Going in opposite directions, ECVHS's Andre Nikkita (5) avoids a collision with Daniel Torres of Oceanside in Friday's Braves Classic championship contest. (Photo by Frank Price, youatplay.com)

Double-duty Braves run out of steam By Nick Pellegrino © East County Sports.com EL CAJON (12-31-11) — One of only three CIF San Diego Section ballclubs still unbeaten entering the final weekend of the holiday tournament season, Friday's (Dec. 30) final round of the 2nd annual Braves Classic proved to be too long for host El Cajon Valley. Forced to partake in consecutive contests in order to capture the championship, the Braves took care of business with a 52-41 win over Orange Glen in the semifinals. But in the finale, despite being knotted at 65-all through three quarters, ECVHS ran out of gas allowing Oceanside to secure the first-place trophy, 85-73. Braves guard ANDRE NIKKITA posted 24 and 23 points, respectively, on the day. But when he twisted an ankle in the opening moments of the fourth quarter, his brief absence opened the door for a quick 10-2 Oceanside scoring run to seize control. A majority of the Pirates' late scoring came from the foul line by Jay Brust, who nailed 15 straight foul shots until missing two in the final minute after the contest was decided. Brust was named MVP of the tournament by the media following his 25-point effort. The section record for single-game foul shooting was established by Marquis Navarre of El Camino, who went 19-for-19 against Granite Hills on Dec. 7, 2005, breaking the longtime mark of 14-for-14 by former Santana High girls basketball coach WADE VICKERY, when he played for El Capitan in a 1971 contest against Monte Vista. Oceanside led throughout the first half until Nikkita began to penetrate the Pirates defense, scoring eight points over the final four minutes of the first half to secure a 46-40 lead at the intermission. A wild third quarter saw six lead changes before a Daniel Torres layin just before the buzzer knotted the score for a seventh time. However, when Nikkita was slightly bumped to his left while attempting to make a lateral move to the right while on defense, the ankle turn effectively ended El Cajon Valley's quest for an eighth consecutive victory. For the Braves, guard BRENDEN BROCIOUS poured in 14 points, including 8 in the first quarter to bring the team back from an early 15-9 deficit, while forward DERRICK MOORE posted 7 points and 17 rebounds. Meanwhile, Oceanside ran its record to 10-2. The lone remaining undefeated teams in the San Diego CIF include top-ranked St. Augustine, which moved to 13-0 after downing Mesquite (Ariz.), 73-60, to capture the Torrey Pines Holiday Classic's Senators Division crown; and idle Maranatha Christian (6-0). El Cajon Valley: Andre Nikkita 23 (4 reb, 8 ast, 9 stl, 1 blk, 1 charge), Brenden Brocious 14 (2 ast, 1 stl), Abraham Ali 12 (2 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl), Derrick Moore 7 (17 reb, 4 blk, 1 stl), Landell Butrus 6 (3 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk), Terrance Coleman 5 (3 reb, 1 ast), Edon Lushi 3, Sangar Hasan 1 (4 reb, 1 stl). EL CAJON VALLEY 52, ORANGE GLEN 41 – ANDRE NIKKITA ran rings around the Patriots in Friday's (Dec. 30) semifinals of the 2nd annual Braves Classic. The guard posted 12 points in the first quarter to jump-start the hosts to an 18-8 lead, then added seven more points in the third quarter to push the lead to 20 points. TERRANCE COLEMAN added 9 points for ECVHS, running the team's winning streak to seven games. El Cajon Valley: Andre Nikkita 24, Terrance Coleman 9, Abraham Ali 6, Landell Butrus 5, Edon Lushi 4, Sangar Hasan 2, Derrick Moore 1, Brenden Brocious 1.

By Bill Dickens
© East County Sports.com
RANCHO PENASQUITOS (12-31-11) — After falling behind 18-0 in the first quarter, the Monte Vista Monarchs could have started to think about ways to celebrate New Year's Eve rather than try to get back into Friday’s (Dec. 30) consolation championship game of the Mt. Carmel Holiday Hoops Classic.

Fortunately for coach JAMES CARROLL, the Monarchs put their focus on a comeback victory over Placentia-El Dorado. Buoyed by a spark from the Monte Vista bench the Monarchs eventually pulled out a 66-57 overtime triumph over the Golden Hawks (8-7).

“I benched my starters 3 minutes into the game and we trailed 20-4 at the end of the first quarter,” Carroll said. “In the second quarter with my starters back in, we went on a 17-4 run and were down only 24-21 at halftime.”

All-Tournament pick REUBEN NWANDO poured in a career-high 26 points and collected 9 rebounds to help the Monarchs nail down the victory. A 6-foot-2 senior, Nwando connected on 10 of 14 shots from the floor and 6 of 7 free throws.

He was not without support however, as JAMES JACKSON buried 8 of 12 shots from the floor for 16 points to go along with 10 rebounds, 7 assists and 4 steals.

Guard K.J. HOUSTON accounted for Monte Vista’s only two 3-pointers as he finished with 12 points, 4 assists and 4 steals.

“We forced overtime when Jackson hit a field goal to tie it at 50-all with 13 seconds to go,” Carroll said.

El Dorado missed a desperation 3-point shot at the buzzer.

Houston keyed the Monarchs overtime surge by hitting back-to-back 3-pointers. Nwando made 4 free throw, Jackson made a couple of field goals and XAVIER DANIELS hit a bucket.

“HASANI JARVIS played well off the bench with 6 points and 4 steals,” noted Carroll.

“I was proud of the kids to battle back like they did against a good team, really increased our defensive intensity in the second quarter, outscoring them 62-37 over final 3 periods and overtime,” said Carroll. “Winning 3 straight games against good teams and getting consolation championship was a good way to get ready for what's going to be a very tough league.”

Monte Vista: Reuben Nwando 26 (9 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl), James Jackson 16 (10 reb, 7 ast, 1 blk, 2 stl), K.J. Houston 12 (3 reb, 4 ast, 1 blk, 4 stl), Hasani Jarvis 6 (4 stl), Xavier Daniels 2 (2 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk), D’ondre Coleman 2 (1 reb, 1 stl), Devin Rendo (3 reb), Jahzdion Taylor ( ast), Justin Brandy (2 reb, 1 blk),

STEELE CANYON 60, CHULA VISTA 51 – Although it’s nothing to shout about, the Steele Canyon Cougars currently boast the best non-league record in the Grossmont Hills circuit at 7-6.

“We got a win so we’ll take it,” Cougars coach DEREK STEPHENS said, “even though 7-6 is not exactly where I’d like to be,”

CASEY BALIKIAN poured in a team high 15 points as the Cougars clipped Chula Vista in Friday’s (Dec. 30) last round of the Spartan Classic in Chula Vista.

“Defensively we are close to being real good but offensively we aren’t as confident as we were two weeks ago coming off practice,” Stephens said. “We’ve gone 13 games with only 2 practices – it will be good to get some practices in.”

In the win over Chula Vista, Stephens praised the play of junior guard DONOVAN HABIB.

“Habib came off the bench because DANNY BWINIKA is out with an ankle injury, and played real well in the first half, gave us some good minutes,” the coach said.

Chula Vista took a 15-9 first quarter lead and it wasn’t until the Cougars came up with a 23-10 scoring edge in the final quarter that Steele Canyon could celebrate a victory.

Steele Canyon: Casey Balikian 15, Dylan Kirchhofer 10, Justin Norwood 8, Michael Jordan 7, Cody Wells 7, P.J. Russell 6, Donovan Habib 5, Daniel King 2.

HELIX 60, BRISBANE (Australia) 49 – For the first time in four starts, senior BRIAN VALADEZ did not record a double-double in the Spartan Classic at Chula Vista High.

But his numbers remained more than respectable as chalked up 14 points, 9 assists and 8 rebounds in helping the Highlanders (6-6) post their 5th win in their last six starts.

“He certainly makes a difference for us,” Helix coach JOHN SINGER said of the 6-foot-2 Valadez, who was named to the all-tournament team.

Valadez, who missed the first eight games due to injury, averaged 17.3 points, 9.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists in the Spartan Classic.

Helix: Titus Young 19 (2 reb, 5 ast, 3 stl), Brian Valadez 14 (8 reb, 9 ast, 2 stl), Mike Todd 9 (1 reb, 1 ast), Romario Wilson 7 (6 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl, 2 blk), Kene Anigbogu 6 (3 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk), Isaac Randall 4 (5 reb, 1 stl), Kaelan Mitchell 1 (6 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl), Derrick Chandler (1 reb, 1 stl, 1 blk).

FOOTHILLS CHRISTIAN 69, CALEXICO 48 – Senior guard DALTON MOSSER, who has been sick for most of the holidays, found new life in Friday’s (Dec. 30) final round of the Granite Hills Holiday Classic.

Mosser scored a career-high 37 points as the Knights clubbed Calexico. He knocked down 13 of 23 shots, including six of 11 from three-point range. He also hit 5 of 7 free throws to complete his personal record scoring binge.

The Knights (5-8) put the game away with a 25-8 second scoring edge.

Foothills Christian: Dalton Mosser 37 (5 reb, 1 ast, 3 blk, 4 stl), Caleb Hoffman 19 (5 reb, 4 ast, 8 stl), Andre Johnson 11 (9 reb, 1 ast, 4 stl), Joe Buenrestro 2 (2 reb, 4 ast, 5 stl), A.J. Hoffman (6 reb, 1 stl), Nick Loudon (1 ast, 1 stl).

EASTLAKE 66, GROSSMONT 55 – Six-foot-4 junior DEREK RUSTICH was named to the All-Spartan Classic team at Chula Vista High.

Rustich averaged 16 points and 13 rebounds for the tournament’s four games. He had 14 points and 15 boards against Eastlake, while ROBBY NESOVIC dropped in 15 points for the Foothillers (5-8).

A key ingredient to Grossmont’s success may be 6-foot-3 junior forward BILAL RAHIM, who has scored 24 points in his last two games.

Grossmont: Robby Nesovic 15 (7 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl), Derek Rustich 14 (15 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl), Bilal Rahim 14 (6 reb), J.T. Barnes 5 (1 reb, 2 ast), Austin Swisher 4, Jake Herrod 3 (2 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl).

KEARNY 46, GRANITE HILLS 42 – It appeared that STEPHEN KEPPEL was going to be a Granite Hills hero when he nailed a 3-pointer giving the Eagles a 42-41 lead with 30 seconds remaining in Friday’s (Dec. 30) final day of the Granite Hills Holiday Classic.

Didn’t turn out that way. Kearny countered with a game-winning 3-pointer and a pair of free throws in the final three seconds to snatch the victory from the Eagles’ talons.

“The Kearny guy who hit the three... that was the only points he scored,” Granite Hills coach RANDY ANDERSON said. “We still had a chance, but turned the ball over with 1.1 seconds left. Then we had to foul and they made their free throws.”

The highlight of the game for Anderson was the play of senior KYLE PIERSON, who led the Eagles with 13 points.

Granite Hills: Kyle Pierson 13 (6 reb, 4 ast), Scott Atkinson 9 (10 reb, 2 ast, 5 blk), Stephen Keppel 9 (5 reb, 2 ast, 2 blk), Nate Jeter 8 (4 reb, 3 ast), Koltin Higgins 3 (1 stl), D.J. Palomera (4 reb, 3 ast, 3 stl), Danny Smith (1 ast).

RIDGELAND (Madison, Miss.) 57, CHRISTIAN 51 – It was not the best of shooting days for the Christian High Patriots in Friday’s (Dec. 30) final round of the MaxPreps Holiday Classic at Cathedral Catholic.

In fact it was a horrible outing when it came to dialing long distance. The Patriots shot a paltry 20 percent from beyond the arc, missing 24 of 30 attempts.

JAKE LARSEN had no trouble focusing in on his 3-point shooting, landing 4 of 5 attempts. The rest of the team was 2-for-25.

Christian: Jason Gaines 21 (7 reb, 4 ast, 1 stl), Jake Larsen 14 (3 reb, 2 ast, 4 stl), Shane Dillon 11 (4 reb, 1 ast, 2 blk, 3 stl), Trenton Sauls 4 (5 reb), Stephen Johnston 1 (2 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl), Tyler Ballard (4 reb), Phillip George (2 reb).

© East County Sports.com
OTAY MESA (12-30-11) — According to Matadors coach JAY ROWLETT, the difference in Thursday’s (Dec. 29) Aztec Holiday Tournament championship game between Grossmont Valley League rivals Mount Miguel and El Capitan was the Matadors’ sticky fingered defense.

“We don’t do a lot of gimmick stuff on defense,” Rowlett said after the Matadors posted a 62-49 victory over El Capitan at Montgomery. “We play basic man-to-man and I thought MARCUS BOOKER and IZZY WAGNER did a great job on TYSON KYGAR in the first half.”

That was reflected in Mount Miguel’s 33-18 halftime lead where Kygar had scored only 7 of his game-high 29 points.

On the swing side, tournament MVP THOMAS BUTLER buried four 3-pointers to lead the Matadors with 22 points.

“They had our number tonight,” said Vaqueros coach JASON CAVAZOS. “No. 25 ( Butler ) hurt us really bad. He did a good job – really bothered us. It was good because we’ll see them in league. It was good to see where we stand.”

The Matadors led 23-9 in the first quarter where the majority of their points came from 3-point distance as Butler and TONY WILLS each hit a pair of treys and Booker hit another.

“Really it’s all about our defense,” said Rowlett. “When we can hold a team the caliber of El Capitan to 18 points in the first half shows we were doing our job.”

The bottom line here is these teams will meet two more times in the battle for the Grossmont Valley League championship.

“They were the better team tonight and they deserved to win. But a league championship is more important... when we meet them again in league we’ll be ready,” Cavazos said.

