LAS VEGAS – The Chino Hills Huskies pretty much controlled things from the opening tip Tuesday night to extend their two-year winning streak to 46 and bag Platinum Division championship hardware in the process during the finale of the fifth Jerry Tarkanian Classic at Bishop Gorman.
The Huskies never trailed while knocking off previously unbeaten Mater Dei, 84-73, as seniors Gelo Ball (25 points, seven rebounds and four assists) and Eli Scott (eight points and 16 rebounds) shared division co-Most Outstanding Player honors.
The Monarchs (11-1) committed 11 turnovers in the first half but were able to stay within 36-31 at intermission, largely because of the 14-point effort over the first 16 minutes by senior forward Justice Sueing.
Junior point guard Spencer Freedman (who finished with nine points, nine assists and three steals according to my unofficial stats) scored on a floater on the first possession of the second half to get the Monarchs to within three points.
But the Huskies scored the next five points and were never closer than within six points (the last time with a little less than eight minutes to go) the rest of the way.
On a night when sophomore point guard Melo Ball (21 points and nine assists) had a frigid shoot performance, missing 24 of 32 shots from the floor, the Huskies (11-0) of Coach Stephan Gilling got a huge offensive infusion from another sophomore guard, Phaquan Davis.
Davis hit four 3s – three of those in the final eight minutes as Mater Dei tried to get its deficit to a manageable number.
When the programs last met (on Feb. 26 of last season), the Huskies rolled to a 102-54 victory – win No. 30 in the streak – during a semifinal of the CIF Southern Section Open Division playoffs.
The best sophomore big man in the western U.S., Onyeka Okongwu, turned in another impressive performance for the Huskies with 14 points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots.
Scott, who signed with Loyola Marymount last month, was an overwhelming presence under the backboards all tournament – especially over the past three games when he grabbed 48 rebounds.
Sueing finished with 27 points, seven rebounds and two assists while junior forward Michael Wang also helped keep things from getting too far out of hand for the Monarchs in the second half with 14 of his 17 points.
In the Platinum third-place guard, freshman guard Noah Taitz sank a layup with two seconds to go to give the Bishop Gorman Gaels a 66-64 win over Eastvale Roosevelt.
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