California teams split their final-day HoopHall games

• Tweet

• Tweet

SPRINGFIELD, MA – Two significant high school win streaks were snapped on Monday’s final day of the HoopHall Hall of Fame Classic.

The Eastvale (CA) Roosevelt Mustangs came into their Springfield College Blake Arena game with Washington, DC, Gonzaga College Prep at No. 1 in the country (via MaxPreps) via a 22-1 record – 19 of those since picking up that loss.

But Coach Steve Turner’s Eagles – who came into town with a 16-2 record and a No. 4 national rating – used their superior size and strength to (figuratively, of course!) punch out the Mustangs over the final quarter and a half and pull away to a 73-55 decision.

The whopper streak – 141 – came to an end in Monday’s first game – which tipped at 9 a.m., ET.

The St. Louis-based Incarnate Word Academy girls’ program’s last defeat was just short of five years ago – Feb. 20, 2020.

But Monday’s competition was something well beyond that of what the Red Knights faced in than stretch.

Etiwanda, California’s defending Open Division champion, was able to overcome a terrific shooting effort by Nevaeh Caffey (32 points) to prevail, 74-65.

In the other three games played Monday:

*Miami Columbus built a 21-point lead in the third quarter and topped three-time, Arizona State champion Perry of Gilbert, 75-65, behind another dominant performance from Duke-bound forward Cameron Boozer (31 points, 13 rebounds and three assists).

*Twenty-four hours (give or take) after clicking on all cylinders in a 14-point win over A.J. Dybansta and Utah Prep, Montverde’s offense never functioned fluidly while falling to Arizona’s Compass Prep, 45-41.

And Compass prep won despite missing 33 of 47 shots from the floor. Gonzaga-bound Davis Fogle (12 points) of the winners was the leader scorer in the game despite connecting on just four of 13 shots (three of them 3s)

*Finally (literally) Long island Lutheran-La Lumiere (La Porte, IN), 68-65, as Kiyan Anthony (16 points) turned in a second consecutive impressive effort.

In the Roosevelt-Gonzaga clash of “1 vs. 4”, the Mustangs needed to do two things well against a much taller, stronger and deeper opponent to return to Southern California in the 1 slot.

They did neither.

The Eagles (whose only losses have come to Miami Columbus, in two overtimes, and another SoCal power, Harvard-Westlake) went 6-foot-10, 6-7 and 6-5 up front, with a backcourt at 6-4 and 6-2 and their first two reserves at 6-7 and 6-5.

And, no matter how they might have been introduced, the Mustangs started five guards with an across-the-board average of, maybe, 6-3.

The dominance in and around the lane was even more pronounced, with Gonzaga pounding its way to 45-22 rebounding dominance.

The Mustangs’ active feet and hands on defense helped generate some offense, via 13 steals (led by Myles Walker’s six).

But their jump shooting was as chilly as the air was outside the arena: They were 23 of 63 from the field, missing 21 of 25 attempts from behind the arc.

Gonzaga has a starting lineup of NCAA/D-I bound seniors and each of those scored in double figures Monday, with Xavier-bound point guard Nykolas Lewis passing for 10 buckets to go with his 11 points.

Center Christian Gourdak (11 points and 18 rebounds/he’s going to Virginia Tech) also played the major role in hampering the Mustangs’ ability to finish on drives.

Brayden Burries, California’s Junior of the Year last season who was on a flight to Knoxville to visit the University of Tennessee Monday evening, missed 17 of his 22 field-goal attempts. He was zip-for-nine from behind the arc, even with many of those reasonably “clean” (without a defender’s hand in his face) looks.

In the Etiwanda victory, the Eagles – with Ontario Christian, one of two SoCal girls’ squads to knock off strong foes here – got 26 points, five rebounds and four assists from guard Aliyahna “Puff” Morris, and 13 points, 12 rebounds and four blocked shots from center Grace Knox.

 

Top 20 Players I watched at  the Hoophall Classic

(based upon performance not college/NBA potential)

Most Outstanding Player: Cameron Boozer (Miami Columbus/Sr.)

The Next 19

Seniors

   *Nate Ament (Warrenton, VA, Highland)

*Kiyan Anthony (Brookeville, NY, Long Island Lutheran)

*Cayden Boozer (Columbus)

*A.J. Dybansta (Napa, CA, Prolific Prep)

*Kelis Fisher (Bradenton, FL, IMG Academy) Girls

*Davis Fogle (Chandler, AZ, Compass Prep)

*C.J. Ingram (Montverde, FL, Academy)

*Grace Knox (Etiwanda, CA) Girls

*Chris Komin (Bellflower, CA, St. John Bosco)

*Acaden Lewis (Washington, DC, Sidwell Friends)

*Nykolas Lewis (Washington, DC, Gonzaga College Prep)

*Aliyahna Morris (Etiwanda) Girls

*Darryn Peterson (Napa, CA, Prolific Prep)

*Caleb Wilson (Atlanta Holy Innocents)

*Tounde Yessoufou (Santa Maria, CA, St. Joseph)

Juniors

   *Jordan Smith (Chantilly, VA, Paul VI)

*Olivia Vukosa (Middle Village, NY, Christ the King) Girls

Sophomore

  *Kaleena Smith (Ontario, CA, Christian) Girls

Freshman

*Tatianna Griffin (Ontario Christian) Girls