A 3-Pointer by Chaffey Sinks No. 1

LANCASTER — Three-point shots rained from seemingly everywhere on the court in Wednesday night’s Foothill Conference interdivision men’s basketball game between Chaffey College and No. 1-ranked Antelope Valley.

None was bigger than the one the Panthers’ Willie Farley sank with a minute and a half left.

The 23-foot, off-balance, fadeaway jumper gave ninth-ranked Chaffey (14-8) a three-point lead and the Panthers went on to a 99-95 victory that snapped Antelope Valley’s winning streak at nine games and will most likely drop the Marauders from the top of the state rankings.

Antelope Valley (17-4) looked the part of the No. 1 team in the state for the first 34 1/2 minutes.

But after Michael Hamelin’s three-pointer gave the Marauders an 89-82 lead with 5:29 to play, Antelope Valley hit only two of nine shots and turned the ball over twice in their last 10 possessions.

“We just didn’t play well in the last six minutes,” Antelope Valley Coach Newton Chelette said. “We didn’t execute and we turned the ball over. You can’t beat talented teams when you play like that.”

Farley, who scored 17 of his 26 points in the second half, was guarded closely by Hamelin when he cast off his three-point bomb that broke a 92-92 tie, but he said there was no doubt in his mind that it was going in. Chelette agreed.

“I thought it was in,” Chelette said. “It had a good trajectory. It looked good to me when it left his hand.”

The Marauders had two chances to tie the score but Hamelin and Trevor Beal missed three-point shots and Farley’s two free throws with 10 seconds left finished off Antelope Valley.

“I felt that the pressure was on them because they were ranked No. 1,” Farley said. “But I also felt like the pressure was on me because we were playing without Greg Austin.”

Austin, a 6-foot-6 forward who was averaging 20.6 points and 8.4 rebounds per game, didn’t play because he was ejected from Saturday’s game against Victor Valley. Foothill Conference rules stipulate that if a player is ejected he must sit out the next game.

Shomario Richards had 28 points for Chaffey--making all six of his three-point shots--and John Burrell scored 27 for Antelope Valley.

Beal scored 18 and Hamelin had 17 points for the Marauders, who led, 57-50, at halftime after making 69.4% of their shots in the first 20 minutes.