,500 fans in the state all-star game at the Bren Center.

“We weren’t worried when we were behind,” said Killum, who made 10 of 14 shots from the field and was named the most valuable player of the South team. “We just knew we had to concentrate and work harder on defense.

“We just weren’t playing any defense at all earlier,” said Killum, who’s headed to Oklahoma in the fall. “They (the North) were doing a good job on transition and we weren’t keeping up.”

And the South had plenty catching up to do.

The South made its move trailing, 94-79, with just more than 11 minutes left. But when El Cajon Christian’s Tony Clark hit a jumper with 4:30 remaining, the South had tied the score, 105-105.

“I never thought at any time we would lose this game,” said Lakewood Coach Tim Sweeney, who coached the South. “When we got down (15), the kids were very upset and I had to calm them down.

“The key for us was that we shored up our defense. We had a quicker lineup with (Compton Dominguez’ Jeff) Rogers, Killum and (Oxnard Santa Clara’s Shon) Tarver.”

Tarver and Lakewood Artesia’s Ed O’Bannon, both orally committed to Nevada Las Vegas, scored 21 points each for the South. Clark added 15 points and Rogers had 14 for the South.

“All-star games are to show what you can do offensively,” O’Bannon said. “That’s why the score was so high. But defense is something you have to want to do. Once they got the lead, we figured we better play defense.”

The rules limited the teams to man-to-man defenses, and the South’s quick lineup pressured the North in the final four minutes while going on a 22-4 run.

Still, the South had a hard time stopping Oakland Skyline’s Rahim Harris, who scored a game-high 28 points and was named most valuable player of the North team.

San Francisco Riordan’s Dwayne Fontana had 17 points and San Mateo Aragon’s Jimmie Pryor added 14 for the North.

O’Bannon said he was “frustrated” offensively. He made six of 11 shots from the field and was nine of 14 from the free-throw line.

“My shot wasn’t falling and I was fumbling the ball a lot,” he said.

While the game ended on a defensive note, it began on an offensive one.

The contest was only eight seconds old when Tarver grabbed a miss by Clark and jammed it to give the South a 2-0 lead.

Both teams built small leads throughout the first half. Killum hit a three pointer with 6:19 left in the first half to give the South a 51-43 lead.

But 10 points from Pryor, including eight in a 1:26 span, fueled a 19-4 run that gave the North a 62-55 lead. The score was tied, 68-68, at halftime.

The North took control early in the second half with a pair of streaks.

Harris had a dunk, scoop shot and two jumpers as the North went on a 14-7 run and took an 82-75 lead.

The South cut the deficit to 82-78, but the North’s Kareem Anderson’s dunk and three-pointer keyed a 12-1 run to give the North its biggest lead, 94-79.

Then the comeback began.

Killum scored the next five points. O’Bannon had a layin followed by a dunk by Killum.

By the time O’Bannon and Killum were finished, the South had rallied to tie, 105-105, before pulling away for the victory.

Los Alamitos center Robert Conlisk, who finished with six points, five rebounds and two blocked shots, said the South players had to change their attitude to come back in the second half.

“(The North) stunned us,” he said. “We were out there throwing half-court alley-oop passes and showing off and we fell behind. We had to settle down.”

Fabulous 44 Notes

Capistrano Valley’s Scott McCorkle, who is headed for Syracuse, made only two of nine shots and finished with six points. . . . Mater Dei’s Andy Karich and Fremont American’s Jeff Garcia were the only players who failed to score. . . . Greg Katz, co-director of the event, said he was pleased with the inaugural games, although they drew only 1,500 fans to the 5,000-seat Bren Center. “I’ve said before that I wouldn’t base this game on attendance,” he said. “The players said they had a great time. It would be a waste to have 5,000 fans here and have the players go home crying and complaining that they didn’t have a good time. But we’re going to take a look at the game and we might think about going at night (instead of a 1 p.m. start).”