Monday night SLO action

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SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA – Anyone willing to invest 12 hours of his or her life in the Mission Prep gymnasium Monday was treated to eight nifty high school basketball games in return.

And the semifinal action in the National and Elite divisions of the school’s annual Christmas Classic produced the participants in what should be a couple of terrific championship games on Tuesday evening.

The host school’s team – led by forward Zach Allmon, one of California’s most underrated players – will take on Cypress Bay (from Weston, Fla.) in the 6:15 p.m. (Pacific Time) Elite title game with Woodland Hills (a Los Angeles suburb) Taft facing Del Mar (a town in San Diego County) La Costa Canyon at 8 for the National crown.

I was one of the many leaving the building with a tender tailbone Monday night and here are my takes on each of the games:

NATIONAL DIVISION

(Championship semifinals)

Woodland Hills Taft 54, Seattle Prep 46: Under first-year coach and long-time NBA point guard Jason Hart, the Taft Toreadors are the choice of many to win an L.A. City championship.

And a big reason why is the presence in a Taft uniform of 6-foot-7 senior Anthony January Jr., who made his debut for Hart’s team Monday in his first “real” high school action since leaving Compton High early last December.

January scored eight points upon his first appearance a few minutes into the first quarter, and later added a spectacular follow dunk in the second quarter before finishing with 14 points.

The difference in the team being able to hold off one of Washington’s best teams was the play at both ends of the floor of 6-3 junior Kris Yanku, who scored a game-high 23 points and probably had four or five steals as Seattle Prep was never able to get any closer, late, than to within four points.

A Seattle Prep sophomore, 6-8 Josh Martin, had a couple of sweet dunks of his own. He also hit a deep 3 in the second quarter.

La Costa Canyon 63, Phoenix Desert Vista 52: San Diego State-bound Matt Shrigley led the way for the winners with 27 points, accumulated via a collection of deep jump shots and vertical-octane fueled dunks.

A reason argument could be made that the 6-5 Shrigley is as good as any senior prospect in California – with the exception of 6-9 Grant Jerrett (La Verne Lutheran).

Playing well for the squad from Arizona was 6-6 Danny Powell (an Eastern Washington signee in November), who scored 22 points.

Powell is built like a tight end but displayed a consistent jump shot just short of the 3-point arc.

(Consolation semifinals)

Fresno (Calif.) San Joaquin Memorial 40, Ft. Lauderdale (Fla.) Dillard 37: Six-six senior Royshown Snowden hit a 3-pointer from the left corner with 52 seconds remaining for the go-ahead points in his team’s eventual victory and also snagged the game’s final defensive rebound.

Center Robert Upshaw, who signed with Kansas State last month, hit a couple of jump hooks and blocked four or five shots for the winners while the senior frontcourt duo of 6-8 Staphon Blair and 6-6 Terrance Smith (22 points) was impressive at times for the squad from Florida.

  Santa Maria (Calif.) Righetti 58, Los Angeles Washington 56: Senior forward Hunter Walker scored 19 points – most of those after intermission – to help his team hold off one of the teams expect to challenge Taft for an L.A. City title.

Another senior forward – Isaiah Hicks, who played his first three years at Jordan in Long Beach – led Washington with 16 points.

 ELITE DIVISION

(Championship semifinals)

Welton (Fla.) Cypress Bay 48, Riverside (Calif.) JW North 44: Slender guard Shea Jones had 21 points, four rebounds and four assists to help his team old off a late charge from the Southern California squad and get into Tuesday night’s title contest.

Jones, who signed with Presbyterian in November and is the son of ESPN broadcaster Mark Jones, was the best point guard on display Monday.

  San Luis Obispo Mission Prep 65, Oxnard Santa Clara 54: “Sleepers” are almost non-existent commodity these days in the world of college basketball recruiting because the seemingly endless number of summer camps and tournaments in which college coaches can peruse prospects from coast to coast – and beyond.

But the Cal Poly Mustangs of Coach Joe Callero – whose campus is located just a few blocks from Mission Prep – scorched that theory with the November signing of 6-7 Zach Allmon.

   Allmon, along with Matt Shrigley and Anthony January, one of three most spectacular leapers  in action Monday, scored 29 points and grabbed 23 rebounds for the host school’s team, which advanced to the title game.

(Consolation semifinals)

Orinda (Calif.) Miramonte 85, N. Hollywood (Calif.) Campbell Hall 63: Six-five junior Kiran Shastri scored 31 points while teammates Ross Anderson and Joey Goodreault added 18 and 16, respectively.

Freshman guard Aaron Holiday – yes, if you wonder, he is the brother of Jrue Holiday of the Philadelphia 76ers and of former University of Washington standout Justin Holiday – scored a day-high 39 points.

 Los Angeles Brentwood 73, San Luis Obispo 67: Six-six junior post Leland King had 31 points for the winning squad, which is coached by former UCLA guard Ryan (Moose) Bailey.

TUESDAY’S SCHEDULE: (Elite) 9 a.m. Campbell Hall-San Luis Obispo; Noon, Brentwood-Miramonte; 3, JW North-Santa Clara; 6:15, Cypress Bay-Mission Prep; (National) 10:30 a.m., Dillard-Washington; 1:30 p.m., San Joaquin Memorial-Righetti; 4:30, Seattle Prep-Desert Vista; 8, Taft-La Costa Canyon.