LYNWOOD, Ca. – Saturday evening’s first-round of play set the stage for the semifinals – and title game – on Sunday during the third annual Ron Massey Memorial Fall Hoops Classic at Lynwood High.
Santa Ana Mater Dei (68-52 over Encino Crespi on Saturday) will take on Corona Centennial (57-51 over Long Beach Poly) at 11:20 a.m. in the first championship semifinal Sunday.
In the second semi, at 12:30 p.m., Las Vegas Bishop Gorman (72-48 over Rancho Santa Margarita/Santa Margarita) faces Torrance Bishop Montgomery (73-64 over Eastvale Roosevelt).
The eight-team tourney’s seventh- (1:40 p.m.), fifth- (2:50), third- (4 o’clock) and championship-games (5:10) follow in order after the semifinals.
Consolation semifinals begin at 9 a.m. with Crespi vs. Long Beach Poly followed by Santa Margarita-Roosevelt at 10:10.
In non-tourney (showcase) games Sunday – on Court 2 – Lynwood takes on Woodland Hills Taft at 10:10, followed by Redondo Beach Redondo-Montebello Cantwell-Sacred Heart (11:20); West Hills Chaminade-Lynwood (12:30 p.m.); Santa Monica Crossroads-Villa Park (1:40) and Orange Lutheran-Pasadena (2:50).
On Saturday Mater Dei fell behind by as many 14 (26-12) and 13 (29-16) points before getting to within 39-35 at intermission against Crespi, which sizzled from the perimeter in the first half.
But the Monarchs did a better job of getting the Crespi jump shooters out of rhythm in the second half while their Spencer Freedman-directed transition and half-court offenses picked Celtics’ defense apart.
Junior forward Harrison Butler – along with point guard Freedman, one of seven Monarchs on hand Saturday who played a lot last season – led Coach Gary McKnight’s squad with 21 points.
Coach Russell White’s Celtics were without two 2015-16 starters in all-Southern Section guard Brandon Williams (resting a sore knee) and forward Anthony Booker (he’s playing football).
In the second tourney quarterfinal on Saturday, Bishop Gorman scored 13 of the game’s first 15 points, pushed its advantage to 18 points (39-21) at intermission and cruised over Santa Margarita, which was minus two starters in forward Adrease Jackson and guard Pearson Parker, who were visiting Montana State and TCU, respectively.
Junior forward Jamal Bey led Bishop Gorman with 14 points while junior post Jordan Guest had 15 for Santa Margarita.
Seniors Christian Popoola Jr (who is committed to BYU) and Charles O’Bannon Jr. (who is considering UCLA, USC, North Carolina State and Texas) also played well for Bishop Gorman.
After trailing for all the way, Long Beach Poly got 15 second-half points from Loyola Marymount-bound forward Zafir Williams and was tied with Centennial, at 51, with less than a minute to go.
But the Jackrabbits couldn’t secure a defensive rebound after a Huskies’ missed shot and senior point guard Isom Butler hit a 14-footer with 56 seconds to go.
Six-foot-four freshman Jaylen Clarke led the Huskies with 14 points while 6-9 Myles Johnson of LBP led all scorers with 16 points.
In the last of the quarterfinals Saturday night Roosevelt, behind the jump shooting of University of California (Berkeley version)-bound Jemarl Baker, led most of the way before Bishop Montgomery pulled away down the stretch behind senior Ethan Thompson and junior David Singleton, who scored 16 points apiece in the second half and finished with 26 each.
Baker hit six 3s and scored a day-high 32 points while Santa Margarita transfer J.T. Robinson scored added 25 points for Roosevelt.
Each team was minus a key senior, Bishop Montgomery San Diego State-bound Jordan Schackel and Roosevelt 6-6 forward Matt Mitchell.
Teams winning “showcase” games on Saturday were Cantwell-Sacred Heart (51-47 over Temecula Rancho Christian); Long Beach Jordan (36-33 over L.A. Price); Lynwood (62-49 over Studio City Harvard-Westlake); Inglewood (56-49 over Cerritos Gahr); Oak Park (71-65 over Heritage Christian); Rancho Christian (49-47 over Pasadena); Orange Lutheran (58-55 over Redondo); and Huntington Beach Edison (45-40 over Compton).
Senior guard Chris Williams scored 27 points for Orange Lutheran.
Leave a Reply