REDONDO BEACH, Ca. – Day I of the 63rd Dijon Thompson Pac Shores Tournament featured eight first-round games.
But, in reality, two of those contests had more thrills and chills than the other six combined.
And one of those – the clash between Calabasas and Lakewood Mayfair – had something else the others didn’t: That would be 12 extra minutes of playing time.
Winners Monday were Calabasas (84-77 over Mayfair, with the aforementioned three four-minute overtime stanzas needed to seal the deal); host Redondo (75-47 over Harbor City Narbonne, in the final game of the evening); Gardena Serra (71-65 over Santa Monica); Bellflower St. John Bosco (58-55 over Newhall Hart); Compton (80-68 over North Hollywood Campbell Hall); L.A. Westchester (59-35 over Palos Verdes Estates Peninsula); Inglewood (70-58 over Lawndale); and Long Beach Poly (63-34 over Woodland Hills Taft).
With Redondo’s CIF Southern Section IAA girls’ championship volleyball team playing host to a State Southern Regional match with Palisades Tuesday night at 7 o’clock, the second day of Pac Shores action has shifted to Wednesday.
Championship quarterfinal action (in the school’s “main” gymnasium) get underway at 3:30 on Wednesday afternoon, with Compton facing St. John Bosco, followed by Inglewood and L.B. Poly (5); Westchester and Calabasas (6:30 and Redondo and Serra (8).
Consolations quarterfinals (in the “small” or auxiliary gym) are scheduled to begin at 3 on Wednesday, with Hart and Campbell hooking up, followed by Narbonne and Santa Monica (4:30), Peninsula and Mayfair (6) and Lawndale and Taft (7:30).
The Monsoons who played in the Open Division of the Southern Section playoffs last spring, knocking off West Hills Chaminade in the first round before falling to eventual state champion Mater Dei in the second round, fell behind (52-50) after a Conner Longmire 3 from the right corner.
But Oregon-bound guard Kendall Small sent the game into its first OT on a drive with 3.5 seconds to go.
The Monsoons led by seven points with a bit more than minute to go in the first OT but another Longmire 3 – this was also from the right corner with six seconds to go – meant another OT.
Small put his team up by two free throws by Ryan Ducar tied the score at 70 with 11 seconds to go and sent the game into his third – and, thankfully, last – OT.
It was then that the proverbial damn broke and the Coyotes – who won the Southern Section’s 2A title last March – pulled away.
Small had 33 points for the Monsoons while Longmire led his squad with 21.
Junior Vance Jackson scored 28 points for St. John Bosco but it was another junior – Joe Tate – whose jump shooting pulled the game out for the Braves.
Tate hit three 3s in the fourth quarter, the last of those from the left corner with 10 seconds to go for the go-ahead points in the victory.
Senior guard Myles Franklin helped his squad nearly pull off the upset with 29 points.
Senior point guard K.J. Feagin – the division’s co-Player of the Year after helping the Jackrabbits win the Southern Section’s 1AA title last spring – scored 20 points in Poly’s wire-to-wire blowout.
He figures to get the defensive assignment against junior Terrell Gomez Wednesday evening.
Gomez had 25 points to help Inglewood overcome Lawndale’s 6-9 college-bound seniors, Chimezie Metu (USC) and Buddah Jones (San Diego State).
Junior guard Leland Green scored 19 points and 6-foot-9 sophomore Billy Preston added 17 for Redondo.
Another point guard, Ellis Sallahudin, led a balanced attack with 13 points for Westchester.
And junior forward Raysean Scott led Compton with 24 points while senior Robert Lewis added 23 as the Tarbabes broke open a tight contest in the fourth quarter.
Campbell Hall played without UCLA-bound guard Aaron Holiday (knee injury).
Junior guard Jonah Mathews was the game’s high scorer (with 25 points) for Santa Monica but another junior, forward Ian Carter, led the victorious Serra Cavaliers with 17 points.
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