West hoop stars edged out

VISALIA -- It's not too often a player will smile after missing a shot.

Especially not a player with the intensity of Roy Ramirez.

But as a last second 3-point bucket rimmed out the former Hanford West point guard smiled and then laughed.

"Right when I let it go, I knew that it was hitting the back board," said Ramirez, whose West team lost to the East 76-75 Saturday in the fourth annual Tulare/Kings Basketball game at Golden West High.

"It was just a little too hard, but you know what I had fun. I really enjoyed playing in my second all-star game and with Scooter [Coleman], Jeff [Martin] and Brad [Ragonese] from Lemoore."

The West trailed 50-38 early in the second half before making a frantic rally late in the contest.

Ramirez scored 12 points had five assists, four steals and four rebounds.

Former Hanford West post player Coleman had seven points and 10 rebounds. Ragonese had a solid game with 12 points.

"It was another Kings/Tulare game that went down to the wire," West coach Tim Caudillo said. "I think they've all been pretty close. It was a fun game that's for sure."

The East's Jesse Servin was named Most Valuable Player. The Delano guard pumped in 12 of his 13 points in the second half.

Porterville's Thomas Nelson chipped in 16 points and Oscar Velasquez added eight for the East squad.

Lindsay's Jordan Lara led the West team with 17 points.

In the girls contest, the East squad beat the West 61-46.

Joanne Torrez of Cesar Chavez was name MVP, as she scored seven points. Strathmore's Lisa Lopez led the East with 11 points

Lemoore had a trio of players contribute for the West squad -- Sammie Greene had nine points and Alyssa Woods had five and Brandy Hurd chipped in three.

The East team got out to an early lead and led 33-19 at the half.