NORWALK, Ca. – The Mater Dei, Rancho Christian, Las Vegas Bishop Gorman and Bishop Montgomery teams won their first-round games by an average margin of 13 points Saturday night to advance to Sunday morning’s championship semifinals of the fifth Ron Massey Memorial Fall Hoops Classic at Cerritos College.
Game action on three courts (including Showcase games) begins at 9 a.m. Sunday.
The first Challenge of Champions winners’ bracket semifinal is scheduled at 10:10, when Mater Dei (an 81-73 winner Corona Centennial Saturday) faces Bishop Gorman on Court 2 (center).
Bishop Gorman blitzed Harvard-Westlake by scoring 25 of the games first 27 points en route to an eased up 72-52 win.
The second semifinal (also on Court 2), set to tip at 11:20, matches Rancho Christian and Bishop Montgomery.
Rancho Christian, behind a combined 30 points from The Brothers Mobley (6-foot-11 junior Evan scored 16 and 6-9, USC-bound Isaiah added 14), topped Santa Margarita, 64-57, despite a 26-point performance from UCLA-bound Jake Kyman.
In the last of the first-round games, Bishop Montgomery – despite playing without standout guards Gianni Hunt (visiting Oregon State) and Josh Vazquez (on a trip to the University of Montana) – pulled away down the stretch against Henderson (NV) Coronado, 77-61.
Junior guard Ryan Evan (a transfer from Santa Margarita/PICTURED) busted four first-half 3s and dropped in two more after intermission to finish with a team-high 20 points for Mater Dei.
Another junior, Jaylen Clark, led Centennial with 27 points while classmate D.J. Davis scored all 14 of his points after intermission to help the Huskies rally from a 22-point deficit.
One more standout guard from the Class of 202, Noah Taitz, paced Bishop Gorman with 27 points.
Bishop Montgomery used a strong effort from its frontline of seniors Nick Schrader (19 points) and Will Crawford (16) and junior Isaiah Johnson (14) while senior guard Jordan Archie stepped up in the absence of Hunt and Vazquez to chip in with 11 points.
Coronado stayed close most of the way via the offensive efforts of sophomore Jaden Hardy (28 points, 21 of those in the first half) and freshman Richard Isaacs Jr. (14, including four 3s).
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