Sperling grabs MVP in victory

City's Mike Vogt goes up for a shot during the City/County All-Star Boys Basketball Game June 18 at Clovis North. The City won 93-86.

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Buchanan's Brandon Sperling was The Clovis Independent's All-City Mr. All-Around this past season, and he showed it wasn't in vain at the 38th annual City/County All-Star Boys Basketball Game June 18 at Clovis North.

Sperling tallied a double-double (14 points and 14 rebounds), earning the game's MVP as the City squad rallied from an 18-point second-half deficit for a 93-86 victory.

"It was kind of weird, but we all gelled," Sperling said of the former league foes on his team. "We were just having fun."

The gelling took a while, though, as County went into the locker room with a 53-45 lead, and expanded it with a 12-2 run to open the second half.

"They told us in the locker room, we've got to play harder and be more competitive," Sperling said. "We were kind of tense in the first half."

With 18 minutes left, City coach Pat Geil (Memorial) gave his players a choice.

"We told them at halftime, 'You're just getting outplayed,' " Geil said. "They made the decision with 18 minutes left to get up and start pressing."

With the press disrupting County's offense, City chipped away at the lead and finally turned the tables on a ChaRunn Jones (Edison) 3-pointer with 7:10 remaining.

"I told Brandon Sperling, 'If we get the lead down to 10, we'll be all right,' " said Elliott Berry (Clovis West), who had eight points and 15 boards.

With the 6-foot-9 Berry, 6-3 Sperling and 6-7 Phillip Ward (Edison), City held a height advantage, but County countered with speed as 5-10 Austin Reid (Caruthers) created 3-point opportunities. He finished with 18 points.

Once City took the lead, it held it. The lead changed hands only once after the break.

Jones led City with a game-high 22 points. Eric Dunn (Hoover) scored 12 and Desi Barmore (Central) added 11.

Other Clovis Unified scorers were Ethan Larson (Clovis West) with six, Mike Vogt (Clovis West) with four and Rob Toloy (Clovis East) with two.