SANTA ANA – Chicago’s Whitney Young High team wrapped up a two-game sweep of Trinity League opponents in impression fashion Saturday night in the second and final day of the 30th Nike Extravaganza at Mater Dei.
Twenty-four hours after knocking off JSerra Friday night (60-52), the Dolphins handled the host Monarchs – the top program in the top prep hoops league in the west – in equally impressive fashion, 67-57.
Guards D.J. Steward (21) and Tyler Beard (22) – headed to Duke and Georgetown, respectively – combined for 43 of Coach Tyrone Slaughter’s squad points, including 19 of their 21 fourth-quarter production.
Steward, one of two McDonald’s All-Americans on display Saturday (with Evan Mobley of Rancho Christian), dropped 20 points and four assists to go with five steals Friday night.
Beard had a collective ten assists for the Dolphins (15-8).
The Monarchs (playing for the third time in three nights), fell to 20-6 on a night when they shot just 39 percent from the field and missed 12 of 25 free throws while committing 15 turnovers.
They play host to St. John Bosco Tuesday night with the Trinity League championship – as well as a spot in the CIF Southern Section Open Division playoff field – at stake.
In the last of the nine games played Saturday – action tipped off at 9 in the morning and didn’t wrap until about 11:10 p.m. – Mobley scored 18 points to go with 15 rebounds, six assists and five blocked shots as the Eagles (20-5) overcame a precarious final minute to edge Gonzaga of Washington, DC, 58-55.
Holding on to an eight-point edge (six of those via Jaden Byers and Dominick Harris 3s set up by Mobley passes into the corners), the Eagles fouled 3-point shooters twice in that final minute – on the same possession – and Gonzaga (also nicked named the Eagles) cashed on five of the six free throws.
Harris was trapped in the backcourt and appeared to travel but the official ruled he had been hacked and went to the line for a 1-and-1 opportunity with 8.5 tics in regulation.
He missed, Gonzaga rebounded and Devin Dinkins’ jumper from the right wing for the tie was just off the iron, with the ball ruled to have been knocked out by a Rancho Christian player with 1.2 on the clock.
Judah Mintz’ inbounds-pass from along the baseline went to Josiah Hardy but he caught it 10 feet away, rendering that shot – if had converted it – still leaving his team a point short.
In the other games:
Las Vegas Bishop Gorman 74, Harvard-Westlake 70: The Gaels (22-3) trailed by 15 points deep into the second quarter before turning on the turbos of their “jets” Zaon Collins, Will McClendon and Mwani Wilkinson (who never left the floor) and taking a nine-point edge into the fourth quarter.
But the Wolverines (21-4 going into Wednesday night’s Mission League playoff semifinals against either Crespi or Alemany) didn’t cave, largely – pun intended – because of the low-post offensive clinic put on by 6-foot-10, 250-pound Princeton-bound Mason Hooks, who hit 12 of 14 shots from the field and four of five free throws while scoring a game-high 28 points.
The 6-6 Wilkinson (pictured) – of the best of the still-unsigned and un-committed prospects in the national Class of 2020 – was superb throughout with 20 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Etiwanda 63, Westchester 33: The Eagles (24-2 after their 13th consecutive victory, dating to the Dec. 28 Classic at Damien Platinum semifinal loss to Sierra Canyon) smothered the Comets’ “offense” with their half-court man-to-man defense.
Senior Brantly Stevenson hit his first six shots from behind the arc for Coach Dave Kleckner’s club and finished with 20 points, six rebounds and a couple of steals.
The Comets (16-8) missed 38 of 49 shots from the field – including 20 of 21 from behind the arc – and committed 18 turnovers.
Corona Centennial 59, Richmond Salesian 51: The Huskies improved to 24-2 but had to dig deeper – collectively – to pull out the win than at any time since rallying to knock off Neumann-Goretti of Philadelphia in the Dec. 18 first round of the Platinum Division of the Tarkanian Classic in Las Vegas.
In one of their poorest field-goal percentage shooting performances of the season (.340), the Huskies used their long-range strength to knock in 10 shots – among their 16 buckets – in 26 attempts from behind the arc.
Senior Paris Dawson and freshman Jared McCain combined for 30 points and seven of those 3s.
The Pride (19-5) hung tight with their stout half-court defense and the overall offensive skill of 6-4 Shane Bell (15 points and four assists before fouling out late).
Concord De La Salle 64, Long Beach Poly 38: An all-sophomore frontcourt of Chris Bunch, Jeremiah Dargan and Noah Clifford combined for 34 points (hitting 14 of 24 shots from the floor), 21 rebounds and five assists as the Spartans improved to 16-6 and the Jackrabbits dropped their third game in a row in the week to fall to 14-12.
St. Augustine 48, Capistrano Valley 36: San Diego’s best team got 22 points from Texas Tech-bound Chibuzo Agbo and 18 from Luke Haupt (son of Coach Mike Haupt) to snap the Cougars’ winning streak at 17.
The Saints are 21-4, Capistrano Valley 24-2.
Los Alamitos 63, Sonora 57: The Griffins, trailing by 16 points late in the second quarter, rallied to come away with a significant upset with point guard Kevin Kent hitting the go-ahead 3-pointer with 57 seconds to go.
The Griffins improved to 17-10 while Sonora fell to 21-5.
Mission Viejo 48, Palm Springs 39: Presley Eldridge (16) and Griffin Higgins (15) combined for the bulk of their team’s offense as the Diablos improved to 22-4 overall and the Indians fell to 20-3 in the game that started things at 9 in the morning.
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