Joining Butler on the All-Tournament Team were Wagner, Booker, Kygar and Ramirez.

Mount Miguel: Thomas Butler 22 (4 reb), Izzy Wagner 17 (4 reb, 4 ast, 4 stl), Cory Littleton 7, (8 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl), Marcus Booker 5 (4 reb, 4 ast, 1 stl), Tony Wills 7 (3 reb, 1 stl), Malcolm Jackson 4 (5 reb).

El Capitan: Tyson Kygar 29 (4 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl, 3 blk), Nestor Ramirez 10 (2 reb, 5 ast, 6 stl), Austin Betts 8 (3 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk), Kameron Brown 2 (5 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl, 2 blk), Ryan Quinten (1 reb, 1 ast), Travis Hulsey (2 reb), Scott Ross (1 reb).

EL CAPITAN 72, SAN PASQUAL 58 –The Vaqueros outscored San Pasqual in every quarter to earn a berth in Thursday’s (Dec. 29) semifinals of the Aztec Holiday Tournament at Montgomery.

Not surprisingly guards TYSON KYGAR and NESTOR RAMIREZ accounted for 52 points in the victory for El Capitan.

Ramirez connected on 10 of 14 shots from the field in what was arguably his best offensive showing to date.

The steady Kygar included 6 treys in his game-high 28 point total.

El Capitan: Tyson Kygar 28 (13 reb, 8 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl), Nestor Ramirez 24 (6 reb, 5 ast, 4 stl), Austin Betts 14 (4 reb, 2 ast), Kameron Brown 3 (8 reb, 3 ast, 3 blk), Quinten Ryan 2 (4 reb, 1 stl), Scott Ross 1 (1 stl), Travis Hulsey (1 reb).

MOUNT MIGUEL 56, VALLEY CENTER 44 – THOMAS BUTLER hammered in 19 points and MARCUS BOOKER added 16 markers to lead the Matadors past Valley Center in Thursday’s (Dec. 29) semifinals of the Aztec Holiday Tournament at Montgomery.

“The difference in this game is our fullcourt, man-to-man defense was really excellent,” said Matadors coach JAY ROWLETT. “It wasn’t so much that we got a lot of steals as it was we made a lot of stops.”

Mount Miguel: Thomas Butler 19 (4 reb, 1 stl), Marcus Booker 16 (6 reb, 5 ast, 3 stl), Cory Littleton 8 (8 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl), Izzy Wagner 6 (4 reb, 3 ast, 3 stl), Malcolm Jackson 4 (3 reb), Jaz Woodard 3 (1 reb), Tony Wills (1 stl).

HELIX 53, EASTLAKE 46 – So excited were the Helix Highlanders after overcoming an 18-6 first-quarter deficit to upend Eastlake in Thursday’s (Dec. 29)

Spartan Classic contest at Chula Vista, they thought they had qualified for a berth in the tournament finals.

Wrong.

“It was a good win for us since we grinded a little bit more than we have in past games,” Helix coach JOHN SINGER said. “Basically, we are a very immature team. But tonight, in the 4th quarter, we made stops and hit some key free throws. We played Helix basketball.”

BRIAN VALADEZ produced a third consecutive double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Highlanders (5-6).

“I know our kids are upset that they are not playing for the tourney title, but all I do is point to our loss to Point Loma,” Singer said. “Yeah, we came close, but we just have to work harder.”

Helix: Brian Valadez 17 (10 reb, 5 ast, 2 stl, 1 blk), Kaelan Mitchell 11 (3 reb, 1 ast), Titus Young 10 (4 reb, 5 ast, 2 stl), Mike Todd 6, Isaac Randall 4 (8 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 2 blk), Kene Anigbogu 3 (6 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk), Romario Wilson 2 (5 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk).

STEELE CANYON 72, CLAIREMONT 42 – Slumping Steele Canyon generated a season scoring high in Thursday’s (Dec. 29) rout of Clairemont in Spartan Classic action at Chula Vista High.

“This game was like a blessing in disguise,” noted Cougars coach DEREK STEPHENS. “We needed a confidence boost. We’ve been struggling. We have 15 guys on our team and most of them played in the second half – the starters didn’t play much in the second half.”

Four Cougars finished in double scoring digits led by MICHAEL JORDAN’s 12 points.

“We haven’t really had many assists, which I’ve been trying to stress. Tonight we had a lot of assists – TYLER GULINO-JONES had at least 10 assists tonight. And we had a lot of layups tonight. We needed this game.”

Steele Canyon: Michael Jordan 12, Dylan Kirchhofer 11, Justin Norwood 10, Daniel King 10, Casey Balikian 7, Cody Wells 5, Johnta Mitchel 5, William Myles 4, Donovan Habib 4, Tyler Gulino-Jones 2 (10 ast), Mark Ogden 2.

VALHALLA 66, HILLTOP 46 – Senior A.J. ALLEN, the tallest player on the Valhalla roster at 6-foot-6, made a major impact in Thursday’s (Dec. 29) Aztec Holiday Tournament encounter at Montgomery High.

“At the beginning of the year we were looking for big things from him,” Norseman coach KEITH JACKSON said of Allen, who also plays offensive line for the Valhalla football team. “Although he thinks of himself first as a football lineman he definitely has some upside in basketball.”

Allen contributed 13 points, most coming in the second half as Valhalla (4-9) overcame a 26-25 halftime deficit.

“He is a big body guy who hit 6 of 8 shots from the field,” Jackson said. “We are hoping for more positive things from him.”

Same is true with ANDREW LOZOYA, who sank 9 of 10 shots from the floor en route to a 20 point finish.

“One of the positives from this game was we shot 50 percent (27-for-54),” Jackson said. “I don’t think we have done that in any other game.”

Valhalla: Andrew Lozoya 20 (5 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl), A.J. Allen 13 (5 reb, 2 ast, 2 blk, 3 stl), Chris Shields 12 (3 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 2 stl), Amil Hermiz 7 (1 reb, 5 ast, 2 stl), Matt Butcher 6 (1 reb), David Gazelle 3 (1 reb), Josh McClenachen 3 (1 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Spencer Havird 2 (2 reb, 4 ast, 3 stl), Kevin Mills (5 reb, 4 ast, 2 stl), Nick Shamasha (1 ast).

MONTE VISTA 55, CERRITOS 44 – One of the surprising stars in the veteran Monte Vista lineup has been REUBEN NWANDO.

He knocked down 8 of 10 shots from the field and 3 of 5 free throws to pace the Monarchs (8-5) to a Mt. Carmel Holiday Hoops Classic victory over Cerritos.

“Nwando played good defense on their top scorer, holding him to 13,” said Monte Vista coach JAMES CARROLL. “We got off to a slow start then had strong second and third quarters.”

Indeed. The Monarchs outscored Cerritos 26-13 in the middle two quarters to decide the issue

JAMES JACKSON made 8 points in the fourth quarter, 6 of them on free throws. He finished with 13 points and 9 rebounds.

Guard K.J. HOUSTON picked off 10 rebounds.

“Houston rebounded well and XAVIER DANIELS made some great hustle plays,” said Carroll.

“We played fairly well, up by 17 in 4th and was able to get everyone some playing time, which they really support one another,” the coach added.

Monte Vista: Reuben Nwando 19 (6 reb, 1 ast), James Jackson 13 (9 reb, 4 ast, 1 stl), K.J. Houston 8 (10 reb, 4 ast), Devin Rendo 5 (2 reb), Justin Brandy 4 (3 reb), D’ondre Coleman 2 (1 reb), Brendan Harris 2, Jose Jimenez 2, Xavier Daniels (6 reb, 1 ast), Kylie Luster (2 reb), Jahzdion Taylor (1 blk), Hasani Jarvis (1 reb).

GRANITE HILLS 57, Vancouver CENTENNIAL 28 – The Eagles sharpened their shooting talons as they canned 25 of 49 shots from the field (51 percent)

to club the Canadians in Thursday’s (Dec. 29) Granite Hills Holiday Classic action.

Granite Hills (5-7) outscored Vancouver across the board beginning with a 14-5 spread in the 1st quarter.

Post man SCOTT ATKINSON powered in 15 points, bagged 13 boards and blocked 8 shots to anchor the Granite Hills attack.

“We executed well offensively, had a lot of assists,” noted Granite Hills coach RANDY ANDERSON. “We did a nice job passing inside to the big guys.”

Anderson was equally as pleased with his club’s defensive effort.

“D.J. PALOMERA had a real good game,” the coach said. “He showed a lot of hustle and really sparked our defense. He’s getting more and more confident the last few games.”

Granite Hills: Scott Atkinson 15 (13 reb, 3 ast, 8 blk), Kyle Pierson 10 (10 reb, 4 ast, 1 blk, 3 stl), Stephen Keppel 8 (7 reb, 3 stl), Nate Jeter 7 (6 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl), D.J. Palomera 6 (3 reb, 4 ast, 5 stl), Koltin Higgins 6 (3 ast, 2 blk, 1 stl), Danny Densel 3 (1 reb, 2 ast), Alonzo Beepath 2 (4 reb, 1 blk, 1 stl), Wes Wehrman (1 reb).

EL CAJON VALLEY 71, ESCONDIDO CHARTER 46 – ABRAHAM ALI dropped in 23 points Thursday (Dec. 29) to help lead undefeated El Cajon Valley (6-0) into Friday’s 6 p.m. semifinals of the 2nd Annual Braves Classic.

ANDRE NIKKITA led the Braves’ supporting cast with 18 points and 13 rebounds.

“We had another good intensity night,” El Cajon Valley coach MARTY ELLIS said. “Our goal now is to win our tournament. That means winning back-to-back games without much rest.”

If successful in the semifinals, the Braves will take on the winner of the Oceanside-Escondido Charter Friday at 8 p.m.

El Cajon Valley: Abraham Ali 23 (1 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl), Andre Nikkita 18 (13 reb, 4 ast, 3 stl, 1 blk), Derrick Moore 9 (8 reb, 1 blk), Brenden Brocious 8, Edon Lushi 4 (1 reb), Terrance Coleman 3 (4 reb, 4 ast, 1 stl), Deshe Tibbs 2 (4 reb, 3 stl),

Jeremiah Patton 2 (7 reb, 1 stl), Lando Butrus 2 (1 reb).

CHRISTIAN 69, SIR ALLEN MCNABB (Ontario, CAN) 56 – Senior JASON GAINES erupted for 33 points, 13 rebounds and five blocked shots Thursday (Dec. 29) as the Patriots posted their first win in three starts in the Senators Division of the MaxPreps Holiday Classic at Cathedral Catholic.

“Gaines is starting to get his basketball legs after doing so well in football,” Christian coach KELVIN STARR said.

Christian: Jason Gaines 33 (13 reb, 2 ast, 5 blk, 2 stl), Shane Dillon 12 (6 reb, 5 ast, 2 blk, 3 stl), Stephen Johnston 10 (r reb, 1 blk), Jake Larsen 8 (4 reb, 4 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl), Phillip George 3 (1 reb, 1 at, 3 stl), Tyler Ballard 2 (6 reb, 1 stl), Stephen Rothrock 1 (2 reb), Trenton Sauls (5 reb).

VISTA 67, GROSSMONT 47 – A 20-5 second quarter spelled doom for the Foothillers in Thursday’s (Dec. 29) Spartan Classic loss to Vista (13-2) in Chula Vista.

DEREK RUSTICH registered his third straight double-double of the tournament with 15 points and 11 rebounds for Grossmont (5-7).

Grossmont: Robby Nesovic 17 (8 reb, 4 ast, 1 stl), Derek Rustich 15 (11 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Bilal Rahim 10 (6 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Christian Meno 3, Ryan Cooksey 2, Austin Swisher (2 reb, 1 ast), J.T. Barnes (2 reb), Adam Robinson (1 reb).

MUNDELEIN (Ill.) 75, FOOTHILLS CHRISTIAN 42 – The Knights were no match for the Mustangs from Chicago in Thursday’s (Dec. 29) Granite Hills Holiday Classic.

Mundelein (13-3) marched to a 37-17 halftime lead and never looked back. Foothills Christian (4-8) shot 7-for-29 on field goals in the first half for 17 points.

At the start of the third quarter Mundelein went on a 15-2 run. Game over.

DALTON MOSSER, who has been ill of late, tallied 13 points and 13 rebounds for Foothills before leaving the game with an injured his ankle in the fourth quarter.

Foothills Christian: Caleb Hoffman 14 (2 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl), Dalton Mosser 13 (13 reb, 1 ast, 2 blk, 1 stl), Andre Johnson 13 (8 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk), Joe Buenrostro (2 ast, 1 blk, 3 stl), Nick Loudon (2 reb, 1 blk), A.J. Hoffman (2 reb, 2 stl), Austin Mostrong 2 (1 reb).

By Bill Dickens
© East County Sports.com
RANCHO PENASQUITOS (12-29-11) — The Monte Vista Monarchs took the freeway in knocking off Trabuco Hills, 41-40, in Wednesday’s (Dec. 28) Mt. Carmel Holiday Hoops Classic.

The last three Monarchs points came on free throws – two by JAMES JACKSON and one by K.J. HOUSTON to provide the margin of victory.

It was a good win for us,” coach JAMES CARROLL said of his 7-5 Monarchs. “They were considered one of the better teams in the tournament.”

“It was a strange ending,” Carroll added. “They inbounded the ball with.09 seconds left under their basket. We got our hands on it and knocked it out of bounds, however the scorekeeper never started the clock and the officials didn't go ahead and run the clock out. They allowed Trabuco Hills to go ahead and enter again with.09 seconds left.”

Then it came down to Houston blocking the shot at the buzzer.

Jackson scored 10 of his 21 points in the third quarter as the Monarchs took a 34-28 advantage.

“ Jackson had a strong overall game,” Carroll noted, “and KYLIE LUSTER rebounded well with 7 caroms.”

