North goes 2-zip vs. South in 18th NorCal Tip-Off Challenge Saturday

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DUBLIN – Two “North-South” showdowns ended in favor of the northern half of the state Saturday during the nine-game, 18^th boys’ basketball NorCal Tip-Off Classic at Dublin High.

San Francisco Riordan – the runner-up to Brayden Burries-led Roosevelt in the State Open Division title game in Sacramento – looked every bit a strong contender to repeat as the North’s state rep next March, scoring 33 points in the first quarter en route to an 82-69 win over La Mirada in the final game of the 14 hour-schedule.

Seniors Adrian Hilman (29) and J.P. Pihtovs (23) combined for 52 points, with Hilman adding six assists and the 6-foot-9 Pihtovs grabbing 13 rebounds.

Junior Gene Roebuck scored 26 points for La Mirada, which trimmed its 17-point deficit to eight early in the third quarter before the Crusaders pulled away again.

And two sophomores, 6-3 guard Cameron Walls and 6-7 center Djibi Camara, led Sacramento Destiny Christian to a 68-60 victory over San Gabriel Academy – the defending State D-III champion.

The left-handed Walls came off the bench to score a team-high 19 points – all over the final three quarters –  for the 2-0 Lions.

And the 260-pound Camara did a heck of a job while battling the Eagles’ big and bouncy frontcourt, led by 6-10 junior Mahamadou Diop.

Camara used his bulk and strength to help keep Diop from setting up too close to the lane while scoring 12 points (on second shots and screen-and-rolls) and grabbing six rebounds.

Diop blocked six shots but scored only nine points and grabbed six rebounds.

Freshman guard Zach Arnold came off the bench to score a team-high 16 points for the Eagles, whose only other game was a 55-52, buzzer-beating loss at Harvad-Westlake on Nov. 18.

The third non-NorCal-based team in the event, Phoenix Sunnyslope, took control in the court quarter and pulled away from Pleasanton Amador Valley, 66-53.

The Vikings (4-1) , who came into the season No. 9 in the national MaxPreps ratings, suffered their only loss, 68-64, to SoCal-based Redondo Union on Nov. 22 during the BattleZone at Centennial High in Corona.

And they trailed by three points late in the third quarter before going into the final quarter deadlocked with the Dons at 46.

But, led by University of Colorado-bound Rider Portela – who scored 10 of his game-high 23 points in the fourth quarter – the Vikings took control the rest of the way.

Led by junior point guard Delton Prescott’s on-ball pressure against elite jump-shooting junior Jaylen Smith, the Vikings’ half-court defense was able to cut down on the Dons’ dribble penetration and their clean looks at jump shots.

Smith led his team with 16 points but missed eight of 14 attempts and couldn’t get open as he readily does.

San Francisco St. Ignatius – No. 23 in the CalHi Sports California ratings – spotted Concord Clayton Valley Charter a 12-point edge in the first quarter before gaining the momentum by scoring the final 15 points of the second quarter and finishing with a 58-56 victory.

The Wildcats hit just enough free throws in the fourth quarter – five of eight – to hang on as junior guard Anthony D’Aquisto came off the bench to hit all seven of his shots (three of those 3s) to score 17 points while 6-8 sophomore Alex Moore scored seven points, grabbed nine rebounds and blocked four shots.

Six-five senior Nate Hibbert drilled six of his team’s 12 3s and Fairfield Vanden held off the jump shooting of Hayward Moreau Catholic’s Isaiah Clendinnen and Isaiah Dotson to prevail, 67-62, and improve to 3-0.

Hibbert scored a team-high 22 points, hitting eight of 10 shots from the floor, while Templeton Fountaine, V (15), James Carraway (13 with three 3s) and Kimani Dokes (10) also scored in double figures.

Clendinnen, a left-handed, 6-foot junior, scored 11 of his game-high 28 pints in the fourth quarter for Moreau Catholic (1-1) while Dotson – a 6-4 freshman – added 18 (with two 3s).

Another underclassmen, 6-10 sophomore Brendan Williams, scored nine points and grabbed 14 rebounds for the Mariners.

In the first four games of the day:

*Folsom 69, Antioch Cornerstone Christian 55: Joven Dulay, who signed with Idaho State earlier in November, scored 17 points with 12 rebounds and three blocked shots to lead the Bulldogs, who lost in the State Northern Regional Open playoffs last spring.

Teammate Jack Shull, another senior, led them with 18 points.

Juniors James Perry (25) and Benjamin Lukacs (21) scored all but nine of the Cougars’ points.

The 6-7 Perry scored 19 points and grabbed nine rebounds in the first half, finishing with 11 rebounds and three blocks.

*Modesto Christian 56, Dublin 49: Juniors Trevor Dickson (15) and Steve Archuleta (14) and freshman Somto Patrick (13) combined for 42 points as the Crusaders trailed only 3-zip en route to the victory over the host Gaels.

The 6-7 Patrick is a recent arrival from the Island of Bahrain, located off the eastern coast of Saudi Arabia. He scored nine points in the second half and grabbed a game-high nine rebounds.

Odin Chadha and Aiden Li scored 12 points apiece for the Gaels.

*San Jose Bellarmine 63, Stockton Lincoln 55: Chico State-bound guard Will Corbett hit four 3s en route to a game-high 28 points as the Bells led wire to wire, with the final margin being the smallest deficit from early in the second quarter.

Senior Jagger Merolla (16 points), junior Johnathan Rossiter and sophomore Semaj Bluford (12 apiece) led Lincoln, which was playing without gifted sophomores Tre Simmons (injury) and Tristian Beechler (transfer sit-out period; from Clovis East).

*Sunnyvale King’s Academy 63, Ross Branson 59: Last season’s State D-III runner-up got a sterling all-around performance from 6-5 sophomore Boss Mhoon (pictured), and his team hit four 3s in the fourth quarter to prevail in the event’s opener.

Mhoon finished with a team-high 15 points (seven of 11 from the field) to go with five rebounds and key blocked shots and steals in the final three minutes.

Left-handed freshman Scottie Beamish, Jr. scored 11 of his 13 points in the fourth quarter, including the go-ahead 3 with 2:15 remaining.

The Bulls (who lost their opener Friday night at Bishop O’Dowd, 76-55) got a game-high 20 points (eight of 21 from the field), 12 rebounds and five assists from junior guard N.J. Gray and senior guard Tyler Wells hit three 3s to finish with 14 points.

Branson will join Dublin, Cornerstone Christian, Folsom, Sunnyslope, San Gabriel Academy and La Mirada as the seven teams from the event that will play in the Dec. 26-30 Classic at Damien.