NEWARK – Senior forward Devin Tillis scored 10 points and grabbed four rebounds in the fourth quarter to help Los Angeles Windward hold off Clovis West, 67-62, Saturday night in one of the seven games played in the 13th annual NorCal Tip-Off at Newark Memorial High.
The come-from-13-points-down-in-the-second-quarter victory pushed the Wildcats’ record to 5-0.
It gave the southern portion of California a split of the head-to-head contests with northern-based squads, coming immediately after San Francisco Riordan toppled San Juan Capistrano JSerra, 64-59.
Windward trailed by 10 points at intermission, and the margin might have been 20-plus if not for the production of sophomore guard Dylan Andrews who scored 14 of his eventual 25 points in the first 16 minutes.
Andrews (pictured) then sparked a 25-5 outburst for his team in the third quarter, scoring his final 11 points (five of six from the field, including a 3) with three assists and three rebounds
But the Wildcats weren’t able to pull away for anything approaching a “comfortable margin” because of the guy wearing 3 on his uniform for the Golden Eagles.
Cole Anderson, a 6-foot-3 junior, scored 16 of his eventual event-high 38 points in the fourth quarter – the last of those coming via a 3 from the left corner with about 20 seconds to go to get his team to within 63-62.
After a timeout, junior forward Brandon Richard was fouled for Windward and hit both free throws with 14.4 seconds remaining.
After another timeout, with 9.4 seconds to go, Anderson got a reasonable look at a typing jump shot but the ball was off the iron, the 6-5 Tillis rebounded, was fouled and dropped in his 20th and 21st points while also finishing with 11 rebounds and four assists.
Coach Colin Pfaff’s Wildcats won their first four games with nary an inkling of anxiety: The average margin was 36.5 points.
That was far from the case Saturday evening, though, but that was alright by Andrews relative to the long-term aspirations he and his teammates have for this season.
“This was good for us,” Andrews said, after the Wildcats were able to overcome not only the scoring display of Anderson but the Golden Eagles’ full-court pressure defense that harassed them throughout the contest.
“We’re going to have to win games like this against a lot of the kind of teams we’re going to play this season.”
Sam Houston State University-bound guard Bryce Monroe scored 33 points, including 19 in the second half and three free throws in the closing seconds, to help Riordan hold off JSerra.
Six-three Ian Martinez (who signed with the University of Utah) led the Lions with 26 points but missed his first seven field goal attempts in the second half after going for 17 points before intermission.
In the other five games played Saturday:
Dublin 76, Stockton Weston Ranch 52: Six-three senior Anthony Roy missed his first shot for the Gaels but nothing else while scoring 26 points in the coast-to-coast victory.
The left hander was perfect on five attempts from behind the 3-point arc and 11 free throws.
Coach Tom Costello’s team – which will join Windward in the Platinum Division of the Dec. 26-30 Classic at Damien in Southern California – also got 15 points from senior point guard Jaden Saunders.
Junior guard Donjae Lindsey led the Cougars with 24 points (all of those over the final three quarters).
San Jose Archbishop Mitty 60, Campolindo 58: The Monarchs had to withstand a strong effort by sophomore guard Aidan Mahaney down the stretch to come away with a win against the program that won California’s State Division II title last March in Sacramento.
Senior guard Owen Browne scored a game-high 20 points for Mitty but it was teammate Michael Mitchell, a junior point guard already committed to Pepperdine, who was the key Monarch via his playmaking that produced eight assists.
The 6-3 Mahaney missed 10 consecutive field-goal attempts during a second-half stretch but closed with a rush to score seven of his eventual 24 points in the final 3:47.
Sacramento Grant 58, Newark Memorial 55: Abdur-Rahman Gilchrist missed a 3-point attempt that would have tied the score with two seconds to go as the Pacers held off the host team.
Junior guard A.J. McGee was selected the game’s Most Outstanding Player while scoring 21 points for the winners while another junior guard, Elijah Carlton, led the Cougars with 19.
Oakland Bishop O’Dowd 65, Modesto Christian 49: Six-nine freshman Jalen Lewis had a nifty high school debut, scoring 17 points and grabbing seven rebounds as the Dragons held off the short-handed (due to injuries and ineligible transfers) Crusaders.
Six-five Monty Bowser, who signed a National Letter of Intent with Cal, scored seven of his 12 points in the fourth quarter and also had a spectacular blocked shot that set up a transition opportunity that he cashed in on with a fallaway 3-pointer.
Vallejo St. Patrick-St. Vincent 93, Hayward Moreau Catholic 58: A couple of guys who missed most of the spring and summer competition had strong season-debuts in the victory for the Bruins.
Senior Dishon Jackson (torn meniscus) had 24 points with nine rebounds and five blocked shots while 6-4 junior Jaden Alexander (broken tibia) hit 10 of 14 shots to also score 24 points.
Coach Derek Walker’s team also got 23 points (15 of those from behind the arc) from senior guard Jalen Scott.
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