Monte Vista: James Jackson 21 (7 reb, 4 ast, 1 stl), K.J. Houston 6 (4 reb, 5 ast, 2 blk, 2 stl), Devin Rendo 6, Reuben Nwando 4 (1 reb), Kylie Luster 2 (7 reb, 1 stl), Hasani Jarvis 2 (1 reb), Xavier Daniels (3 reb), Justin Brandy (2 reb).

EL CAPITAN 56, MAPLE RIDGE (B.C., Canada) 40 – No longer can the early-season achievements of the El Capitan Vaqueros be considered a fluke.

An 11-2 record will attest to that.

The Vaqueros are now one victory shy of landing a berth in Friday’s (Dec. 30) championship of the Aztec Holiday Tournament at Montgomery after downing the Ramblers from British Columbia.

Once again senior sharp-shooting guard TYSON KYGAR led the way with 35 points and a dozen rebounds. He buried seven 3-pointers and 8-of-8 free throws to guide the offense.

“They boxed-and-one Tyson again,” Vaqueros coach JASON CAVAZOS said. “He wasn’t like he was last night – he went back to his normal ways. He got some wide open looks and some easy baskets.”

One of the unsung heroes for the Vaqueros has been RYAN QUINTEN.

“He did some good things again for us today,” said Cavazos. “He’s a big guy who is athletic enough to guard guards. He’s a big body who’s real agile, can guard the big bodies. He gets a lot of offensive as well as defensive boards.”

Not to be overlooked was guard NESTOR RAMIREZ, who pitched in 8 points, garnered 4 assists, 5 rebounds and 4 steals for El Capitan.

“Nestor Ramirez is definitely the cornerstone to our defense,” Cavazos pointed out. “When he’s in he always guards the best player. He’s a little Tasmanian Devil. He’s 5-foot-8 or 5-9 and puts a lot of pressure on the ball, causes a lot of defensive deflections. We are a different ballclub on the defensive side when he’s playing defense well. We rally behind him.”

El Capitan: Tyson Kygar 35 (12 reb, 2 ast, 4 stl, 2 blk), Austin Betts 9 (3 reb, 5 ast, 1 stl), Nestor Ramirez 8 (5 reb, 4 ast, 4 stl), Kameron Brown 2 (3 reb, 3 ast, 4 stl, 2 blk), Scott Ross 2 (1 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl), Ryan Quinten (2 reb, 1 blk),

Adam Jacob (1 stl), Nathan Geisel (1 ast), Jason Quinten (1 reb).

MOUNT MIGUEL 48, SAN PASQUAL 30 – Mount Miguel and El Capitan, both members of the Grossmont Valley League, are headed on a collision course for Friday’s (Dec. 30) Aztec Holiday Tournament championship at Montgomery.

The Matadors need a win over Valley Center in Thursday’s (Dec. 29) tournament semifinals.

Against San Pasqual, the Matadors (11-1) put this one on ice when they outscored San Pasqual 30-9 in the middle two quarters.

“That’s the best defense we’ve played all year,” Mount Miguel coach JAY ROWLETT said. “We’re a pretty good team when we play defense.”

Mount Miguel: Marcus Booker 14 (7 reb, 6 ast, 4 stl), Izzy Wagner 14 (6 reb, 3 ast, 3 stl), Cory Littleton 10 (8 reb, 4 stl), Malcolm Jackson 5 (5 reb, 1 stl), Tony Wills 1 (2 reb, 1 stl), Marcellus Jones (1 reb, 1 stl), Jaz Woodard (2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl).

GROSSMONT 61, SD-SOUTHWEST 39 – The host Foothillers made it three straight wins as junior DEREK RUSTICH posted second consecutive double-double of 18 points and 14 rebounds in Wednesday’s (Dec. 28) second round of the Spartan Classic in Chula Vista.

“We got everybody in the game today so it was good for them,” said Grossmont coach FRANK FOGGIANO. “If we win tomorrow night (vs. Vista ) we’ll play in the championship (on Friday).”

Grossmont: Derek Rustich 18 (14 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl), Robby Nesovic 12 (8 reb, 4 ast, 2 stl), Anthony Lawrence 9 (4 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Jake Herrod 8 (2 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Adam Robinson 4 (4 reb), Bilal Rahim 4 (3 reb), J.T. Barnes 2 (2 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Christian Meno 2, Steven Williams 2.

HELIX 54, CLAIREMONT 23 – Despite beginning the game with three starters on the bench for disciplinary reasons, the Highlanders manhandled Clairemont for their third win in four games during Wednesday’s (Dec. 28) second

round of the Spartan Classic in Chula Vista.

“It wasn’t like we played particularly well,” Helix coach JOHN SINGER said. “We are still trying to figure out the pieces in this thing.”

One sure thing for Helix is senior scorer BRIAN VALADEZ, a 6-foot-2 forward. He produced his second double-double in as many starts with 18 points and 10 rebounds.

“He’s not in shape yet, but we need him on the floor and that’s where he’s going to be to get into basketball shape,” Singer said.

Helix: Brian Valadez 18 (10 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Titus Young 8 (3 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl), Kene Anigbogu 5 (9 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl, 2 blk), Mike Todd 5 (4 reb, 2 stl), Isaac Randall 4 (6 reb, 2 ast, 4 stl, 2 blk), Xavier Jones 4 (1 reb, 5 ast, 2 stl), Christian Bell 3 (1 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl), Vann Sabin 2 (2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Derrick Chandler 2 (1 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl), Kaelan Mitchell 2 (1 reb, 1 stl), William Mildenhall (2 reb, 1 ast), Romario Wilson 1 (2 reb, 2 stl), Ernesto Martinez (1 reb, 1 ast), Yasir Abukar (1 blk).

FOOTHILLS CHRISTIAN 65, YOSEMITE 52 – Playing without their top scorer, DALTON MOSSER, who was ill with the flu and is questionable for tomorrow’s game, the Foothills Christian Knights played solid defense on Yosemite, particularly in the fourth quarter of Wednesday’s (Dec. 28) Granite Hills Holiday Classic.

The visiting Badgers had a deeper bench but didn’t have any big men.

Six-foot-4 AUSTIN MOSTRONG’s size was a plus on the boards for Foothills Christian (4-7) as he grabbed 9 rebounds to go along with 6 points.

Sophomore CALEB HOFFMAN scored a career-high 24 points, grabbed 8 rebounds and dished 6 assists, while ANDRE JOHNSON scored a career-best 23 points, snagged 13 rebounds and made 3 steals.

Foothills Christian: Caleb Hoffman 24 (8 reb, 6 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl), Andre Johnson 23 (13 reb, 1 blk, 3 stl), Nick Loudon 7 (5 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk), Austin Mostrong 6 (9 reb, 1 ast), A.J. Hoffman 2 (3 reb, 1 ast).

EL CAJON VALLEY 83, GOMPERS PREP 30 – It may be a bit presumptuous to break out the hats and horns, but coach MARTY ELLIS wants to celebrate New Year’s Eve a couple days early.

So far, so good.

Led by ANDRE NIKKITA’s 27 points, El Cajon Valley (5-0) remained undefeated by jumping on Gompers in Wednesday’s (Dec. 28) second round of the 2nd Annual Braves Classic.

“We are still trying to find our niche,” Ellis said. “But our kids are buying in and playing hard. I like what I see.”

El Cajon Valley: Andre Nikkita 27 (6 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl), Abraham Ali 14 (1 reb, 5 ast, 7 stl), Brenden Brocious 12 (1 reb, 2 stl), Terrance Coleman 10 (2 reb, 6 stl),

Derrick Moore 7 (7 reb, 4 stl, 1 blk), Lando Butrus 6 (2 reb, 3 stl), Deshe Tibbs 5 (8 reb, 3 stl), Jeremiah Patton 2 (11 reb, 1 stl), Edon Lushi (1 stl).

PATRICK HENRY 46, GRANITE HILLS 42 – Eagles coach RANDY ANDERSON almost could not believe his eyes when he watched his team let a probable Granite Hills Holiday Classic victory slip away on Wednesday (Dec. 28).

“We were down by one point with 13 seconds left and we missed a layup,” Anderson said. “I bet we had four shots in the last minute and couldn’t get anything to fall. We missed mostly inside shots.”

Six-foot-9 SCOTT ATKINSON, who is shooting well above 65 percent from the field for the season, missed eight of a dozen tries in the loss to Henry. He did, however, corral 16 rebounds and block 7 shots.

Anderson heaped accolades on junior guard D.J. PALOMERA, who finished with 8 points, 5 assists and only one turnover as the Granite Hills point guard.

Granite Hills: Scott Atkinson 12 (16 reb, 2 ast, 7 blk), D.J. Palomera 8 (5 ast, 3 stl, 1 blk), Kyle Pierson 8 (4 reb), Nate Jeter 6 (4 reb, 1 ast), Danny Densel 6, Stephen Keppel 2 (5 reb), Koltin Higgins (2 reb, 3 ast).

VALLEY CENTER 51, VALHALLA 34 – Valley Center did a bookend job on Valhalla in Wednesday’s (Dec. 28) Aztec Holiday Tournament at Montgomery High.

That is, the Jaguars jetted to a 16-4 first quarter lead and then sealed the deal with a 15-6 scoring run in the final period.

“We missed multiple putbacks and generally too many scoring opportunities,” Valhalla coach KEITH JACKSON said. “We were down 22-18 at the half and then came out and went scoreless for the first four minutes of the third quarter.”

Even in defeat Jackson had praise for AMIL HERMIZ, who paced Valhalla with 8 points.

Valhalla: Amil Hermiz 8 (5 reb, 1 ast), Spencer Havird 7 (7 reb, 3 ast, 3 blk, 3 stl), Chris Fields 7 (3 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk), Matt Butcher 5 (3 reb), Kevin Mills 3 (4 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Andrew Lozoya 2 (5 reb, 1 ast), A.J. Allen 2 (4 reb), David Gazelle (1 reb).

EASTLAKE 49, STEELE CANYON 32 – Anemic offense continued to plague the Steele Canyon Cougars in Wednesday’s (Dec. 28) Spartan Classic loss to Eastlake at Chula Vista High.

Seven Cougars scored, but nobody reached double digits.

“We are just completely out of sync on offense right now,” Steele Canyon coach DEREK STEPHENS said. “ Eastlake is a decent team that is at full strength now with their football guys back. They played harder than us and they played much more like a team than we did. We are just not on the same page offensively. We are weak inside, can't hit outside shots, and just look scared. Eastlake played good defense, but they weren't the real reason that we couldn't score. They are a similar team to us, they just out executed us – plain and simple.”

“I take full blame for the loss. I need to do a better job of getting the guys ready and help them get their confidence back. Some changes are going to be made. Tonight was a tale of two different teams. Eastlake is riding a hot streak (won 5 in a row) and we are struggling at the moment (three straight losses).”

Steele Canyon: Cody Wells 9, Michael Jordan 8, Johnta Mitchell 5, Justin Norwood 4, Casey Balikian 3, Donovan Habib 2, Daniel King 1.

HIGHLAND (Ariz.) 60, CHRISTIAN 45 – Once again the Christian High Patriots lacked firepower Wednesday (Dec. 28) as they dropped a Senators Division of the MaxPreps Holiday Classic to Highland of Gilbert, Ariz., at Cathedral Catholic.

“We have no continuity... just a lot of one-on-one stuff,” Patriots coach KELVIN STARR said. “When you average 3-to-4 assists per game like we do now, it’s hard to beat a team seven or eight deep. We need a good week of practice then I think we will be all right.”

The Patriots had a mere three assists against Highland.

Christian: Shane Dillon 19 (9 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl), Jason Gaines 17 (8 reb, 1 stl, 1 blk), Jake Larsen 5 (7 reb, 1 stl), Trenton Sauls 4 (3 reb, 1 stl), Phillip George (3 reb), Stephen Johnston (4 reb, 1 ast, 4 stl).

© East County Sports.com
OTAY MESA (12-28-11) — The Norsemen snapped a 3-game losing streak and won for only the third time in 11 starts as they came from behind to knock off Olympian 54-52 in Tuesday’s (Dec. 27) Aztec Holiday Tournament at Montgomery.

The unsung hero for the Norsemen (3-8) was ANDREW LOZOYA, who scored a career-high 17 points to lead Valhalla, including sinking 7 of 7 free throws. Lozoya delivered what proved to be the winning basket in the final seconds on an assist from CHRIS SHIELDS to make it 53-50.

Olympian countered quickly to make it a 1-point game again.

Shields added a free throw with 5 seconds left to seal the deal.

“Lozoya made some really big shots for us,” Valhalla coach KEITH JACKSON said. “I was really happy with his play.”

The victory did not come easy for the Norsemen, who made only 10 of 20 free throws in the game. Worse than that, Valhalla missed 5 free throws in the last 6 minutes.

“Despite that the kids really hustled. It was very intense,” Jackson said.

“Fields, SPENCER HAVIRD and KEVIN MILLS made some big defensive plays for us,” Jackson noted. “And MATT BUTCHER got a couple of buckets when we needed them. Spencer made a huge block in the last 2 minutes that helped us.”

Valhalla: Andrew Lozoya 17 (2 reb, 1 ast), Chris Shields 10 (8 reb, 4 ast, 2 stl, 3 blk), Kevin Mills 10 (4 reb, 2 ast, 4 stl), Spencer Havird 7 (8 reb, 6 ast, 3 stl, 2 blk), Matt Butcher 6 (3 reb, 2 stl, 1 blk), A.J. Allen 4 (2 reb ), Amil Hermiz (1 reb, 1 stl), Josh McClenachen (1 reb).

