LAS VEGAS – The top five seeds in the National Division won by an average margin of 21 points during Round of 16 games Friday on the second day of the second annual Tarkanian Classic at Bishop Gorman High.
Defending championship Santa Ana (CA) Mater Dei (72-58 over Las Vegas Clark), 2012 runner-up Gorman (65-49 over Sacramento Sheldon), Oakland (CA) Bishop O’Dowd (78-34 over Las Vegas Durango), Highland (UT) Lone Peak (70-54 over Modesto Christian) and Redondo Beach (CA) Redondo (63-46 over Portland Central Catholic) advanced to the quarterfinals that will be played Friday morning and afternoon.
The host Gaels will face Valor Christian of Colorado at 10 a.m.; O’Dowd takes on Woodland Hills (CA) El Camino at 11:20; Mater Dei meets Philadelphia Constitution at 12:40 p.m. with Redondo and Lone Peak hooking up in the final quarterfinal at 2 o’clock.
The semifinals will be played at the Orleans Hotel at 7 and 9 p.m.
There will be two prep school contests at the Orleans, with Centerreach (NY) Our Savior taking on Rockville (MD) Montrose Christian at 3 followed by Dallas Prime Prep and Henderson (NV) Findlay Prep at 5.
Highlights from some of the games played on Thursday:
*Valor Christian 67, Long Beach Poly 65: University of San Francisco-bound Chase Foster sank a layup with his off (right) hand at the buzzer to help his team pull it out after trailing by four points with less than a minute to play.
Foster finished with 24 points while senior swingman Chris Sullivan led Poly with 22.
*Bishop Gorman 65, Sacramento Sheldon 49: The Gaels had to withstand the stunning perimeter shooting – six 3s on their first six hoops – of the freshmen- and sophomore-dominated Huskies to earn their quarterfinal berth.
Juniors Nick Blair (15 points), Stephen Zimmerman (12) and Chase Jeter (11), and senior Noah Robotham (12) scored in double figures for the Gaels, who improved to 3-2 (the losses were to Chicago Curie and Mouth of Wilson, VA, Oak Hill Academy).
*Bishop O’Dowd 78, Las Vegas Durango 34: All of the other Platinum and Prep School Division games played Thursday were at least competitive but the Dragons – behind terrific juniors Ivan Rabb and Paris Austin and, seemingly, a legion of others – overwhelmed their local opponent from Jump Street Thursday afternoon in only their second game of the season.
Rabb (28 points) and Austin (15) led the way, with 23 of the 6-9 Rabb’s coming before intermission.
*Lone Peak 70, Modesto Christian 54: The Knights trailed at intermission by a point (31-30) before overwhelming the team from Central California over the final 16 minutes behind the multiple scoring skills of 6-foot-6 senior T.J. Haws (31 points).
*Mater Dei 72, Clark 58: This game was much more competitive than had been anticipated before the Monarchs pulled away down the stretch behind the power and skill of Stanley Johnson (34 points and 11 rebounds), who remains safely on track for a second consecutive Most Valuable Player honor in this event.
*Redondo 63, Central Catholic 46: The team from Portland had a contingent of key players who just arrived from the school’s state championship-winning football program.
And those grid iron standouts hung tough with the defending California State Div. II champions before succumbing the down the stretch to the Sea Hawks’ superb all-around play, led by senior point guard Ian Fox (all-tournament at this event a year ago), who finished with 16 points.
*Woodland Hills El Camino Real 58, Bountiful (UT) 55: Senior guard Maleke Haynes hit a 3 in the closing moments to propel his team into the quarterfinals in the tightest games of the day in the division.
*Philadelphia Constitution 58, Phoenix Pinnacle 45: Junior forward Gilbert Ahmad matched his uniform number (21) in scoring to help his team to a mild upset and a Friday morning pop at Mater Dei.
*Centerreach Our Savior New American 69, Dallas Prime Prep 58: Damon Wilson (19) and Kobie Eubanks (15) for 34 points as the team from New York which shook off a wobbly start.
