PHOENIX – It took the last of the day’s four games to provide a contest whose outcome was in question to the end during Friday’s Hoophall West High School Invitational at Grand Canyon University.
The Scottsdale (AZ) Desert Mountain Wolves – behind the jump shooting of senior Will Goff – built a 15-point advantage after a quarter then had to hold their collective breath as Gilbert (AZ) Mesquite’s Nick Daley missed a 3-point attempt with a second to go for a 62-59 victory.
The Wildcats actually went up by four points early in the fourth quarter before Desert Mountain, led by senior guard Roland Rhymes (14 points and six assists) and senior posts Jordan Higgins (nine points and six rebounds) and Jordan Lossman (10 and six), regained possession of the lead.
The left-handed Goff (who knocked in three 3s in the first quarter) finished with a game-high 18 points.
Saturday’s action in the final day of the inaugural event gets under way at 2 in the afternoon (MST) when Gilbert (AZ) tips off with Scottsdale (AZ) Chaparral.
Santa Ana (CA) Mater Dei, led by University of Arizona-bound Stanley Johnson, takes on Houston Yates at 4.
Mouth of Wilson (VA) Oak Hill Academy faces Las Vegas Bishop Gorman at 6 with two of Arizona’s best squads, Phoenix Shadow Mountain and Tempe Corona del Sol, wrapping things up at 8.
Ticket information can be found at http://www.thehoophallclassic.com/west/
In Friday’s other three games:
*Oak Hill 102, Yates 56: The game proved to be just an extended layup drill – more accurately, dunking drill – for Coach Steve Smith’s Warriors, who came out to play for an intoxicating number of slams after passing through Yates’ gambling full-court pressure, or beating the Lions porous transition defense.
North Carolina State-bound twins Cody (a game-high 21) and Caleb Martin (19) combined for 40 points for Oak Hill, with the 6-foot-6 Caleb adding team-bests of 10 rebounds and five assists.
Damion Lewis led the Lions with 16 points but missed 17 of his 23 shots on a night when the Lions shot .284 from the field, failing on 25 of 33 shots from behind the arc.
*Bishop Gorman 63, Orange Lutheran 42: The Gaels bounced back effectively from their loss to Cliff Alexander and Chicago Curie last Saturday, pulling away midway through the third quarter after leading just 38-34.
Senior guard Noah Robotham (who had a career-best during the loss in Chicago) led Bishop Gorman with 14 points and five assists.
Junior posts Chase Jeter (11 and 12) and Stephen Zimmerman (10 and six) combined for 21 points and 18 rebounds, respectively, for the Gales.
Juniors C.J. Hankins (15 points) and Rogers Printup (12) did their best to keep the Lancers close before things began to get out of hand in the third quarter.
*Avondale (AZ) Westview 54, Goodyear (AZ) Millennium 31: Seniors Isaiah Bailey (17 points) and Andre Adams (14 points, six rebounds and three blocked shots) helped their team overpower the Tigers – 17-zip – during the fourth quarter in the first game of the day.
The 6-8 Adams should be among the most heavily recruited seniors in the west during the spring if his academics meet NCAA initial eligibility standards.
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