EL CAPITAN 52, MONTGOMERY 38 – The stealthy El Capitan Vaqueros continue to pile up the victories, including Tuesday’s (Dec. 27) romp over host Montgomery in the Aztec Holiday Tournament.

The Vaqueros are only eight points away from being undefeated.

“This team is really, really believing in themselves and in each other,” coach JASON CAVAZOS said of his 10-2 Vaqueros.

Even on a night when Vaqueros senior sharpshooter TYSON KYGAR scored half of his season average with 13 points, he was picked up by teammateS AUSTIN BETTS (13 points), KAMERON BROWN (12) and NESTOR RAMIREZ (10).

“We don’t care who scores as long as we win,” Cavazos said.

Montgomery took a 20-18 halftime lead.

“In the first half we didn’t come out ready to play, came out kind of flat,” Cavazos said. “But we fought through it and turned it around in the second half. It just shows that basketball is a team sport and if they believe in themselves good things will happen.”

And so they did.

“One of our backup big men, RYAN QUINTEN, came in and got some big rebounds and guarded ( Montgomery’s) best big man and did a great job,” the coach added of Quinten, who led the team with 8 rebounds.

El Capitan: Austin Betts 13 (6 reb, 4 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk), Tyson Kygar 13 (6 reb, 2 ast, 5 stl), Kameron Brown 12 (7 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk), Nestor Ramirez 10 (7 reb, 5 ast, 4 stl, 1 blk), Ryan Quinten 2 (8 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Scott Ross 2 (1 reb), Travis Hulsey (1 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk).

MOUNT MIGUEL 72, CRAWFORD 52 – Nobody in East County owns more victories than the Mount Miguel Matadors, who crushed Crawford in Tuesday’s (Dec. 27) second round of the Aztec Holiday Tournament at Montgomery.

THOMAS BUTLER banged in a season-best 27 points to pace the Matadors (10-1).

Steady perimeter shooter IZZY WAGNER added 19 points and 5 steals for Mount Miguel, which was in control of the game throughout.

Although Mount Miguel 39-20 at halftime, coach JAY ROWLETT was concerned with the porous Matadors defense in the third quarter.

“In the third quarter we came out sluggish – trading baskets, which is not our style,” said Rowlett. “We weren’t getting consistent stops. We played defense in spurts. We have to play defense for the whole game.”

Mount Miguel: Thomas Butler 27 (5 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Izzy Wagner 19 (6 reb, 3 ast, 5 stl), Cory Littleton 12 (8 reb, 1 stl), Marcus Booker 11 (5 reb, 4 ast, 1 stl), Jaz Woodard 2 (1 reb, 1 ast), Malcolm Jackson 1 (4 reb, 1 stl), Tony Wills (1 reb, 1 stl), Marcellus Jones (1 ast, 1 stl).

LA JOLLA 49, MONTE VISTA 41 – Frustration pinned the Monarchs with a somewhat surprising loss to La Jolla in Tuesday’s (Dec. 27) first round at the Mt. Carmel Holiday Hoops Classic.

The Monarchs (6-5) took a 13-5 lead and maintained a 7-point advantage heading into the final quarter. At that point La Jolla (3-7) embarked on a 22-7 scoring spree to stun Monte Vista.

REUBEN NWANDO was the lone Monarch to reach double scoring digits, finishing with 16 points.

“We still should have won,” Monte Vista coach JAMES CARROLL said. “We didn’t play hard consistently and La Jolla did a great job on the boards, and finished strong. It was a disappointing loss for us. I was disappointed in our effort and lack of focus.”

Monte Vista: Reuben Nwando 16 (5 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk),James Jackson 8 (6 reb, 6 ast, 2 stl, 1 blk), K.J. Houston 6 (5 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Kylie Luster 4 (6 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Devin Rendo 4, D’ondre Coleman 3 (1 reb, 1 stl), Jahzdion Taylor (2 reb), Xavier Daniels (2 reb), Josh Martinez (1 reb).

GRANITE HILLS 65, YOSEMITE 35 – At 6-foot-9, Granite Hills senior SCOTT ATKINSON figures to have a bunch of big games much like he did in the Eagles’ (4-6) first round win Tuesday (Dec. 27) in the Granite Hills Holiday Classic.

Atkinson, East County’s premier big man, clicked on 9 of 17 shots from the field and 8 of 10 free throws for 26 points. He also cleaned up on the boards collecting 19 caroms and still found time to fly-swatter 7 enemy shots.

Granite Hills: Scott Atkinson 26 (19 reb, 5 ast, 7 blk), Stephen Keppel 11 (3 reb, 2 ast), Koltin Higgins 7 (4 ast, 1 stl), D.J. Palomera 6 (5 reb, 3 ast, 3 stl), Nate Jeter 6 (3 reb, 3 ast), Kyle Pierson 6 (3 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Wes Wehrman 3, Reese Warford 2 (1 ast), Danny Smith (1 reb, 1 ast), Alonzo Beepath (3 reb).

EL CAJON VALLEY 72, HEALTH & SCIENCE 30 – One thing that has to make second-year El Cajon Valley coach MARTY ELLIS proud is his Braves (4-0) are the only remaining undefeated team in East County.

Four Braves reached double scoring digits led by ANDRE NIKKTA’s 19 markers in Tuesday’s (Dec. 27) first round of the 2nd Annual Braves Classic.

El Cajon Valley did some nifty shooting en route to registering its season high. The Braves buried six 3-pointers and sank 9 of 12 free throws.

“My job is to build confidence and continue teaching,” Ellis said. “I think we are on target right now.”

The contest was the season-opener for the Surgeons, a Division V program.

El Cajon Valley: Andre Nikkita 19 (6 reb, 3 ast, 4 stl, 1 blk), Abraham Ali 13 (5 reb, 7 ast, 1 stl), Brenden Brocious 13 (3 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl), Terrance Coleman 11 (8 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl), Derrick Moore 7 (12 reb, 2 stl, 1 blk), Deshe Tibbs 4 (4 reb), Edon Lushi 3 (2 stl), Lando Butrus 2 (3 reb, 6 stl), Jeremiah Patton (7 reb, 2 stl).

POINT LOMA 65, HELIX 63 – The Highlanders (3-6) fell behind 15-0 in Tuesday’s (Dec. 27) opening round of the Spartan Classic in Chula Vista.

“I think were down 20 in the first half,” Helix coach JOHN SINGER fumed. “They were shooting lights out and we did nothing to defend them. I think they hit 9 threes because we can’t defend the perimeter.”

Helix rallied in the third quarter to trail by 6 before falling back again.

In the fourth quarter, Helix pressed to force 8 turnovers to close within 2 points..

BRIAN VALADEZ returned to the lineup after recovering from a broken wrist. He finished with 20 points, 10 boards and 4 assists.

TITUS YOUNG contributed 17 points to the Highlanders totals.

Helix: Brian Valadez 20 (10 reb, 4 ast, 1 stl, 2 blk), Titus Young 17 (4 reb, 5 ast, 4 stl), Kene Anigbogu 9 (11 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl), Romario Wilson 6 (5 reb, 1 stl),

Isaac Randall 5 (3 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Kaelin Mitchell 4 (2 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl), Mike Todd 2 (4 reb, 4 ast), Vann Sabin (1 reb, 1 ast).

GROSSMONT 53, KEILER (Brisbane, Aust.) 38 – DEREK RUSTICH knocked down 18 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to guide the Foothillers (3-6) to Tuesday’s (Dec. 27) Spartan Classic victory over the Australians at Chula Vista High.

ROBBY NESOVIC ticked in 18 points for the Hillers.

Grossmont: Robby Nesovic 18 (6 reb, 6 ast, 3 stl), Derek Rustich 18 (14 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl), Ryan Cooksey 4 (1 reb, 1 ast), Bilal Rahim 3 (4 reb), Christian Meno 3, Austin Swisher 2 (1 reb, 1 ast), J.T. Barnes (2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Ryan Green (1 ast).

FOOTHILLS CHRISTIAN 66, Vancouver (B.C.)-CENTENNIAL 51 – When Foothills Christian turned up its pressing defense in the 4th quarter during Tuesday’s (Dec. 27) Granite Hills Holiday Classic, the Knights turned a one-point lead into a lopsided victory over the Canadians.

Senior guard DALTON MOSSER landed a team high 22 points and recorded six steals to lead the Knights (3-7). ANDRE JOHNSON added 17 points and five steals for the ball-hawking Knights.

Foothills Christian: Dalton Mosser 22 (3 reb, 3 ast, 6 stl, 1 blk), Andre Johnson 17 (7 reb, 1 ast, 5 stl), Caleb Hoffman 9 (3 reb, 2 ast, 4 stl), Nick Loudon 9 (1 ast, 1 blk), Joe Buenrostro 2 (2 stl), A.J. Hoffman (2 reb).

VISTA 63, STEELE CANYON 38 – COugars head coach DEREK STEPHENS is relatively pleased with his team’s defensive might. But offensively, Steele Canyon has been inconsistent, as they were in Tuesday’s (Dec. 27) Spartan Classic in Chula Vista.

“We played a decent three quarters worth of defense,” Stephens said. “We are struggling right now offensively. We look a little out of sync and timid. Our confidence is going to come. We just made some mistakes against a good team (Top 10 in county) and they capitalized."

"We played like it was the first game after Christmas. We were down 10 with 6 minutes to go in 4th and then just kind of quit from there which really makes me mad. Guys were letting their frustration on offense affect their defense. Score is definitely misleading, should have been a 10 point game even with how bad we played.”

Fact is Vista is 11-2.

“P.J. RUSSELL and DANNY KING played well on both ends of the floor and played with the intensity that I would like everyone to play with,” Stephens concluded.

Steele Canyon: Casey Balikian 10, Daniel King 8, P.J. Russell 7, Michael Jordan 4, Cody Wells 4, Danny Bwinika 4.

COLLEGE PARK (Texas) 87, CHRISTIAN 50 – They do things in a big way in Texas. Just ask the Christian High Patriots who got more than a taste of Texas in Tuesday’s (Dec. 27) Senators Division of the MaxPreps Holiday Classic at Cathedral Catholic.

JASON GAINES paced the Patriots with 19 points while SHANE DILLON rolled a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds.

“We got hammered today,” Christian coach KELVIN STARR said.

Christian: Jason Gaines 19 (7 reb, 2 blk), Shane Dillon 16 (10 reb, 3 ast, 2 blk), Jake Larsen 6 (3 reb, 2 stl), Tyler Ballard 4 (2 reb), Phillip George 2 (1 stl), Brandon Pardiff 2, Michael Letouzic 1 (3 reb), Trenton Sauls (5 reb), Stephen Johnston (2 reb).

© East County Sports.com
OTAY MESA (12-27-11) — If there was balloting for the surprise team in the San Diego CIF so far this season, coach JASON CAVAZOS’ El Capitan Vaqueros would attract plenty of attention.

TYSON KYGAR was at the forefront of the Vaqueros’ latest assault – a 65-39 victory over Hilltop – in Monday’s (Dec. 26) Aztec Holiday Tournament at Montgomery High.

Kygar landed 11 of 12 shots from the field on his way to a 31 point finish. The senior sharp-shooter landed 6 of 7 from three-point range as the Vaqueros improved to 9-2.

“It was a good little test for us,” Cavazos said. “Tyson came out blazing – he was nothing but net. Then they box-and-oned him. Because I believe the rest of the team is getting better we just kept running our offense and we started to get some easy baskets. Other people are doing things that help us out tremendously.”

AUSTIN BETTS and NESTOR RAMIREZ added 13 points apiece for the Vaqueros.

“Austin Betts came up and got some key steals and easy transition baskets,” Cavazos said. “We just ran them pretty good, I feel that our team is in better shape than they are. We got a lot of easy baskets. We work hard in practice and its paying off.”

El Capitan: Tyson Kygar 31 (6 reb, 6 ast, 6 stl, 2 blk), Austin Betts 13 (4 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl), Nestor Ramirez 13 (2 reb, 5 ast, 4 stl, 2 blk), Kameron Brown 6 (9 reb, 4 blk, 1 stl), Ryan Quinten 2 (4 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl, 2 blk), Adam Jacob (1 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk), Travis Hulsey (1 reb, 1 stl), Scott Ross (1 stl, 1 blk), Nathan Geisel (2 stl), Jason Quinten (1 stl).

MOUNT MIGUEL 62, EC-SOUTHWEST 37 – Coach JAY ROWLETT’s Matadors are three points away from being a perfect 10-0 following Monday’s (Dec. 26) opening round knockout of El Centro Southwest in the Aztec Holiday Tournament.

Playing a game the day after Christmas is always an extra challenge.

“You have to adapt to that,” Rowlett said. “We were a little sluggish at the start but IZZY (WAGNER) kept us in it in the early stages.”

Wagner finished with 20 points – including a trio of three-pointers in the first half – as the Matadors took a 27-18 edge at the break. A 20-5 burst in the third quarter put the game away.

THOMAS BUTLER added 14 points and CORY LITTLETON crashed the boards for 10 rebounds for Mount Miguel (9-1).

Mount Miguel: Izzy Wagner 20 (5 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl), Thomas Butler 14 (4 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Marcus Booker 8 (3 reb, 2 ast), Cory Littleton 6 (10 reb, 3 stl), Malcolm Jackson 5 (5 reb), Jaz Woodard 5 (3 reb), Tony Wills 2 (2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Marcellus Jones 2 (1 ast, 1 stl).

SAN MARCOS 51, VALHALLA 40 – The struggles continued for the Valhalla Norsemen in Monday’s (Dec. 26) opening round of the Aztec Holiday Tournament at Montgomery.

San Marcos (8-4) outscored the Norsemen (2-8) across the board. MATT BUTCHER was the lone Valhalla player to reach double scoring digits with 12 points.

For Valhalla it’s been a season of anemic offense.

