LA VERNE, CA – It didn’t take long for senior Saugus High guard Max Tengan long early Monday afternoon to create the front-runner for “The Most Stunning Moment” in the 2022 Classic at Damien.
About five seconds after dynamic freshman guard Kaiden Bailey of Crean Lutheran had drilled a 3-pointer to tie the score at 63, Tengan countered with an even more improbable shot.
After taking he inbound pass following Bailey’s bucket, Tengan covered about 30 feet on three dribbles before pushing – OK, “launching” – the ball out of his right hand just before hitting the mid-court stripe and just before the game clock horn sounded.
Saaaa-wish!
The ball banked off the lower part of the glass, right above the rim, and shot thru the net, setting off immediate reaction of “what just happened?” by those in the stands or sitting courtside, stunned reactions (and, for some, collapse to the floor) of the Crean Lutheran players and exhilaration by Tengan’s four on-court teammates and those who immediately burst from their bench in unison to swarm him after the 66-63 victory.
Tengan’s shot moved his team into a championship Silver Division quarterfinal game with Campbell Hall (which pulled away from St. Bonaventure, 72-60, in the first game played Monday morning in Damien’s Athletic Center) on Tuesday evening at 5 o’clock at near-by Life Pacific University.
Campbell Hall got a combined 56 of their points from juniors Aaron Powell (17), Aliaun Iscandari (15) and Tanner Jones (12) and sophomore Isaiah Johnson (12).
Other Monday Silver bracket winners were St. Francis (52-48, vs. Hillcrest); Washington Prep (58-54, in OT, over Fresno Central East); Orange Lutheran (70-50, over Aquinas) and La Mirada (67-53 over Riverside Poly, behind sophomore Julien Gomez’ 26 points in three quarters).
St. Anthony (vs. Whitney of Northern California) and Los Osos (vs. Skyridge of Utah) moved onto the championship side of the bracket when their opponents – due to travel issues – couldn’t arrive in time to play Monday evening.
For all of the immediately updated Classic results and schedules, in each of the seven divisions, go to www.Classicatdamien.org
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