NORWALK – The Bishop Gorman High squad found itself in quite a predicament early in the second half – trailing by 15 points and facing the best big man in the country – Sunday afternoon at Cerritos College in the championship game of the 6th Ron Massey Fall Hoops Classic.
Not to worry, though.
Coach Grant Rice’s Gaels got a superb 12 or so final minutes from their terrific backcourt – notably junior point guard Zaon Collins (pictured) – to board the charter bus north for Las Vegas afterward with title hardware following their 78-72 victory over the Evan Mobley-led Rancho Christian Eagles.
The 6-foot Collins, the eight-team Challenge of the Champions bracket Most Valuable Player, scored 27 points and impeccably directed an attack that knocked in nine 3s – six in the second half including three from his classmate, Will McClendon (who finished with 16 points).
The 7-foot Mobley had 17 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and four blocked shots in his team’s 84-62 semifinal victory over another Las Vegas area team, Coronado, earlier Sunday.
But he was limited to 12 points (with 10 rebounds, five blocks and three assists) in the final and missed five of his final six shots as the momentum went 180 degrees in the Gaels favor, largely because of Collins’ play at both ends of the floor, the aforementioned jump shooting and the high-flying antics of forward Mwani Wilkinson.
And their cause was helped, too, in that 6-8, 250-pound sophomore Max Allen – despite picking up fourth fouls in the first half and his fifth (players were allowed a sixth before fouling out in the event) with 6:39 remaining – was on the floor, keeping his body on Mobley down the stretch.
The Eagles also didn’t help themselves during that decisive Bishop Gorman run, either, losing a sense for “time and score” while often terminating possessions – in which Mobley didn’t at least touch the ball – with ill-advised jumpers.
Bishop Gorman, which toppled Bishop Montgomery (57-45) in a Sunday morning semifinal, also got double-figure scoring from senior guard Noah Taitz (15 points, including three 3s) and Wilkinson (12).
Rancho Christian got a game-high 19 points from junior forward Luke Turner.
In the third-place game, Bishop Montgomery got a layup and free throw by junior guard Bryan Mex (a transfer from Leuzinger) with 6.1 seconds remaining to edge Coronado, 58-57.
Coronado stunned Mater Dei (73-72) in a first-round game Saturday night behind junior Jaden Hardy’s 36 points.
Hardy, who struggled against Rancho Christian (five of 19 shooting with nine turnovers) in a semifinal, was held out of the third-place game because of a sore ankle.
Corona Centennial toppled Mater Dei in the fifth-place game, 69-53, as senior guards Paris Dawson and D.J. Davis combined for 28 points for the Huskies.
The Monarchs, who got 23 points from junior forward Wilhelm Breidenbach, played without guards Devin Askew and Aidan Prukop (sore ankles) while starting guard, Ryan Evans, left the game late in the first half with a turned left ankle.
Joining Collins and Mobley as my “all-bracket” selections (each had to play all three games) were senior forward Isaiah Johnson (Bishop Montgomery), seniors Tyrelle Hunt (Durango) and Wilkinson (Bishop Gorman), and Breidenbach.
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