Valhalla: Matt Butcher 12 (6 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk),), Andrew Lozoya 8 (3 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl, Spencer Havird 4 (5 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk), A.J. Allen 4 (4 reb), Chris Fields 3 (6 reb, 2 blk), Amil Hermiz 3 (3 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), David Gazelle 3, Kevin Mills 2 (5 reb), Josh McClenachen 1, Taylor Hammet (1 reb, 1 ast).

© East County Sports.com
CORONADO (12-23-11) — NICK FINDLEY knocked down 4 triples on his way to a game-high 17 points as West Hills pummeled Preuss 59-27 in Thursday’s (Dec. 22) final round of the Coronado Tournament.

It was a good shooting day for the Wolf Pack (5-8), which landed 7 of 15 shots from long distance.

The Pack led 32-14 by intermission and never looked back.

“Our regulars didn’t play all that much in this game,” West Hills coach JEFF ARMSTRONG said. “A lot of our other kids got significant playing time.”

One of the unsung heroes for the Pack was ERIC FOX, who tallied 7 points and 2 assists.

“It’s nice to go out with a win,” Armstrong said. “We’re going to take a week off and then get ready for Santana in January.”

West Hills: Nick Findley 17 (1 reb, 2 stl), Kevin Straub 9 (3 reb, 1 ast, 4 stl), Martin Panayotov 7 (3 reb, 1 ast), Eric Fox 7 (1 reb, 2 ast), Jeron Satterfield 4 (1 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl), Alex Parsons 4 (1 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl), Kevin McLaughlin 4 (1 reb, 3 stl, 1 blk), Will Llamas 4 (5 reb, 1 ast), D.J. Lewis 3 (1 reb), Ryan Williams (1 reb, 2 ast, 5 stl), Jonny Preston (2 reb, 2 ast), Joey Clark (1ast).

KEARNY 49, WEST HILLS 46 – The Wolf Pack race-horsed to a 22-12 first-quarter lead over Kearny in Thursday’s (Dec. 22) final round of the Xtreme Glass Holiday Tournament at Sweetwater.

“Then our offense kinda stalled,” said West Hills coach JEFF ARMSTRONG.

However, with 6 seconds left West Hills had the ball and a chance to tie the game and send it into overtime. The Pack was able to launch the shot but it was off the mark.

NICK FINDLEY was 3-for-3 on long-distance shooting and finished with 11 points to pace the Pack.

Reserve RYAN WILLIAMS scored all 7 of his points in the final period.

West Hills: Nick Findley 11 (2 reb), Jeron Satterfield 9 (4 reb, 7 ast, 4 stl), Ryan Williams 7 (1 reb), Jonny Preston 6 (3 reb, 3 ast), Alex Parsons 4 (3 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl), Joey Clark 4 (1 reb, 1 stl), Martin Panayotov 2 (3 reb, 1 stl), D.J. Lewis (2 reb).

SERRA 50, STEELE CANYON 44 – After watching his team perform in Thursday’s (Dec. 22) Xtreme Glass Holiday Tournament game at Sweetwater, Steele Canyon coach DEREK STEPHENS was convinced “we need some practice time.”

Serra (5-8) used a 24-12 scoring blitz to erase the Cougars 23-15 halftime lead.

In the pivotal 3rd quarter Serra’s Izik Ruffin scored 13 of his game-high 23 points, hitting a trio of threes on his way to a 13-point output.

“He wasn’t doing anything fancy,” Stephens said. “He was just hitting pull-up 3s and we didn’t do much to stop him. Our defense wasn’t what it needs to be. We did not communicate well.”

DYLAN KIRCHHOFER paced the Cougars (5-4) with 13 points and CODY WELLS and DANNY BWINIKA added 11 apiece.

“We just didn’t shoot well,” Stephens said. “And we got called for four or five offensive fouls. It just wasn’t our day. Even though we led by one point in the 4th quarter we couldn’t hold it.”

Steele Canyon: Dylan Kirchhofer 13, Cody Wells 11, Danny Bwinika 11, Casey Balikian 6, Michael Jordan 5, Tyler Gulino-Jones 2, P.J. Russell 1, Daniel King 1.

© East County Sports.com
NATIONAL CITY (12-22-11) — Don’t look now, but the boys basketball team out at Steele Canyon looks like it could be the team to beat in the Grossmont Hills League race.

The Cougars stepped onto the court Wednesday (Dec. 21) without two starters and simply showed off their depth against Ramona, beating them handily 64-48 in the Xtreme Glass Holiday Tournament at Sweetwater.

The Cougars pounced on the Bulldogs early to build a 38-22 halftime lead and never looked back.

“Lately we’ve been coming out kinda slow so it was good that we came out firing and played a good first half,” Cougars senior CODY WELLS said.

Playing without leading scorer DANNY BWINIKA and monster rebounder MICHAEL JORDAN, the other Cougars proved they’re still a force to be reckoned with.

“We knew coming in that we were gonna have to rebound a lot better and our defense would definitely have to step it up tonight without those guys,” Wells said.

P.J. RUSSELL controlled the paint with 8 rebounds and 4 blocks, CASEY BALIKIAN snatched 9 boards and the Cougars swiped 15 steals.
They also held Ramona to just 27 percent shooting from the field.

“We pride ourselves on defense and we did a great job of that tonight,” DYLAN KIRCHHOFER stated.

One other bright spot was at the free throw line. After missing 21 shots at the line the day before they connected on 21-of-25 attempts against the Bulldogs.

“I love this group of guys,” head coach DEREK STEPHENS admitted. “Sometimes when we get down early or miss our first couple of free throws it gets into their heads a little and they try too hard, which is a good thing, but I just have to tell them to relax and play ball.”

Halfway to matching last season’s win total only 8 games into the season there is excitement in this locker room.

“I’m really excited about this season. It’s definitely gonna be our best one yet,” said Wells.

“We have all been playing together for years now and if you ask anyone on the team they will tell you exactly the same thing,” Kirchhofer echoed.

Steele Canyon: Dylan Kirchhofer 21 (2 reb, 1 ast, 2stl), Cody Wells 18 (3 ast, 5 stl), Casey Balikian 10 (9 reb, 1 ast, 1 reb), Justin Norwood 7 (4 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl), P.J. Russell 6 (8 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 4 blk), Tyler Gulino-Jones 2 (1 reb, 1 ast), Daniel King (4 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl, 1 blk)

— Andrew Smith

MOUNT MIGUEL 66, DEL SOL 53 – If the Mount Miguel Matadors aren’t the best team in East County they are certainly one of the primary challengers in the Grossmont Valley League race.

The Matadors (8-1) are two points shy of being undefeated after posting three victories in four games in the prestigious Foothill Tournament in Las Vegas.

Stable IZZY WAGNER poured in 20 points and CORY LITTLETON added a double-double of 17 points and 11 rebounds to carry the Matadors past Del Sol.

“I can’t complain about where we are,” Mount Miguel JAY ROWLETT said. “Our defensive effort was better in this game than yesterday. Littleton has been a force inside the paints for us.

“Our problem is fouling too much. We use our hands too much and cause ourselves trouble. We need to get back into the lab and straighten some things out.”

Mount Miguel: Izzy Wagner 20 (2 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl), Cory Littleton 17 (11 reb, 3 ast, 4 stl), Thomas Butler 11 (5 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Marcus Booker 9 (2 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl), Tony Wills 4 (1 reb), Marcellus Jones 2 (1 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Jaz Woodard (2 reb).

EL CAPITAN 57, UNIVERSITY CITY 54 – It is hard to imagine how a team can blow a 6-point lead in the final 12 seconds, but the El Capitan Vaqueros came close to doing so in Wednesday’s (Dec. 21) Grossmont Winter Classic.

The Centurions’ Brendan Smith hit a 3 and got fouled. He missed but UC got the offensive rebound with 10.1 seconds remaining and called time out.

Unlike the night before, the Vaqueros refused to give up an uncontested shot and came away with their 8th win in 10 decisions.

Once again TYSON KYGAR was the offensive fireplug with 25 points, 7 steals and 5 assists.

NESTOR RAMIREZ rattled in 14 points to go along with 5 assists and 6 steals. AUSTIN BETTS scored 6 of his 10 points in the final period, while KAMERON BROWN finished with 8 points and 6 rebounds.

“We’ve tried really hard not to make this the “Tyson Kygar Show,” said El Capitan coach JASON CAVAZOS, “and so far we’ve been able to do that. I know he appreciates that because he knows he can’t win it by himself.

“I believe this team has the right mixture and the tools to challenge people.”

El Capitan: Tyson Kygar 25 (4 reb, 5 ast, 7 stl, 1 blk), Nestor Ramirez 14 (3 reb, 5 ast, 6 stl), Austin Betts 10 (4 reb, 3 ast), Kameron Brown 8 (6 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl, 3 blk), Ryan Quinten (1 reb, 2 stl), Travis Hulsey (2 reb), Adam Jacob (1 ast).

MONTE VISTA 75, PAYSON (Utah) 62 – JAMES JACKSON and REUBEN NWANDO were named to the All-San Diego High School Tournament team Wednesday (Dec. 21) after the Monarchs pasted Payson, Utah, with a come- from-behind victory to claim 3rd place.

This was sort of a surprising victory for the Monarchs, considering coach JAMES CARROLL benched three starters prior to the opening tipoff.

No doubt Carroll was apprehensive when Payson took an early 12-2 lead.

“We were trying to send a message,” he said. “But I thought we played well defensively with the new lineup.”

One of the unsung heroes for the Monarchs was JOSH MARTINEZ, who made his first varsity start and contributed 4 points and 2 assists.

“Josh had only played about 3 seconds for us this season,” said Carroll. “But he came up big and that’s what I was hoping for.”

The game was decided in the 4th quarter when Monte Vista scored 33 points. Nwando tallied 10 of his 18 points and Jackson punched in 7 of his game-high 22 points in the swing period.

Monte Vista: James Jackson 22 (9 reb, 7 ast, 1 stl, 2 blk), Reuben Nwando 18 (6 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk), K.J. Houston 14 (6 reb, 5 ast, 1 stl), Jahzdion Taylor 7 (5 reb, 1 ast), Hasani Jarvis 6 (2 reb, 2 ast), Josh Martinez 4 (2 ast), Justin Brandy 2 (4 reb), Kylie Luster 2 (1 ast), Brendan Harris (3 reb), D’ondre Coleman (1 reb, 1 ast), Devin Rendo (1 reb).

GRANITE HILLS 63, WESTERN AUSTRALIA 43 – A long week at the Foothill Tournament in Las Vegas concluded on a positive note Wednesday (Dec. 21) for the Granite Hills Eagles.

Steady 6-foot-9 senior center SCOTT ATKINSON delivered his usual double-double of 21 points, 12 rebounds and blocked 5 shots.

He had a strong supporting cast led by NATE JETER, who scored a career-high 20 points anchored by 9 of 12 shooting from the field.

“No question that was Jeter’s best game of his career,” said Eagles coach RANDY ANDERSON. “Hopefully that will help build his confidence because we certainly do need him in games like this.”

STEPHEN KEPPEL also chucked in 10 points for the Eagles.

Granite Hills: Scott Atkinson 21 (12 reb, 4 ast, 5 blk), Nate Jeter 20 (7 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Stephen Keppel 10 (5 reb, 4 ast, 2 blk), Kyle Pierson 3 (5 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Koltin Higgins 3 (3 reb, 1 stl), D.J. Palomera 2 (2 reb, 5 ast, 2 stl), Danny Smith 2 (1 blk), Alonzo Beepath 2, Reese Warford (1 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Jaron Sanders (1 reb).

GROSSMONT 69, BONITA VISTA 38 – The Foothillers used a balanced attack to blow up Bonita Vista in Wednesday’s (Dec. 21) Grossmont Winter Classic.

Double-doubles were awarded to DEREK RUSTICH who finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds.

ROBBY NESOVIC was solid with 13 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists for the Foothillers (3-6).

Career-highs were registered by BILAL RAHIM (14 points, 5 rebounds) and AUSTIN SWISHER (13 points).

“We got ahead right away and methodically kept moving the lead,” said Grossmont coach FRANK FOGGIANO. “They all played well today.”

Grossmont: Derek Rustich 16 (11 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Bilal Rahim 14 (5 reb), Robby Nesovic 13 (10 reb, 6 ast, 3 stl), Austin Swisher 13 (2 reb), Adam Robinson 5 (4 reb), J.T. Barnes 3 (2 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl, Ryan Green 3 (1 reb, 2 ast), Ryan Cooksey 2 (2 reb, 3 ast).

SANTANA 52, Burbank-BURROUGHS 43 – DANIEL LEVENS-LOWERY dropped in 21 points to lead Santana to its third straight win in Wednesday’s (Dec. 21) Grossmont Winter Classic contest.

“What can I say? He was on fire,” said coach TIM BARRY of Levens-Lowery, who nailed 7 of 12 shots from the floor.

The Sultans also received 12 points from MIKE ROSOLINO and 11 more from A.J. BRATLIEN.

But one player that Barry said did not register on the score sheet that much was JASON CORBISEZ.

“Most kids look at scoring to gauge the success of their game,” Barry said. “But that’s not always true – look at Corbisez. He only scored 2 points in this game but he gives us a presence in the middle whether he scores or not. We need that.”

Santana: Daniel Levens-Lowery 21 (3 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl), Mike Rosolino 12 (4 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), A.J. Bratlien 11 (5 reb, 1 stl), Christian Barry 6 (6 reb, 9 ast, 3 stl, 1 blk), Jason Corbisez 2 (6 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl, 1 blk), James Doherty (1 reb, 1 ast), David Albright (1 stl).

OCEANSIDE 62, WEST HILLS 60 – JERON SATTERFIELD finished with 15 points and 8 rebounds and JONNY PRESTON added 12 as the Wolf Pack dropped a decision in Wednesday (Dec. 21) Xtreme Glass Holiday Tournament at Sweetwater.

