LAS VEGAS — The Ft. Lauderdale Calvary Christian High boys’ basketball team rallied — in decisive fashion — to collect one of the eight first-day victories in the Platinum Division of the 12th Tarkanian Classic Monday at Bishop Gorman High.
Southern California-based powerhouse Corona Centennial led the Eagles 22-5 after the first quarter before being outscored over the final 24 minutes by 26 points as the team from Florida pulled off the upset, 55-46, and moved into Tuesday’s second round against another California squad.
Five-foot-eleven freshman point guard Cayden Daughtry — who turned 14 years old last April 9 — directed the stunning comeback while scoring 16 points (including seven consecutive free throws) and handling all defensive pressure the Huskies threw at him with equal elements of calm and efficiency.
Six-eight, left-handed junior Shon Abaev (who is from Russia and played well at the Pangos All-American Camp in this same facility last June) added 10 points and did a good job rebounding and playmaking, while senior forward John Roland Jr. chipped in with 16 points for the Eagles (7-1), who play Northern California-based Branson of Ross Tuesday night at 9 o’clock on Bishop Gorman’s main gymnasium floor.
Coach Josh Giles’ Centennial squad, which lost to unbeaten Richmond Salesian Saturday afternoon in the championship game of the Owyhee (ID) tournament, fell to 7-5.
The Huskies were a collective 85-9 in the previous three seasons, during which they won CIF Southern Section Open crowns in each of those campaigns.
Senior forward Carter Bryant and sophomore guard Isaiah Rogers scored 14 and 13 points, respectively, for Centennial Monday night.
They’ll play another Southern California squad, Playa del Rey St. Bernard, in a game on the left side of the bracket at 3 o’clock Tuesday afternoon.
The Vikings fell to 4-1 Monday night in the final Platinum first-round game, falling to Branson, 71-57, despite trailing just 31-30 at intermission.
Branson (6-1; the Bulls’ only loss came in overtime, at the buzzer, to unbeaten Salesian in the Dec. 9 Gridley Invitational championship game.
Per usual, the Bulls were led by 6-4 Jase Butler — easily the most impressive guard I saw Monday during the 15 games I watched all or big hunks of Monday, at Bishop Gorman and near-by Sierra Vista High.
The left-handed Butler (he signed with the University of Illinois last month and was selected the Gridley tourney’s Most Outstanding Player) scored 23 points against the Vikings while directing his team’s half-court and transition offenses flawlessly.
Branson opens play on Dec. 27 in Southern California’s Classic at Damien, where the Bulls will take on 12-1 Roosevelt of Eastvale at 4 o’clock.
That field also includes two other NorCal powerhouses, Salesian, and Concord De La Salle — each 9-0.
In other Platinum games in the Gaels’ main gym Monday:
*Las Vegas Arbor View upset Arlington (VA) O’Connell, 52-51.
*Arbor View will take on San Diego St. Augustine Tuesday at 4:30. The Saints handled Miami’s Mater Lakes in the first game played Monday morning, 52-41, as sophomore guard Jaden Bailes scored 22 points with five 3s.
*Downey’s St. Pius X/St. Matthias rallied from seven points down in the second half to topple Henderson Coronado, 67-62, as senior Tyrone Riley scored 22 points and junior forward Douglas Langford added 19.
The stakes — and quality of opponent — get kicked up a notch for the 5-1 Warriors on Tuesday, when the face what may be the best non-California team in the west in Alta of Sandy in Utah at 6 o’clock.
Alta, led by 6-9 Jaxon Johnson (who signed with the University of Utah last month), turned in easily the most impressive and decisive performance in the bracket Monday while handling one of California’s best clubs, Fresno Clovis West, 74-43, after leading by as many as 17 points in the second half.
The Hawks are 8-0 after handing Clovis West its’ first loss after 10 wins collected by an average margin of 26.5 points.
*North Hollywood’s Campbell Hall was edged by Scottsdale (AZ) Desert Mountain, 74-69, and the host Gaels got past Sagemont (Westmont, FL), 69-66.
The Gaels will face Desert Mountain’s dynamic collection of underclassmen guards (led by sophomore Kaden House) at 7:30 Tuesday night.
In the same building but in the school’s auxiliary gymnasium, Southern California programs were a collective 1-2 in Monday’s first-round Ball Dawgs Division games.
West Ranch (6-3) — which won the Platinum title here last year — turned in easily its best performance of the season while handling Orem of Utah, 67-49, as UNLV-bound forward James Evans III (with his future head coach, Kevin Kruger, looking on) scored 22 points while sizzling senior point guard Darrell Morris (pictured) added 17 points and overwhelmed Orem’s on-ball defenders.
The Wildcats face Thomas Jefferson of Brooklyn at 4:30 Tuesday afternoon in the same gym.
Later, Lynwood (84-74 to Las Vegas Mojave) and Redondo (67-60 to Oakland Bishop O’Dowd) were knocked into the consolation side of the Ball Dawgs bracket.
About five miles away at Sierra Vista High, Southern California teams were 2-1 in the first round of the Spalding Division, with Riverside Poly (58-50 over Coeur d’Alene of Idaho) and Santa Monica Crossroads School (69-40 over Honolulu Nanakuli) moving into the winners’ side of the bracket but St. Paul stumbling in overtime to Centennial of Las Vegas, 64-62.
Travis Showalter’s Riverside Poly Bears (8-3) will challenge Sandra O’Connor of Phoenix Tuesday at 3 o’clock, about 90 minutes after Crossroads (8-1) plays COHEA of Florida on the same floor.
O’Connor (11-1) got a potent effort Monday night from a high-quality college prospect in 6-8, left-handed junior Michael Simcoe — a 4.0 student in the classroom who was “all A’s” on the court Monday while scoring 26 points via nifty post-moves and drives that led to multiple rim-rattling dunks as well as multiple deep jump shots and on-target passes.
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