Whitmore emerges for OCC

COSTA MESA — Nothing is first-come, first-serve for the Orange Coast College men’s basketball roster. Those who play for Pirates’ Coach Steve Spencer don’t so much take a number as they take their chances.

Among the 17 players listed on the roster, all but a couple usually play and the lineup that finishes rarely bears much resemblance to the one that started.

On this full-court conga line, nothing but maximum effort is acceptable, making frequent substitutions a must. Slow starters and the selfish need not apply, and trying to predict where the scoring production will come from on any given night, can be harder than trying to chart minutes for this shape-shifting squad.

For more than 37 minutes of Wednesday’s nonconference clash with visiting Southwestern of Chula Vista, the Pirates were still searching for both a sustainable lead and a hero. On this night, they both arrived in the person of Martin Whitmore.

The freshman from Artesia High scored every point in an 8-0 OCC run over 82 seconds that helped turn a 62-62 deadlock into an eventual 72-62 triumph.

Whitmore, who tops a list of eight Pirates averaging between 5.2 and 12.3 points over the team’s first 10 games, sank two free throws with 2:14 left to give OCC (4-6) the lead for good. Fouled again while driving to the basket, Whitmore converted two more from the foul line with 1:48 left, then banked in a six-foot runner with 1:13 ticks remaining to all but clinch the win. He added two more free throws 21 seconds later to complete a 16-point performance that paced four Pirates in double figures.

“He has been our leading scorer,” Spencer said of Whitmore, who added five rebounds and a team-leading three steals in 22 minutes. “He’s multi-dimensional. He can shoot the three-pointer, he has a mid-range game, and he can drive. Tonight, the big thing was, he made his free throws [10 of 12].”

Whitmore’s timely emergence helped make a game that was seemingly played uphill, a positive that OCC hopes to build upon. Southwestern shot 52.2% from the field and had a 35-30 rebounding edge. But OCC won the turnover battle, 20-13, and had seven three-pointers to the Apaches’ two.

OCC led just once, 10-8, in the first half and its second lead — 57-56 with 4:49 left in the game — lasted just one second, as a foul after a missed free throw allowed the Apaches (3-8) to make two free throws at the other end.

Two more foul shots put the visitors up, 60-57, with 4:35 left, but they would score just two more points the rest of the way.

In addition to Whitmore’s heroics, freshman Chris Curtis drilled the last of his three three-pointers with 3:20 left that put the hosts up, 62-60. Curtis, who was four of seven from the field, including three of five from threedom, finished with 12 points and five rebounds in 20 minutes.

Sophomore Joseph Bonner (11 points in 10 minutes on five-of-five shooting, including one three ball) and sophomore Brian Helmuth (10 points and a team-leading seven rebounds in 16 minutes) rounded out OCC’s double-figure scorers.

All four Pirates in double figures came off the bench.

“Guys just out of high school are used to playing most of those 32-minute games,” Spencer said. “Here, they don’t have a lot of time to coast.”

Nonconference

Orange Coast 72, Southwestern 62

Sou – Omalade 20, Rodriguez 18, Vazquez 9, James 6, Nieves 6, White 2, Keaton 1.

3-pt. goals – Nieves 1, Vazquez 1.

Fouled out – None.

Technicals – None.

OCC – Whitmore 16, Curtis 12, Bonner 11, Helmuth 10, Hairston 6, Williams 4, Ford 3, Cook 2, Saldivar 2, Delaney 2, Thomassen 2, Chavez 2.

3-pt. goals – Curtis 3, Hairston 2, Bonner 1, Ford 1.

Fouled out – None.

Technicals – None.

Halftime – Sou, 40-37.

BARRY FAULKNER may be reached at (714) 966-4615 or at [email protected].