Coach JEFF ARMSTRONG praised the play of WILL LLAMAS, who came off the bench for 4 points and 2 rebounds.

“It’s guys like that who can make our team better,” Armstrong said.

West Hills: Jeron Satterfield 15 (8 reb, 6 ast, 1 stl), Jonny Preston 12 (4 ast, 2 stl), Alex Parsons 9 (6 reb, 3 ast, 4 stl, 1 blk), Martin Panayotov 8 (2 reb), D.J. Lewis 7 (1 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk), ), Will Llamas 4 (2 reb, 1 ast), Nick Findley 3 (1 reb), Joey Clark (2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Ryan Williams (2 reb, 1 blk), Kevin McLaughlin (1 reb).

WEST HILLS 63, GUAJOME PARK 43 – The Wolf Pack rebounded to dominate the Frogs in the Coronado Tournament on Wednesday (Dec. 21).

JERON SATTERFIELD and RYAN WILLIAMS shared high-point honors for the Pack.

“Ryan Williams nailed 5 of 6 shots from the field to finish with 12 points as did Jeron Satterfield,” noted West Hills coach JEFF ARMSTRONG.

“We were down early but D.J. LEWIS hit a couple of buckets and Satterfield hit 2 baskets plus an and-one to bring us back.”

West Hills: Jeron Satterfield 12 (5 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Ryan Williams 12 (3 reb, 1 ast), Jonny Preston 8 (2 reb, 5 ast, 2 stl), D.J. Lewis 8 (2 reb, 2 stl), Joey Clark 7 (3 reb, 1 blk), Kevin McLaughlin 6 (5 reb, 3 ast, 5 stl), Alex Parsons 2 (4 reb), Will Llamas 2 (3 reb, 1 ast), Nick Findley 2 (1 reb), Martin Panayotov 2 (1 ast, 1 stl), Eric Fox 2 (1 reb, 2 stl).

MELBOURNE (Team No. 3) 69, VALHALLA 45 – For the first time this year MATT BUTCHER avoided foul trouble to lead the Norsemen with 14 points in Wednesday’s (Dec. 21) Foothill Tournament loss in Las Vegas.

It’s been a tale of woes for Valhalla (2-7), which shot 22 percent from the floor, including 1-for-9 from three-point range against the Aussies.

To make matters worse, Valhalla senior PATRICK FLIPPO suffered a broken nose that will keep him sidelined for a week or more. Prior to his injury, Flippo cashed in 4 points, grabbed 2 rebounds and made 3 steals.

Butcher, who has been plagued by foul trouble all season, sank 6 of 6 shots from the charity triple to finish with a team-best 14 points.

Valhalla: Matt Butcher 14 (2 ast, 3 reb, 2 stl), Andrew Lozoya 7 (2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Kevin Mills 6 (4 reb, 1 ast, 3 stl), Patrick Flippo 4 (2 reb, 3 stl), Chris Shields 4 (5 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk),Josh McClenachan 4 (3 reb), Spencer Havird 4 (1 reb, 5 ast, 6 stl, 1 blk), Amil Hermiz (2 reb), David Gazelle 2 (3 reb), Nick Shamasha (1 reb), Ryan Ernsbarger (1 reb), Taylor Hammet (3 reb, 1 blk).

© East County Sports.com
SANTEE (12-21-11) — Injury-riddled Santana welcomed back one of its walking wounded as JASON CORBISEZ, playing in his third game contributed 14 points and 7 rebounds as host Santana avenged an earlier loss to University City 62-59 in Tuesday’s (Dec. 20) Grossmont Winter Classic.

Corbisez, a 6-foot-3 senior recovering from elbow surgery, knocked down 5 of 7 shots from the field and 4 of 6 free throws while dealing 2 assists.

“Just his physical presence gives us an edge,” Santana coach TIM BARRY said. “He handles the ball well and did a great job of taking his guy off the dribble. He wasn’t just out there chucking up shots.”

Senior guard A.J. BRATLIEN also came up big for the Sultans (3-6) as he knocked down 6 of 11 shots from the field – one of them a trey – to finish with a team-best 15 points.

Bratlien played a key role in the final seconds. He was a nugget on defense and recorded a steal and layup with 4 seconds left to seal the victory.

“We’re still trying to find our identity and this was a huge team victory for our team psyche,” said Barry. “I believe we’ve played absolutely the toughest schedule of anybody in the county. I made this schedule when I had a lot of guys who are not here any more, but these kids are really coming through and I think it’s gonna pay off in the end.”

DANIEL LEVENS-LOWERY powered in 12 points for the Sultans as did CHRISTIAN BARRY.

Santana: A.J. Bratlien 15 (5 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl), Jason Corbisez 14 (7 reb, 2 ast), Daniel Levens-Lowery 12 (3 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Christian Barry 12 (2 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Mike Rosolino 8 (6 reb, 2 stl), James Doherty 1, Jordan Vargas (3 reb, 1 stl), David Albright (1 ast).

STEELE CANYON 59, CHULA VISTA 45 – It was hardly a thing of beauty but Steele Canyon coach DEREK STEPHENS will take it as his Cougars clipped Chula Vista in Tuesday’s (Dec. 20) Xtreme Glass Holiday Tournament at Sweetwater.

“We should have won this game by 30 points,” said Stephens.

Maybe so, but the fact that the Cougars (4-3) made only 16 of 37 free throws sort of short-circuited that kind of thinking.

DANNY BWINIKA paced the Cougars with a trio of 3-pointers and a team-high 19 points, while CODY WELLS pitched in 11 points.

“We also missed probably seven layups,” Stephens noted. “We’re a team that really needs to have some practice time.

“In this game we rushed through stuff, put up some bad shots and then became very tentative. I know we’re better than that.”

Steele Canyon: Danny Bwinika 19, Cody Wells 11, Casey Balikian 9, Michael Jordan 7, Justin Norwood 4, Tyler Gulino-Jones 4, Daniel King 3, P.J. Russell 2.

SHADOW RIDGE (Nev.) 49, MOUNT MIGUEL 47 – No longer are the Mount Miguel Matadors unbeaten. They blew a 2-point advantage in the final minute of Tuesday’s (Dec. 20) semifinal in the Foothill Tournament in Las Vegas.

Clinging to a 47-45 edge, the Matadors (7-1) stole the ball and had a 2-on-1 break only to throw the ball out of bounds. Shadow Ridge promptly tied it with a bucket at the other end.

“We got another good look, but missed,” Mount Miguel coach JAY ROWLETT said. “I thought my guy got fouled, but there was no call.”

The Mustangs (4-2) then galloped off to score the game-winning basket with a handful of seconds left on the clock.

Only four Matadors scored led by IZZY WAGNER’s five 3-pointers and 23 points.

Mount Miguel: Izzy Wagner 23 (3 reb), Thomas Butler 12 (4 reb, 2 stl), Marcus Booker 8 (2 reb, 4 ast, 1 stl), Cory Littleton 5 (8 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl).

SCRIPPS RANCH 59, EL CAPITAN 55 (OT) – The Vaqueros were sitting on a 20-point lead in the 3rd quarter of Tuesday’s (Dec. 20) Grossmont Winter Classic contest at Santana High against Scripps Ranch, but could not hold on.

For some reason El Capitan (7-2) became tentative rather than continuing to attack the basket. On more than one occasion the Vaqueros had an advantage breakaway but rather than carrying through, pulled up and did not shoot.

“We were up by 16 points to start the 4th quarter and then we played the game to not lose,” said El Capitan coach JASON CAVAZOS. “All the other games we’ve played to win.”

“With 6 seconds left we were up by 3,” Cavazos added. “Then their guy dribbled the length of the court – nobody guarded him – and made a 3 to tie it.”

El Capitan appeared to be prepared to pull out the victory in overtime as the Vaqueros scored 5 quick points. But the offense stalled at that point.

Cory Denherder scored 17 of his 21 points in the 4th quarter and overtime for Scripps Ranch. Bottom line: he was the difference.

That, and the fact that the Falcons outscored the Vaqueros 19-8 at the free throw line.

“In overtime we went up by 5 points quick and they made free throws to win it at the end,” Cavazos said.

TYSON KYGAR, who finished with 21 points, drove at the end of overtime when El Capitan was down by 2 and was knocked to the ground by two defenders but got no call.

“We are now on the other side of it,” said Cavazos. “That’s why I tell the guys to play four quarters of basketball. If you don’t come ready to play all four quarters you can lose ball games.”

El Capitan: Tyson Kygar 21 (6 reb, 6 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk), Kameron Brown 14 (7 reb, 2 stl, 3 blk), Austin Betts 11 (6 reb, 1 ast), Nestor Ramirez 5 (4 reb, 4 ast, 2 stl), Ryan Quinten 4 (4 reb), Travis Hulsey (3 reb, 1 ast).

SIERRA VISTA (Nev.) 67, GRANITE HILLS 61 (OT) – For the second time in as many starts at the Foothill Tournament in Las Vegas (Nev.), the Granite Hills Eagles (2-6) lost in overtime on Tuesday (Dec. 20).

The extra sessions have not been kind to the Eagles, who have been outscored 21-5 the past two nights.

On the bright side Granite Hills’ 6-foot-9 senior post SCOTT ATKINSON rolled off a triple-double of 29 points, 10 rebounds and 10 blocks. He netted 9 of 12 shots from the paint and 11 of 17 free throws.

“Our guys did a good job of getting the ball into Scott,” coach RANDY ANDERSON said. Seven assists belonged to D.J. PALOMERA.

STEPHEN KEPPEL pitched in a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds for Granite Hills.

Granite Hills: Scott Atkinson 29 (10 reb, 10 blk), Stephen Keppel 11 (10 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk), D.J. Palomera 8 (2 reb, 7 ast, 4 stl), Kyle Pierson 3 (7 reb, 5 ast), Danny Densel 3, Danny Smith 3, Nate Jeter 2 (4 reb, 3 ast, 1 blk), Alonzo Beepath 2, Koltin Higgins (4 reb).

MOJAVE (Nev.) 46, VALHALLA 40 – The Norsemen (2-6) were playing catch up from the get-go in Tuesday’s (Dec. 20) Foothill Tournament action in Las Vegas ( Nev. ).

Fact is, Valhalla put up only 11 points in the first 16 minutes to trail by nine.

Playing without leading scorer, 6-foot-4 senior CHRIS SHIELDS, who logged only five minutes and came up empty due to illness, the Norsemen had to look elsewhere for help in the middle.

“We got 17 offensive rebounds but could not convert,” Valhalla coach KEITH JACKSON said. “And our three-point shooting was off again as he hit only 2 of 18. And the turnovers we made killed us … one lackadaisical pass after another.”

On the bright side was PATRICK FLIPPO’s effort off the bench. The 6-foot-3 senior spun a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds.

“He was throwing his body all over the floor,” Jackson said. “He is one of those hard working kids you really want to see rewarded for his effort.”

Valhalla: Patrick Flippo 10 (10 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl), Andrew Lozoya 8 (5 reb, 3 ast, 8 stl), Spencer Havird 7 (5 reb, 2 ast, 7 stl), Matt Butcher 7 (7 reb, 1 ast), Amil Hermiz 4 (1 reb, 4 stl), Kevin Mills 2 (2 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl), David Gazelle 2 (1 reb).

VALLEY CENTER 48, MONTE VISTA 44 – Monarchs head coach JAMES CARROLL was disappointed with Monte Vista’s effort in Tuesday’s (Dec. 20) San Diego High School Tournament

“This was our worst game of the season,” Carroll said. “We fell behind 18-6, but came back to tie it in the 3rd quarter. But it seemed like we were just off the mark all day. The effort we’ve had in most of our games just wasn’t there.”

The lone steadying influence was once again JAMES JACKSON who accounted for half of the Monarchs points with 22.

The Jaguars hit five 3-pointers including three in the first quarter when they gained a 12-point advantage. Monte Vista’s defensive rotation was poor and Valley Center was able to capitalize.

Monte Vista : James Jackson 22 (5 reb, 2 ast), K.J. Houston 6 (1 reb, 5 ast, 1 stl), Reuben Nwando 6 (3 reb, 5 ast, 4 stl), Xavier Daniels 4 (3 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Kylie Luster 3 (4 reb, 1 ast), Justin Brandy 3 (2 reb, 1 blk), Devin Rendo (2 reb).

SAN PASQUAL 51, WEST HILLS 39 – The Wolf Pack started fast in Tuesday’s (Dec. 20) Xtreme Glass Holiday Tournament at Sweetwater, taking a 26-21 halftime lead.

However, West Hills’ offense faltered in the 2nd half, producing only 13 points.

“Our problem most of the season has been we play only 25 minutes in a 32-minute game,” said Wolf Pack coach JEFF ARMSTRONG.

Poor 3-point shooting didn’t help matters against the Golden Eagles, as West Hills netted only 2 of 17 shots from long distance.

“Right now we rely too much on the 3-point game,” Armstrong noted.

A day before against Coronado the Pack was only 1 of 18 from beyond the arc.

“Shooting like that’s almost certain to put you into catch-up mode,” Armstrong noted.

On the bright side JONNY PRESTON hit 4 of 6 shots from the floor on his way to a team-leading 12 points.

JERON SATTERFIELD added 10 points and 6 rebounds.

West Hills: Jonny Preston 12 (2 reb, 2 ast), Jeron Satterfield 10 (6 reb, 1 ast),

Joey Clark 6 (2 reb, 2 stl), Alex Parsons 5 (6 reb, 6 ast, 1 stl), Martin Panayotov 4 (2 reb), D.J. Lewis 2 (2 reb, 1 ast), Kevin Straub (3 reb, 1 ast), Nick Findley (1 reb, 1 stl), Kevin McLaughlin (3 reb).

