Vikings maul Mustangs, storm into NorCal finals
Aaron Ragen hits the first of back-to-back second half treys against LMC
The road to the CCCAA State Championship tournament for the West Valley Vikings became a bit straighter Saturday. Top-seeded West Valley used a patented second half run to stun #17 Los Medanos en route to an 84-51 3C2A NorCal semifinal playoff win in Saratoga.
Leading 52-41 with just over 11 minutes remaining, the Vikings (29-0), ignited by a pair of Aaron Ragen threes, outscored LMC 14-0 for a 66-41 lead at the 6:57 mark. The five-minute scoring drought put the Mustangs (21-9) in the rearview mirror as the Vikings put the pedal to the metal.
LMC would only put seven more points on the board, while WVC scored 17 for its 17th win by 20 points or more in 2023-24. In a contest between a pair of teams both averaging at least 80 points per game, it was the Viking defense that made a statement in holding LMC 30 points below their season average.
The Viking defense was on display in the opening half. Los Medanos scored on its first possession and was never again in the lead. Despite Rochea Butler's 11 points, including six inside the last four minutes of the half, the Vikings were up 35-24 at the break, holding the Mustangs to five lonely field goals.
Conference MVP Elijah Mahi countered Butler with 14 first-half points, including nine of WVC's first 12 points. Shakir Odunewu dominated the inside for eight points of his own. Both Mahi and Odunewu would roll in the second half.
Mahi hit for 12, including eight in the final six minutes, on his way to a game-high 26. Odunewu had 10 points in the second half to finish with 18. Ragen also hit double figures with 11. He brought the capacity crowd to its collective feet with back-to-back treys that give the Vikings an insurmountable 64-41 lead with eight minutes to go. Jake Davis delivered eight key points off the bench in the second half.
West Valley looks to return to the 3C2A State Championships for the third straight year. To book their ticket to Mt. San Antonio College March 15-17, they'll need to get past Big 8 champion and north #7 seed Sacramento City in Saturday's NorCal final in Saratoga. The Panthers (26-3) topped #9 Columbia 88-84 in Sacramento in the second round last Saturday.