In front of a packed house in North Long Beach on Friday night, the Poly Jackrabbits showed their depth with a 17-point turnaround in the final five minutes of the game that took them from a nine-point deficit to a big win, 65-57, to stay undefeated in the Moore League (Jordan drops to 1-3).  The heroes of the nigh ended up being Robert Nixon, Jr., who scored 12 of his 23 points in the final period, and Chris Camper, who had two huge buckets down the stretch.

Until the fourth quarter, the game never felt particularly in rhythm, since it was both physical and tightly officiated, but both defenses definitely showed up.  Foul trouble early changed the dynamic of the game, as Poly’s freshman Roshcon Prince picked up three quickly (and ended up fouling out of the game with just around ten minutes of playing time), and Jordan’s big man Darius Williams got in trouble early and never became effective (scoring just six points while Poly’s Ryan Anderson dominated in his absence).

With Prince out, Poly struggled to get any dribble penetration, and never got into a good shooting rhythm with their guards.  Jordan built a 16-11 lead at the close of the first, and carried a 29-27 lead into halftime.  But a furious start to the second half, which carried into the fourth quarter, made it look like the defending League Champs were going to put the game away.  After Deandrae Thompson’s bucket with 5:02 left in the game, they had a nine-point lead, 53-44.  It was, though, the last field goal Jordan would make, as their shooters went cold and they never fully implemented a press that seemed to disrupt the Rabbits when it was employed.

Poly, from that point in the game, went on a 10-0 tear, and closed the game 21-4 to seal another league victory.  “We didn’t convert our free throws,” said Rabbits coach Sharrief Metoyer, “or we wouldn’t have been in that hole in the fourth quarter.”

While neither team performed well from the charity stripe, despite ample opportunities on both ends, Poly did clutch up in the fourth, converting three and-ones and scoring twelve of their 27 fourth-quarter points from the line.  It was Nixon, Jr.’s twelve points (including an and-one to give Poly their first lead of the quarter, and three free throws down the stretch) that pushed them over the top, along with Camper’s buckets off the bench—he hit an open layup to wrest the lead away from Jordan the final time, at 59-57.

“That’s just depth,” said Metoyer.  “We have a lot of guys who come off the bench that we expect to make plays.  When [Shelton Boykin, out for the rest of the year with a wrist injury] went down, we needed someone to step up, and it’s been a different person every night.”

Anderson was a huge factor for Poly on both ends, with 20 points, double-digit rebounds, and six blocks, while Jordan struggled to find consistency on offense (Jesse Jones had 18 points and Isiah Hicks had 10).

Come back tomorrow for a full league standings box!