SAN DIEGUITO 62, WEST HILLS 52 – Once again the Wolf Pack took a 31-26 half time lead in Tuesday’s (Dec. 20) Coronado Tournament.

But the 3rd quarter was pivotal as the Mustangs gained a 25-8 scoring edge.

Once again JERON SATTERFIELD was at the forefront of the offense with 13 points and 7 rebounds.

One of the unsung heroes for the Wolf Pack in the loss to San Dieguito was 6-foot-2 WILL LLAMAS.

“He did a great job guarding one of their 6-foot-4 guys,” West Hills coach JEFF ARMSTRONG said. “He also got a bucket and 4 rebounds.

“Even though we lost two games today there were a lot of positives,” he added.

West Hills: Jeron Satterfield 13 (7 reb, 4 ast), Alex Parsons 8 (5 reb, 1 blk), Jonny Preston 8 (2 reb, 4 ast), Kevin Straub 6 (5 reb, 3 ast), D.J. Lewis 5 (5 reb, 1 stl), Martin Panayotov 5 (1 reb, 3 ast), Nick Findley 3 (1 reb, 1 ast), Will Llamas 2 (4 reb, 1 ast), Ryan Williams 2, Eric Fox (1 reb).

RANCHO BUENA VISTA 69, GROSSMONT 54 – DEREK RUSTICH put together one of his finest games of the season, knocking down 20 points while corralling 15 rebounds in Tuesday’s (Dec. 20) action in the Grossmont Winter Classic.

ROBBY NESOVIC also charted a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds in a game that was actually closer than the final score indicates.

The Hillers (2-6) trailed by only 6 points entering the final quarter but seemed to run out of gas.

Not to be overlooked was the effort of junior BILAL RAHIM, who netted 12 points and snared 6 rebounds.

Grossmont: Derek Rustich 20 (15 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Bilal Rahim 12 (6 reb), Robby Nesovic 11 (10 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl), J.T. Barnes 6 (2 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl), Austin Swisher 3 (1 reb), Steven Williams 2 (2 reb), Adam Robinson (2 reb).

© East County Sports.com
SAN DIEGO (12-20-11) — The Grossmont Valley League is shaping up to be among the toughest in the San Diego CIF in the early going of the 2011-12 season.

All involved are making a case to be top dog this year and it’s looking like it could be anyone’s race. The top four teams so far boast a combined 22-4 record against non-league foes.

Monte Vista High head coach JAMES CARROLL has had this squad since they were sophomores and it’s really starting to show on the court. The Monarchs entered the San Diego High School Tournament game with a 4-3 record Monday Dec. 19) night, all three losses coming against Top 10 competition.

Facing off against San Diego High for the third time in this young season seemed almost preposterous, but the Monarchs completed a perfect trifecta in clubbing the Cavers, 52-45.

It’s hard to imagine the game starting any better for the Monarchs thanks to their full court pressure defense. The Cavers were stymied and before the first timeout of the game was called they were staring at a scoreboard that read 18-2.

“Normally we don’t start it off that hard at the beginning of games, but it’s basically a grudge match so we had to come out and show them what’s up,” KJ HOUSTON said after collecting 5 of the Monarchs 16 steals. “I just don’t think they were ready for it early on.”

After shooting 73 percent from the floor in the first quarter the Monarchs’ shooting percentage got worse quarter-by-quarter, allowing the Cavers to make it a game.

“Great first 4 minutes,” Carroll boasted. “The last 28 minutes though were very disappointing. We have all the potential in the world, but we just lack the killer instinct.”

“We played around with them and they came back,” senior captain JAMES JACKSON stated. “As a good team we have to learn how to close other teams out.”

Jackson led all scorers with 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting while snagging 9 rebounds, dishing out 5 assists and swiping 3 steals.

“I’m very excited to see where this season takes us. We have a strong core group of seniors that like to play hard and we just have to practice as hard as we can so it will transfer into our games.”

Monte Vista: James Jackson 16 (9 reb, 5 ast, 3 stl), Kylie Luster 8 (7 reb, 1 ast 2 stl), KJ Houston 8 (4 ast, 5 stl), Xavier Daniels 7 (1 reb, 1 ast, 3 stl), Reuben Nwando 6 ( 5 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl, 1 blk), Devin Rendo 6 (3 reb, 1 stl), Hasani Jarvis 1, D’ondre Coleman (1 reb).

— Andrew Smith

EL CAPITAN 51, Burbank-BURROUGHS 47 – Maybe this was the exact blueprint JASON CAVAZOS designed for his El Capitan Vaqueros this season, but whatever concoction he’s come up with has been nothing short of successful.

The Vaqueros knocked off Burroughs of Burbank in Monday’s (Dec. 19) first round of the Grossmont Winter Classic.

Not surprisingly, TYSON KYGAR was the Vaqueros’ spearhead as he scored 26 points and grabbed 9 rebounds. Kygar’s totals included hitting 8 of 15 shots from long distance.

But this was no one man show, which is one of the reasons the Vaqueros are 7-1 at this point in the season.

AUSTIN BETTS proved that he can be a scorer too as he landed 4 three-pointers on his way to a 16-point contribution.

“Betts played a really good game, and that was huge for us. He is being more of a threat, which is really good for us because we need other guys to be able to score besides Kygar. This year we’ve worked really hard to get other guys contributing. That’s key for us.”

Not to be overlooked was the defensive work and floor leadership of NESTOR RAMIREZ, whose contributions can’t be measured only in statistics. He finished with 7 points and 8 assists.

“Burroughs sat in a zone, which took away some driving opportunities for Ramirez who is very quick,” Cavazos noted. “He’s a speedy guy.”

El Capitan: Tyson Kygar 26 (9 reb, 1 ast, 3 stl), Austin Betts 16 (3 reb, 6 ast, 2 stl), Nestor Ramirez 7 (3 reb, 8 ast, 3 stl), Kameron Brown 2 (6 reb, 2 blk), Travis Hulsey (5 reb, 1 ast), Adam Jacob (2 reb), Ryan Quinten (1 reb).

MOUNT MIGUEL 67, Las Vegas-SIERRA VISTA 54; MOUNT MIGUEL 60, Las Vegas-CIMARRON-MEMORIAL 57 – Undefeated Mount Miguel stretched its record to 7-0 with a first-round sweep in Monday’s (Dec. 19) Foothill Tournament in Henderson, Nev.

Highly honored football player CORY LITTLETON paced the Matadors in the twin-killing with 30 points and 26 rebounds.

Guard THOMAS BOOKER was equally as effective as he scored 18 points in each game to go along with 12 rebound, 7 assists and 6 steals.

Mount Miguel dominated the opening game against Sierra Vista behind the 23 points of THOMAS BUTLER.

Things go a lot tougher against Cimarron Memorial although the Matadors took a 31-23 halftime lead.

“We started out 8-0 against Cimarron, then they battled back and took the lead,” noted Mount Miguel coach JAY ROWLETT. “We played good defense in the 1st half. In the 2nd half they started hitting 3s. They might have hit 7 or 8 threes in the 2nd half.”

Bottom line is Mount Miguel remains undefeated as they advance to the tournament semifinals tomorrow.

Vs. Sierra Vista: Thomas Butler 23 (7 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl), Marcus Booker 18 (6 reb, 2 ast, 4 stl), Cory Littleton 16 (14 reb, 3 ast, 2 stll), Izzy Wagner 5 (4 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Tony Wills 4 (1 reb, 1 stl), Jaz Woodard 1 (2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Marcellus Jones (1 ast).

Vs. Cimarron-Memorial: Marcus Booker 18 (6 reb, 5 ast, 2 stl), Izzy Wagner 17 (5 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl), Cory Littleton 14 (12 reb, 3 ast, 3 stl), Thomas Butler 9 (5 reb, 1 stl), Tony Wills 2 (4 reb), Marcellus Jones (1 reb, 4 ast, 2 stl), Jaz Woodard (1 ast, 1 stl).

Las Vegas-FAITH LUTHERAN 52, VALHALLA 43; VALHALLA 80, MELBOURNE (Australia) 66 – The Norsemen gained a split of Monday’s (Dec. 19) opening round double-header of the Foothill Tournament in Henderson, Nev.

In the first game loss to Faith Lutheran of Las Vegas the Norsemen had to play from behind as they shot only 28 percent from the floor.

“They just hammered us on the boards, which caused us to give up too many second chance points,” said Norsemen coach KEITH JACKSON.

In the nightcap the Norsemen scored 52 points in the 2nd half as they recorded their season scoring high to defeat the Australians.

“You never know what you’re gonna get when you play a team from Australia,” Jackson said.

In addition to shooting 52 percent from the field, the Norsemen (2-5) also converted 32 of 39 shots from the free throw line.

“This is the first time we’ve ever gained a free throw advantage against an opponent this year,” Jackson noted.

ANDREW LOZOYA, who hit 5 of 8 shots from the field, missed only one of 10 free throws as he finished with 19 points.

However, high point honors went to CHRIS SHIELDS, who was 8 for 10 from the field, including a pair of 3s, and 7 of 9 from the free throw line for a team-best 25 points to go along with 10 rebounds.

AMIL HERMIZ was 8 for 12 from the free throw line as he totaled 14 points against Melbourne.

SPENCER HAVIRD was 4 for 4 from the charity stripe and finished with 8 points against the Australians, but his major contribution was making 9 steals. He led Valhalla with 16 points against Faith Lutheran.

Vs. Faith Lutheran: Spencer Havird 16 (2 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 4 blk), Chris Shields 10 (6 reb, 3 ast, 1 blk), Andrew Lozoya 5 (1 reb, 1 stl), Amil Hermiz 4 (4 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl, 1 blk), David Gazelle 3 (3 reb), Matt Butcher 3 (1 ast), Kevin Mills 2 (5 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl), Taylor Hammet (1 reb).

Vs. Melbourne: Chris Shields 25 (10 reb, 1 ast, 4 stl, 2 blk), Andrew Lozoya 19 (3 reb, 1 ast), Amil Hermiz 14 (4 reb, 1 ast, 3 stl), Matt Butcher 10 (8 reb, 7 ast, 6 stl), Spencer Havird 8 (2 reb, 4 ast, 9 stl), Kevin Mills 2 (2 ast, 4 stl), Patrick Flippo 2, David Gazelle (3 reb), Ryan Ernsbarger (1 blk).

SANTANA 51, BONITA VISTA 37 – The Sultans sprinted to an 18-8 first quarter lead and increased that advantage to 32-13 by intermission in Monday’s (Dec. 19) first round of the Grossmont Winter Classic.

MIKE ROSOLINO, who nailed 7 of 13 shots from the field, including a pair of treys, paced the Sultans (2-6) with 17 points.

DANIEL LEVENS-LOWERY hit 4 three-pointers on his way to a 14-point finish.

A.J. BRATLIEN led the Sultans supporting cast with 9 points and 9 rebounds.

“This was a very healthy win for us,” said Santana coach TIM BARRY. “We just keep playing hard and trying to find ourselves.

Santana: Mike Rosolino 17 (5 reb, 2 stl), Daniel Levens-Lowery 14 (6 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), A.J. Bratlien 9 (9 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl), Christian Barry 4 (3 reb, 2 stl), Andy Miller 3 (2 reb, ast), Dustin Murphy 2 (2 reb, 1 ast), Danny Albright 2 (1 reb), Jason Corbisez (3 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk), Jordan Vargas (2 reb), James Doherty (2 reb).

WEST HILLS 67, SD-SOUTHWEST 45 – The Wolf Pack had a keen shooting eye as it began Monday’s (Dec. 19) Xtreme Glass Holiday Tournament at Sweetwater with a lopsided victory.

KEVIN STRAUB nailed 6 of 8 shots from the floor – two of them treys – on his way to a 16-point finish.

ALEX PARSONS added a dozen points on 6-for-10 shooting while plucking six rebounds.

Unsung heroes KEVIN McLAUGHLIN (10 points, 3 blocks) and ERIC FOX (5 steals) also made timely contributions.

“We played 12 kids and 11 of them scored,” noted Wolf Pack assistant coach LUCAS ARMSTRONG said. “We shot the ball well (53 percent, 28-for-53).”

West Hills: Kevin Straub 16 (2 reb, 2 ast), Alex Parsons 12 (6 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl, 2 blk), Kevin McLaughlin 10 (1 reb, 1 ast, 3 blk), Martin Panayotov 9 (2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Eric Fox 6 (3 reb, 5 stl), Jeron Satterfield 5 (3 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk), D.J. Lewis 5 (3 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl), Nick Findley 5 (4 reb), Jonny Preston 2 (2 reb, 3 ast), Joey Clark (2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Will Llamas 2 (4 reb), Ryan Williams 1 (3 reb, 3 ast).

CORONADO 63, WEST HILLS 39 – Playing in its second game and second tournament on Monday (Dec. 19) at Coronado, the Wolf Pack suffered an energy shortage as it saw its season record dip to 3-4 on the peninsula.

“Coronado is a top-notch team,” said West Hills assistant coach LUCAS ARMSTRONG.

JERON SATTERFIELD was 4-for-9 shooting and reserve KEVIN McLAUGHLIN was 2-for-3. Trouble was the rest of the Pack was a combined 8-42 from the floor.

West Hills: Jeron Satterfield 9 (8 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl), Alex Parsons 5 (3 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk), Martin Panayotov 4 (4 reb, 3 ast, 3 stl), Kevin McLaughlin 4 (1 reb, 1 stl, 2 blk), D.J. Lewis 3 (5 reb), Ryan Williams 3 (2 reb), Joey Clark 3, Jonny Preston 2 (2 reb, 1 ast, 4 stl), Kevin Straub 2 (1 ast, 1 stl), Eric Fox 2 (1 reb), Will Llamas 2 (1 reb, 1 ast).

