After losing its opening game in the Monterey Bay Classic to Sierra on Thursday, Irvine Valley bounced one of its best games of the season Friday, defeating Hartnell, 67-47, Friday.
IVC just coudn't catch up to a hot shooting Sierra squad in the opener on Thursday.
Sierra shot 47.1 percent (24 of 51) and received 28 points on 11 of 15 shooting from Garret Dutro in the 75-60 victory.
Irvine Valley was paced by sophomore post player Matt Mowers with 25 points and 14 rebounds and freshman guard Ahmad Alhammouri added 16 points.
But as a team, IVC shot just 39.7 percent (23 of 58) from the field.
Irvine Valley was much better on Friday in a consolation game against Hartnell.
It was close at the half with the Lasers leading Hartnell, 29-27.
But IVC took control in the second half, out-scoring Hartnell, 38-20, to win, 67-47.
Irvine Valley led, 41-37, midway through the second half and then went on a 12-0 run. It started with a basket at the rim by Mowers.
Sophomore guard Sam Meza-Tallada played a big part in the run. He grabbed an offensive rebound and scored and stole the ball and scored.
Fresshman Santos Cordero had a steal and a layup to put IVC ahead, 49-37, and two free throws by freshman forward Tyler Harris knocked down two free throws to make it 51-37.
A layup y Zeno Calastas gave Irvine Valley a 53-37 advantage with 6:54 to play.
And it was 60-38 after a layup by Alhammouri off of an assist from sophomore guard Nate Tuttle.
For the game, 13 Laser players scored, led by Mowers with 15 points. He added six rebounds and two blocks.
Meza-Tallada added 10 points and four rebounds and Ahammouri chipped in nine points for IVC.
Irvine Valley shot an impressive 57.8 percent (26 of 45) as a team from the field.
IVC moved its record to 7-3 overall and will close out the tournament on Saturday against host Monterey Peninsula at 1 p.m. in the consolation title game.
