Foothillers easily turn away Braves’ challenge

By Bill Dickens
Updated: December 3, 2015

2015-16 EAST COUNTY PREP BOYS BASKETBALL

By Bill Dickens

© East County Sports.com

EL CAJON (12-2-15) — UC Irvine bound, TOMMY RUTHERFORD, a 6-foot-10 senior center out of Grossmont High turned in a powerful double-double of 26 points and 21 rebounds as the Foothillers won Wednesday’s (Dec. 2) opening round of the Game on Challenge, dunking El Cajon Valley 82-36 on the Braves’ floor.

“They just couldn’t stop Rutherford,” said Grossmont coach FRANK FOGGIANO.

Grossmont led only 21-16 after the first quarter but then broke the game open and continued to widen the margin against the overmatched Braves.

MATT MURRAY knocked down a trio of 3-pointers on his way a 13-point finish in his Grossmont debut.

The Foothillers nailed 7 triples from long distance, including 2 by JONAH HEBEL, who finished with 12 points overall.

MARQUISE PURNELL turned in a double-double for the Foothillers with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

“It’s a nice way to start the season,” Foggiano said.

AHMAD SULYMAN drained a trio of 3-pointers and 7 of 10 free throws for an El Cajon Valley High of 22 points in a losing effort for the Braves.

Grossmont: Tommy Rutherford 26 (21 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Matt Murray 13 (4 reb, 2 ast, 1 Stl), Jonah Hebel 12 (2 reb, 1 ast), Marquise Purnell 10 (10 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl), Jeremiah Appleton 7 (2 reb, 6 ast, 2 stl), Dayveion Crawford 4 (1 rec, 1 ast, 1 stl), Hunter Gaines 3 (4 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl), Hunter Mulder (3 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Ryan Shirley 3 (2 ast, 1 stl),

Branik Brown 2 (2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Jacob Niskey 2 (2 reb, 1 ast), Alex Lilliard (2 reb), Demajanae Gant (2 reb), Franklin Golojuch (1 reb).

El Cajon Valley: Ahmad Sulyman 22, Jeremiah Davis 5, Ronne Readus 4, Hussein Al-Anezi 2, Hasan Alhasan 2, Carlos Barbata 1.
WEST HILLS 65, MISSION HILLS 59 – West Hills pulled off a nifty victory over visiting Mission Hills in Wednesday’s (Dec. 2) second round of the Horsman Automotive Tournament.

BRYCE PARSONS netted 12 of 17 shots from the field and gobbled up 12 rebounds in a sparkling double-double to lead the Wolf Pack to their second straight win.

West Hills coach JEFF ARMSTRONG was obviously pleased with the Pack’s performance in one of the most prestigious preseason tournament on the San Diego County books.

“Bryce Parsons played very well,” said Armstrong. “He carried our team tonight. MARCO OVIES gave us another solid game with 9 assists. MARQUELL COOL was big down the stretch for us going 4-4 from the charity stripe in the last minute.”
“Good win over a solid Mission Hills team. This was a nice one to get early on in the season,” Armstrong added.

West Hills: Bryce Parsons 25 (12 reb, 5 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk), Marquell Cool 12 (5 reb, 1 blk), Kyle Ruiz 9 (1 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk), Marco Ovies 5 (3 reb, 9 ast), Miguel Nava 4 (4 reb), D’ante Hill 4, Chris Moyer 3 (4 reb, 3 stl), Cameron Barry 3 (1 ast), Caesar Curet (1 reb).

STEELE CANYON 53, RANCHO BUENA VISTA 45 – Visiting Steele Canyon overcame a 20-12 deficit at Rancho Buena Vista in the first round of Wednesday’s (Dec. 2) Granite Hills Eagle Invitational in North County.

“In the first quarter the guys came out kind of slow,” said Cougars coach DEREK STEPHENS. I thought we played pretty good for the first game. The last two quarters defensively we played really well.”

“NICK HODGES was our leading scorer with 19 points,” said Stephens. “He had some nice steals that helped us.”

Next up for the Cougars is an encounter at Poway on Friday (Dec. 4) at 7 p.m. in a continuation of the Eagle Invitational.

Steele Canyon: Nick Hodge 19, Marcus White 14, Tyler Smith 8, Gage Sanders 6, Jalen Sayles 6.

MIRA MESA 76, VALHALLA 66 — The Valhalla Norsemen traveled to the North County to take on the Mira Mesa Marauders in the Matador Classic and despite their best efforts dropped the decision 76-66.

In the first quarter the Norsemen opened up, hitting their first couple of shots but the Marauders were able to use their inside force to take the period 24-11 as Valhalla couldn’t buy a bucket despite having its opportunities. Both teams would play their brand of ball which was of the physical variety and the second period was a wash as both teams scored 16 points. However it was Mira Mesa that would lead at the break 40-27.

The start of the second half was like the first half in that it didn’t disappoint when it came to points scored, but again it was the Marauders who were able to sustain a Valhalla push midway through the third quarter that saw the Norsemen move within single digits but the Marauders were able to pull away. Despite the push by Valhalla, Mira Mesa was able to take the period 23-16 and extend their lead to 63-43.

Doing their best to bring the Norsemen back into the fold were the trio of COLE HENDERSON who rolled a double-double with 18 points and 16 rebounds, NATHAN YUSEF who scored 17 points and JOHN MURAD who chipped in with 15 points. Murad has scored 32 points in the last two games. Unfortunately the trio’s scoring couldn’t hide the fact that Valhalla only shot 29 percent from inside the arc whereas they shot 41 percent from behind the arc for the game.

Valhalla, despite being down by 20 points entering the final stanza, tried to make a game of it as they were able to chip away at the lead, but it wasn’t enough despite taking the final stanza 23-13.

Valhalla: Cole Henderson 18 (16 Reb, 1 Ast, 4 Stl, 2 Blk), Nathan Yousef 17 (5 Reb, 4 Ast, 3 Stl), John Murad 15 (3 Reb, 2 Ast, 1 Stl, 1 Blk), Jordan Ellis 9 (2 Ast), Matthew Sako 4 (12 Reb, 1 Ast, 2 Stl), Trey Schimke 3 (4 Reb, 2 Ast, 1 Stl, 2 Blk), Daniel Bender (1 Reb, 2 Stl, 1 Blk)

— ADAM PAUL

VINCENT MEMORIAL 73, SANTANA 61 – The Santana Sultans boys basketball team opened up their season by taking the drive down to the desert to take on Vincent Memorial in non-league action. Sadly their drive would be a long one home as they came out on the short end of the stick 73-61.

In the first quarter the Sultans came out on top as they led 10-9 over the Scots. However things would change in the second period as the Scots would outscore the Sultans 22-16 and lead by a narrow margin of 31-26.

Santana in the third quarter did their best to keep things close and they were able to accomplish the task as they only trailed 51-43. However, the Sultans didn’t have enough firepower to keep up with the Scots who couldn’t be stopped and rolled up 22 in the final stanza to take it 22-18.

Santana was led by SAGE HICKS who tallied 17 points, along with 8 rebounds. Also contributing was TRENT BAUGH who scored 10 points.

SANTANA: Sage Hicks 17 (8 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 2 blk), Trent Baugh 10 (5 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl), Anthony Romero 8 (2 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl), Frankie Gutierrez 8 (2 reb, 4 ast, 2 stl), Mendoza 7 (6 reb, 4 ast, 2 stl), Miller 6 (5 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl), Daulton Barry 3 (1 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), John Bobof 2 (3 reb, 1 ast).

— ADAM PAUL