SANTA ANA, Ca. – Some 14 hours and 40 minutes after the first of what were to be nine games tipped off, the host Mater Dei High Monarchs finally held off Los Angeles Westchester, 63-60, very late Saturday night during the second and final day of the 18th Nike Extravaganza.
And, ooh, what a long day it was.
But for those who endured – and that’s as appropriate a word as I can conjure at the moment – the entirety of the nine games, it was worth the investment of a posterior likely to feel the impact of all that sitting and watching for at least a few days.
Many of the best teams and players in Southern California, with a couple of teams from Las Vegas and another from the Northern California sprinkled into the mix, were on display.
Mater Dei, Long Beach Poly, Etiwanda, L.A. Loyola and Mission Viejo – expected to be five of the top six seeds when the pairings for the CIF Southern Section’s IAA bracket is unveiled on Feb. 10 – were on display Saturday, as was Concord De La Salle, one of the strongest Division I programs in Northern California.
The host Monarchs came into the event top-ranked in California and, after a victory over Rialto Eisenhower in Friday’s first day of the competition, took a 23-1 record into their game with Westchester, which tipped off at 10:08 Saturday night.
The Comets were 21-5 after a key victory over Palisades Friday night and are expected to be El Camino Real’s toughest challenge for an L.A. City Div. I title next month.
And Coach Ed Azzam’s team proved just as tough a test for a Mater Dei team that has aspirations of capturing a third consecutive state title next month.
The Comets’ superior overall team quickness and depth were definite factors in three key Monarchs – senior Elijah Brown and juniors Stanley Johnson and Mario Soto – having to cope with foul problems through most of the game. In fact, each was playing with four early into the final quarter.
A follow shot by junior forward Nick Hamilton, with 1:57 remaining, gave the Comets what proved to be their final lead (at 55-54).
But the Comets couldn’t get any defensive stops down the stretch, and Johnson (who finished with a team-high 21 points and day-high 16 rebounds to help his team overcome his eight turnovers and 5 of 13 shooting from the field), Brown (19 points) and Soto (three of four from the line in the final minute) also knocked in free throws down the stretch.
In other games Saturday:
*Etiwanda 51, L.A. Loyola 24: The Eagles (21-2) are always one of the better half-court defensive teams in the region and they demonstrated why in this tilt, holding the Cubs (18-6) to 10 of 37 shooting from the field (.270) and forcing 18 turnovers.
Etiwanda led only 13-11 after a quarter but held the Lions – once again playing without standout junior point guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright (sore foot) – to just 11 points over the final 24 minutes.
The Eagles’ own touted junior playmaker, Jordan McLaughlin, didn’t play in the final quarter but was his team’s only double-figure scorer (11 points, including three 3s) to go with four rebounds, four assists and three steals.
Senior guard Sheldon Blackwell (arguably the Southland’s top perimeter defender; he helped hold Loyola’s terrific-shooting Trey Mason to two of 10 from the field) added eight points and three steals while future New Mexico Lobo Tim Myles had six points (all on dunks) and a game-high 11 rebounds.
*Long Beach Poly 60, Bellflower St. John Bosco 54: The Braves, playing without standout Isaac Hamilton (not suited up or in the gym due to undisclosed reasons), may have been short-handed but hung tough all the way before the Jackrabbits finally pulled away.
Hamilton’s younger brother, junior Daniel, never got untracked against Poly’s stout half-court defense (missing 15 of 19 shots from the floor and being limited to nine points) but sophomore Tyler Dorsey picked up some of the slack via a dazzling 24-point and 12-rebound effort.
The Jackrabbits (22-2) struggled to score every bit as much as did the Braves, hitting just 18 of 50 from the field (to SJB’s 19 of 52) but got 19 and 15 points, respectively, along with nine rebounds apiece, from seniors Roschon Prince and Jordan Bell.
And an added boost came via three 3s apiece from Kameron Burrell (who attended SJB as a sophomore) and sophomore Ke’Jhan Feagin.
*Concord De La Salle 59, Santa Ana Foothill 42: A terrific second quarter — in which it outscored the Knights by 14 points — provided more than enough cushion for the team from Northern California.
Six-five Elliott Pitts, who signed with the University of Arizona in November, led the way with 27 points, seemingly a dozen of them via layups after back-cuts out of the team’s “Princeton” half-court offense.
Senior point-guard Justin Davis had 13 points for Foothill while sophomore forward Eric Patton added 11.
*Bishop Gorman 72, Orange Lutheran 60: The team from Las Vegas built a 14-point advantage at intermission.
Things got a whole lot more difficult from that point on.
The Lancers, who belong to the Trinity League (along with other Nike Extravaganza participants Mater Dei, JSerra, were up by four points late in regulation but Rashad Muhammad eventually sent the game into OT with a 3-point attempt from the left corner for the team from Las Vegas.
Once the Gales got the reprieve, they seized control via a couple of quick steals and transition hoops and pulled away for the victory. Muhammad finished with a game-high 24 points.
Sophomore forward Kendall Lauderdale (17 points and 13 rebounds) was the Lancers’ best player Saturday on a day when Penn State-bound Payton Banks was four of 17 from the floor.
*Fairfax 55, JSerra 52: Seniors Jonathan Brown and Reggie Theus Jr. combined for 32 points and Fairfax without a desperation 3-point attempt at the buzzer to prevail during the afternoon/evening session.
