Up-tempo Matadors have enough to hold off Cavers
- Updated: December 8, 2015
2015-16 EAST COUNTY PREP BOYS BASKETBALL
By Bill Dickens
© East County Sports.com
SPRING VALLEY (12-8-15) — Proving that it is potentially one of the top-scoring units in the San Diego Section, the Mount Miguel Matadors needed to pull out all the stops to hold off the visiting San Diego Cavers 89-85 in Monday’s (Dec. 7) Baron/Matador Classic.
DARIAN NORWOOD carried the torch for the Matadors (4-0) with 30 points and 15 rebounds.
TREVON ALLEN rolled a nifty double-double of 21 points and 12 rebounds, and TAJ TUCKER chipped in with 20, hitting a pair of threes and 9 of 10 free throws.
Mount Miguel buzzed its way to a 28-point lead in the third quarter and the game appeared one for the Win column.
The Cavers, however, had their own ideas as they scored 65 points in the second half and cut the lead to 2 points.
“We let them shoot too many wide open threes, and they wound up with 10 from beyond the arc,” said Mount Miguel coach JAY ROWLETT. “Our transition defense was terrible. Luckily we made enough plays at the end to escape with a win.”
Mount Miguel: Darian Norwood 30 (15 reb, 1 stl), Trevon Allen 21 (12 reb, 2 ast, 4 stl), Taj Tucker 20 (2 reb, 7 ast, 1 stl), Chris Thompson 8 (2 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl), Trannell Hudson 6 (4 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Justice Chima 3 (4 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Marquis Neal 2 (4 reb, 1 stl), Andre Cox (1 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl), Raymond Lucas (1 reb).
GROSSMONT 82, OLYMPIAN 46 – The Grossmont Foothillers provided former El Cajon Valley Coach of the Year – and now skipper of the Olympian Eagles – MARTY ELLIS and his team with a rude welcoming Monday night (Dec. 7) in a Game on Challenge contest.
The Foothillers led 26-7 after one quarter and the game was all but over.
All 15 Foothillers played in the lopsided victory and 10 of them scored.
Six-foot-10 UC-Irvine bound TOMMY RUTHERFORD dropped in 19 points and cleared 21 rebounds in part-time service.
JEREMIAH APPLETON turned in a strong performance with 12 points and 4 assists, while MATT MURRAY added 11 points and 6 rebounds.
MARQUISE PURNELL scored all 7 of his points in the blowout first quarter. Rutherford added 6 and BRANIK BROWN chipped in all 5 of his points in first eight minutes.
“We didn’t pressure after the first few minutes,” said Grossmont coach FRANK FOGGIANO. “We just dropped back and played in our half court defense.”
Grossmont: Tommy Rutherford 19 (21 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl), Jeremiah Appleton 12 (3 reb, 4 ast, 2 stl), Matt Murray 11 (6 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl), Hunter Mulder 8 (2 reb), Marquise Purnell 7 (5 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Demajanae Gant 6 (3 reb), Jacob Niskey 7 (3 reb), Hunter Gaines 5 (4 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Branik Brown 5 (2 reb, 1 ast), Dayveion Crawford 2 (1 ast), Ryan Shirley (1 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Alex Lilliard (2 reb), Franklin Golojuch (2 reb), Jonah Hebel (1 reb).
EL CAPITAN 60, SD-SOUTHWEST 37 — The drive to the South Bay was kind to the El Capitan Vaqueros, Monday (Dec.7) as they traveled to take on the Raiders of San Diego Southwest and rolled to the 60-37 victory in the Game on Challenge tournament.
It was a close game for the first quarter as the Vaqueros led 12-10 but extended their lead to 8 points at the break as they led 26-18. Leading the Vaqueros charge was the duo of KADE KYGAR who drilled in 23 points and grabbed 7 boards and DOMINIC IUDICIANI who rolled up a double-double of 22 points, canning 9 field goals including a three pointer, to go along with the shooting performance he also corralled 11 rebounds.
The second half was more of the Vaqueros as they pushed their lead at the end of the third period to 10 points as they took the period 15-13 to lead 41-31. The Vaqueros put away the contest in the fourth as they rolled up 19 points and their stingy defense took over as they limited the Raiders to only 6 points in the quarter.
El Capitan: Kade Kygar 23 (7 reb, 3 stl, 1 blk), Dominic Iudiciani 22 (11 reb, 2 stl), Zac Quintero 5 (2 reb, 1 stl), Ren Neuhoff 4 (3 reb), Devin Dulay 2 (2 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl), Colton Sandoval 2 (2 reb, 1 ast), Danny Estrada 2 (1 reb, 2 stl), Donald Irvin (4 reb, 5 ast, 1 stl), Carson Tabor (1 reb).
— ADAM PAUL
BRAWLEY 64, CHRISTIAN 62 (OT) – The Patriots trekked to Imperial Valley to Monday’s (Dec. 7) opening round of the Imperial Tiger Classic. It turned into a regular cat fight.
“We played from behind the whole game,” said Christian assistant coach TIM BROWN. “LAYNE LARSEN nailed a 3-pointer in OT to give us a 5-point lead but we couldn’t put them away.”
TYLER BALLARD led the Patriots (5-1) with 24 points and a dozen rebounds.
Freshman point guard DOMINIC SAFARTA scored a career high 21 points, buoyed by nailing four 3-pointers.
KYLE STOWERS did his part, hauling down 10 rebounds for the Patriots.
“We never could take control of the game,” Brown said. “But we got that edge in overtime and I thought we might get ‘em but it didn’t happen.”
Christian: Tyler Ballard 24 (12 R, 1 ast, 1 stl), Dominic Safarta 21 (1 reb, 2 ast), Kyle Stowers 5 (10 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl), Layne Larsen 3 (2 reb, 1 ast), Jacob Sandusky 3, Garrett Nielsen 2 (3 reb), Dominic Bristol 2 (3 reb), Joey Vrzich 2 (1 reb), David Todd Jeremiah (3 reb).
VISTA 68, VALHALLA 64 – Senior COLE HENDERSON has established himself as one of the top athletes in East County. He knocked down 23 points, including three 3-pointers, and grabbed 16 rebounds, but it was not enough to rescue the Norsemen in Monday’s (Dec. 7) Baron/Matador Classic encounter against visiting Vista.
The Panthers squeezed the victory with a 21-15 scoring edge in the final quarter.
The Norsemen trailed 37-29 at halftime but used a 20-10 third quarter coming out of the chute.
“We definitely had more defensive intensity in the third quarter,” said Valhalla assistant coach DON ROLLINS.
MATTHEW SAKO twirled a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds, while NATHAN YOUSIF popped in 11.
Valhalla: Cole Henderson 23 (16 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 2 blk), Matthew Sako 15 (10 reb, 1 ast), Nathan Yousif 11 (6 reb, 5 ast), John Murad 9 (4 reb, 2 ast, 2 blk), Trey Schimke 3 (9 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk), Kai Komaki 3 (3 reb), Daniel Bender (1 reb).