The San Juan Capistrano version of the Lions — both teams are nick-named Lions — fired up 21 3s against the Fairfax zone and missed 19 of them while shooting just 17 of 54 overall for .315.
Junior guard Johnnie Vassar, who missed the potentially tying 3, led JSerra with 16 points but had four of his team’s 15 turnovers.
*Colony 57, Mission Viejo 55: The Titans built a 14-point advantage late in the third quarter and then held on when junior Chandler Hutchison missed a desperation 3 at the buzzer.
Mission Viejo played without its best player, 6-3 guard Evan Zeller, who suffered an ankle sprain in the Diablos’ South Coast League game with El Toro Wednesday night.
Unsigned 6-3 senior Everett Turner led the Titans with 24 points (18 of those in the first half) with six rebounds and six steals.
Notre Dame-bound (as a safety and wide receiver) Max Redfield had 15 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and three steals for the Diablos.
*Huntington Beach Ocean View 88, Las Vegas Durango 68: I looked up and saw Ocean View up, 33-21, as the clock expired and the buzzer sounded and I thought “Wow! That was a quick half”. But it was just the end of the first quarter, which should tell you how fast-paced the offense was – and how little defense was played.
Sophomores Tyler Burch (24) and Kendall Small (18) combined for 42 points while junior Dillon Reise added 20 and senior Josh Mishler 13 for the Sea Kings.
Six-three Tyler Watts, a left-handed unsigned senior who said he has a 3.6 grade point average, led Durango with 26 points.
*Los Alamitos 68, Upland 41: A balanced offense — five players scored from eight to 13 points — and solid defense were more than enough to help the Griffins roll in the game that tipped at 9 a.m. in front a couple of dozen spectators.
Senior guard Wes Mitter (who attended Mater Dei as a freshman) led the Griffins with 13 points while senior post Paul Kadletz added 12 points and 12 rebounds and junior forward Khalid Washington chipped in with a dozen points.
Upland, which shot just .319 from the field, was led by junior guard Deangelo Stowers’ 13 points.
And here’s a wrap on the three Nike Extravaganza games played on Friday night:
THE BIGGEST PLAYER in the Meruelo Athletic Center also proved to be the most productive Friday.
By the way, “and then some” could rightfully be attached to each part of that statement.
Center Mamadou Ndiaye, all 7-foot-5ish and 290 pounds or so of him, scored 34 points and grabbed 26 points to lead his Huntington Beach Brethren Christian team to a 50-34 victory over Anaheim Servite during one of the three boys’ games held during the opening action of the 18th Nike Extravaganza.
In the other boy’s tilts, San Juan Capistrano Saddleback Christian knocked off Rancho Santa Margarita’s Santa Margarita Christian, 73-65, while the host Monarchs overcame a sluggish start to pull away from Rialto Eisenhower, 78-63.
There isn’t anyone on the high school scene – and very few on the college or NBA landscape, come to think of it – who even reasonably “matches up” with Ndiaye in stature.
But the Friars have been a bit of a surprise this season, bringing a 15-9 overall mark and 3-5 record in the ultra-tough Trinity League into the game.
However, even their usually solid half-court defense and quality offensive execution wasn’t enough to alter the impact that Ndiaye (who came to the U.S. from Senegal several years ago and signed with UC Irvine in November) had at both ends of the floor.
Ndiaye blocked three shots but “altered” (and then some) a whole lot of others as the Friars were limited to 12 of 58 shooting from the field — .207 percent.
At the other end of the floor Ndiaye, despite often being swarmed by three defenders, hit 14 of 19 shots from the floor – many of those coming despite his feet barely leaving the floor.
He would have made a serious run at 50-points if he would have cashed in more often at the free-throw line (where he missed 14 of 20 attempts) or if the Warriors (19-3) wouldn’t have turned the ball over 24 times.
Louis Juego, a 5-8 junior, led the Friars with 20 points but missed 13 of his 20 shots from the floor.
In the first boys’ game (there were three girls’ games played), ever Saddleback Christian scored in double figures during an upset, of sorts, of Santa Margarita (like Servite and Mater Dei, members of the Trinity League).
Six-seven freshman Ershad Hunt led the victors (20-5) with 14 points and eight rebounds while blocking five attempts, while junior guard Miles Steward led the way with a game-high 23 points, eight rebounds and three assists.
Junior center Joe Furstinger, despite missing about 6 ½ minutes because of foul issues, paced the Eagles with 21 points, 14 rebounds, three steals and a blocked shot while classmate Devonte Klines, a point guard, had 13 points and five assists (but five of his club’s 20 turnovers).
With a critical Trinity League victory over Bellflower St. John Bosco Wednesday night and another Nike Extravaganza contest coming Saturday night against L.A. City power Westchester, Mater Dei Coach Gary McKnight started five reserves Friday night.
The Monarchs (23-1) trailed by as many as five points before he eased his starters onto the floor in the later part of the first period.
And then they were just sharp enough to move to a 10-point advantage at intermission and withstand the deep shooting (14 of 29 behind the arc) of the Eagles to finally pull away down the stretch.
Senior wing Elijah Brown, who committed to Butler a few weeks ago, led the Monarchs with 18 points while freshman center Michael Cage Jr. came off the bench to play 21 minutes and add 17 points, a team-high nine rebounds and account for all three of the shots that the Monarchs blocked.
Junior wing Stanley Johnson, who suffered from the flu leading into the game with SJB Wednesday night, was short of his usual self Friday night but still checked with 15 points, three rebounds, two steals and two assists.