Las Vegas-SHADOW RIDGE 66, GRANITE HILLS 28; MELBOURNE (Australia) 75, GRANITE HILLS 65 (OT) – It was a rough opening day in the Foothill Tournament for the Granite Hills Eagles on Monday (Dec. 19) in Henderson, Nev.

When 6-foot-9 senior center SCOTT ATKINSON suffered a cut lip and had his bell rung in the first game against Shadow Ridge, the Eagles were never in contention thereafter.

A fit Atkinson returned the lineup against the Australians Monday evening and made his presence felt. He knocked down 8 of 9 shots from the field to finish with 18 points while grabbing 11 rebounds and blocking 7 shots.

“In the game against Melbourne we did a good job of getting the ball to Atkinson,” Granite Hills coach RANDY ANDERSON said. “But when he got into foul trouble we had to take him out and that hurt us.”

JOEY GRUBB, who accounted for 11 points in the first game loss to Shadow Ridge, tallied 13 markers against the Australians. STEPHEN KEPPEL added 10 points and 8 rebounds from the team from the land down under.

Granite Hills (2-5) had a chance to avoid overtime against Melbourne.

“We had two shots to win it in regulation, but both were blocked,” Anderson said.

Vs. Shadow Ridge: Joey Grubb 11 (2 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Nate Jeter 6 (9 reb, 2 stl), D.J. Palomera 5 (1 ast, 3 stl), Reese Warford 3, Codie Simmons 2 (4 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl), Danny Smith 1, Scott Atkinson (7 reb, 2 blk), Stephen Keppel (1 reb, 3 blk), Kyle Pierson (1 reb, 2 blk).

Vs. Melbourne: Scott Atkinson 18 (11 reb, 2 ast, 7 blk), Joey Grubb 13 (4 reb, 4 ast, 1 stl), Stephen Keppel 10 (8 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 2 blk), Codie Simmons 7 (2 reb, 5 ast, 1 stl), Kyle Pierson 9 (10 reb, 4 ast, 1 blk), Nate Jeter 6 (3 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), D.J. Palermo 2.

MISSION HILLS 48, STEELE CANYON 40 – After falling behind 12-3 in the opening quarter of Monday’s (Dec. 19) Xtreme Glass Holiday Tournament at Sweetwater, the Cougars fought back and made a game of it.

“Defensively, we were pretty solid,” Steele Canyon coach DEREK STEPHENS said. “I thought MICHAEL JORDAN and DANNY BWINIKA did a great job defending.”

The Cougars’ downfall was lack of offense. They led 39-38 with 2:30 remaining but could produce only one free throw down the stretch.

“Mission Hills is a Top 10 team and you can’t get away with missing easy shots,” Stephens said. The Grizzlies also netted five of six free throws in the stretch run compared to just 1-for-4 shooting by Steele Canyon (3-3).

Steele Canyon: Cody Wells 8, Michael Jordan 7, Danny Bwinika 7, Casey Balikian 6, Dylan Kirchhofer 5, Phillip Russell 4, Justin Norwood 3.

WESTVIEW 69, GROSSMONT 41 – Visiting Westview outscored the host Foothillers 47-16 in the first and third quarters to roll to an easy victory in Monday’s Grossmont Winter Classic.

Nobody shuts down ROBBY NESOVIC who totaled 19 points and six rebounds against the Wolverines (6-1).

“Westview was very solid. They run a good offense,” said Foothillers coach FRANK FOGGIANO. “We played good at times but we couldn’t sustain it.”

Grossmont: Robby Nesovic 19 (6 reb, 2 ast), Derek Rustich 10 (7 reb, 1 ast), J.T. Barnes 3 (3 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Anthony Lawrence 3 (1 reb), Adam Robinson 2 (2 reb), Steven Williams 2, Bilal Rahim (2 reb), Ryan Cooksey 2 (1 reb), Austin Swisher (1 reb).

© East County Sports.com
EL CAJON (12-18-11) — Not even coach JASON CAVAZOS can believe that his El Capitan Vaqueros have race-horsed out of the gate to a 6-1 start this season.

Call them what you want – the comeback kids, the cardiac kids or the never-say-die guys... But make no mistake about it, El Capitan is raising some eyebrows in East County these days.

The Vaqueros trailed by eight points with three minutes remaining in Saturday’s (Dec. 17) game they eventually rallied to stun Escondido, 52-50, in the Grossmont Winter Classic at Grossmont High.

ADAM JACOB was the unsung hero in this latest come-from-behind victory for the Vaqueros. He came off the bench, got fouled shooting a 3 and missed all three free throws. He later got fouled on a 3 again and made 2 of the 3 free throws, giving El Capitan a 2-point lead.

“That was huge for us,” Cavazos said.

But the victory was not yet in the bag.

With 8 seconds remaining TYSON KYGAR (28 points, 8 steals) made two free throws to seal the victory. Then with 1.2 seconds left, Escondido scored on a layup but it was too little, too late.

Kygar landed five more 3-pointers, while NESTOR RAMIREZ contributed 12 points and 6 steals.

“( Escondido ) did a different trap that we hadn’t practiced against so it got us out of our game,” Cavazos admitted. “We played the worst we’ve played all year for 3 ½ quarters. But we didn’t quit. I made some substitutions and they gave us some good minutes.”

El Capitan: Tyson Kygar 28 (6 reb, 1 ast, 8 stl), Nestor Ramirez 12 (4 reb, 3 ast, 6 stl, 2 blk), Adam Jacob 5 (2 reb, 1 ast), Austin Betts 3 (1 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl), Kameron Brown (1 reb, 1 stl, 2 blk), Quenten Jason (1 reb),

GROSSMONT 67, MADISON 55 – One of the best athletes in East County is Grossmont High senior ROBBY NESOVIC. The 6-foot-5 senior is a magician on the basketball court and blue ribbon on the pitcher’s mound in baseball. And did we mention, he can swing the bat and field a ground ball with the best.

Nesovic’s versatility is evident in the basketball arena as he proved Saturday (Dec. 17) in the Foothillers Grossmont Winter Classic romp over Madison.

“They were double-teaming Nesovic, who rotates back and forth with J.T. BARNES as our point guard,” Grossmont coach FRANK FOGGIANO said.

Nesovic dished 10 assists and shared team-high scoring honors of 18 points with

DEREK RUSTICH, who also led Grossmont (2-4) with 14 rebounds.

“It was kind of a battle of two different styles,” Foggiano said. “They were a little smaller so they spread the court and relied on triple penetration. In the 2nd half we stopped that. Our game is powering the play inside, which we did in the 2nd half.”

Grossmont: Robby Nesovic 18 (7 reb, 10 ast, 4 stl), Derek Rustich 18 (14 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl), J.T. Barnes 11 (3 reb, 4 ast, 2 stl), Austin Swisher 9 (3 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Adam Robinson 7 (4 reb), Bilal Rahim 2 (4 reb), Ryan Cooksey 2 (2 reb).

ST. AUGUSTINE 70, MONTE VISTA 64 – In a face-off between two of the top teams in the San Diego CIF during Saturday’s (Dec. 17) San Diego High Tournament, a shoddy second quarter short-circuited the Monarchs’ shot at an upset of the Saints.

St. Augustine erased a 13-12 first quarter Monte Vista (4-3) advantage by erupting for a 23-9 scoring spread in the second quarter.

“It was a tough game. Saints is ranked No. 5 in the county, and rightfully so,” acknowledged Monte Vista coach JAMES CARROLL.

“Our kids are a little upset with the loss but I told them there aren’t many teams in San Diego that play as tough a schedule as we are. We’ve played four games against Top 10 teams. We could go against easy teams like some other teams do, but that’s not what we’re going to do. We had eight days off so we were a little rusty.”

JAMES JACKSON paced Monte Vista with 22 points.

At the end of the 3rd quarter the Monarchs pulled within 67-62 of the Saints.

In the 4th quarter, the Saints scored just one field goal, the rest coming on 19 of 24 free throws. Monte Vista was 4 for 6 on free throws in the final period.

REUBEN NWANDO scored 10 of his 17 points in the 4th quarter for Monte Vista, which gained a 29-21 edge over the final eight minutes.

“We had our chances but when I saw that Saints shot 40 free throws in the game...” Carroll reviewed. “If we had played like we did against Torrey Pines we would have won the game.”

On Monday (Dec. 19) the Monarchs will meet San Diego in a 7:30 p.m. contest in the San Diego Tournament. It will be the third time they have played, with Monte Vista winning the first two games.

Monte Vista : James Jackson 22 (4 reb, 4 ast, 2 stl), Reuben Nwando 17 (3 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk), Kylie Luster 9 (3 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl), Devin Rendo 8 (4 reb), K.J. Houston 6 (1 reb, 5 ast, 1 stl), Xavier Daniels 2 (1 reb, 1 ast), Justin Brandy (1 reb).

CHRISTIAN 71, MIRA MESA 64 – SHANE DILLON and JASON GAINES dominated inside the paint and just about anywhere they wanted to in Saturday’s (Dec. 17) Kiwanis Tournament duel at Mira Mesa.

Dillon, who was named to the All-Tournament Team, drilled in 32 points and collected 12 rebounds for the Patriots (3-1). He buried 4 three-pointers and 10 of 14 free throws en route to his season-high scoring binge.

Gaines was solid as well, nailing 7 of 14 shots from the field and 9 of 15 free throws while clearing 8 caroms and blocking 4 shots.

“We played well,” said Christian coach KELVIN STARR. “Our guys bounced back from playing a tough game last night (in a 66-51 loss to Sydney, Australia). I’m proud of them.”

Christian: Shane Dillon 32 (12 reb, 3 ast), Jason Gaines 23 (8 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl, 4 blk), Jake Larsen 5 (4 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk), Trenton Sauls 4 (3 reb, 1 ast), Stephen Johnston 3 (4 reb), Michael Letouzic 2 (4 reb, 1 stl), Phillip George 2 (1 ast), Tyler Ballard (4 reb).

HELIX 52, PLEASANT VALLEY 29 – After the Highlanders lost four of their first five starts to begin the season, Helix coach JOHN SINGER wasn’t sure what to expect. He realized his team was not at full strength due to a key injury and the football team’s surge to the state championship, taking some of his players with them.

Thus when the Highlanders (3-5) captured two wins in three starts to claim the consolation championship of the Red Bluff Invitational he and his coaches were obviously pleased.

“It was good for our kids to get out of here with two wins and kinda get a stride going,” said Helix assistant coach ANDY MERIDETH. “We’re not used to being in this situation (3-5). It’s good to see them smile and to see them so happy. Coming up here was a good bonding experience for the kids.”

After a sluggish first half in Saturday’s (Dec. 17) finale, the Highlanders poured in 38 points while limiting Pleasant Valley to 13 markers.

“We played our best half of the year today,” Merideth said. “We were intense, the kids played hard. Everything was on the defensive end. That’s what we preach.”

Helix allowed only 57 points in the last two games at Red Bluff.

Helix: Mike Todd 14, Titus Young 11, Romario Wilson 9, (Only scoring provided.)

MOUNT MIGUEL 78, MELBOURNE, Australia 48 – Lighting up the scoreboard is no problem for the No. 8-ranked Mount Miguel Matadors, who used a 35-point 3rd quarter to rout the Australians in Saturday’s (Dec. 17) Mount Miguel Invitational action.

“We just did what we had to do,” coach JAY ROWLETT said of his 5-0 Matadors. “They were a pretty average team.”

Sharp-shooting IZZY WAGNER registered half of his team-high 22 points in the first quarter vaulting the Matadors into a 21-10 lead.

MARCUS BOOKER chipped in with 18 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals.

“We played a good defensive game and we shared the ball,” Rowlett said.

Mount Miguel: Izzy Wagner 22 (5 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Marcus Booker 18 (6 reb, 5 ast, 4 stl), Thomas Butler 10 (5 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Cory Littleton 9 (9 reb, 1 ast, 3 stl), Tony Wills 7 (1 reb, 1 ast), Malcolm Jackson 6 (7 reb), Jaz Woodard 4 (2 reb), Marcellus Jones 2 (1 stl).

RANCHO BUENA VISTA 62, SANTANA 47 – The short-handed Sultans (1-6) continued to struggle in Saturday’s (Dec. 17) Grossmont Winter Classic contest.

The Longhorns used a 38-27 second half to decide the issue.

“The athletes on RBV are just ridiculous,” Santana coach TIM BARRY proclaimed. Their No. 11 point guard (Anthony Alston) was amazing (scoring 22 points). I said ‘Dude, we’re playing Reggie Bush!’ We double-teamed and played box-and-one on him and it didn’t matter. He is a superior athlete. We hung on, we didn’t give up but this guy ran the floor.”

The 3rd quarter was a turning point as RBV earned a 17-12 scoring edge.

“We had gotten four stops in a row and didn’t score on any of our possessions. That’s a big deal. We ended up fizzling a little bit at the end of the 3rd quarter. They outscored us 12-5 to end the 3rd.”

Santana: A.J. Bratlien 13 (5 reb, 1 stl), Mike Rosolino 11 (3 reb), Daniel Levens-Lowery 9 (2 reb, 1 ast), Christian Barry 4 (4 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl), Jason Corbisez 4 (4 reb, 2 ast), James Doherty 5 (2 stl),Dustin Murphy (1 reb, 1 ast), Andy Miller 1 (1 ast).

POWAY 68, STEELE CANYON 44 – Poway outscored the Cougars 50-21 in the first and third quarters to claim this North County Classic contest Saturday (Dec. 17) at Fallbrook.

“We ran out of gas a little bit,” Steele Canyon coach DEREK STEPHENS said. “We came out real slow. We had a good 2nd quarter – held them to 7 points.”

The Cougars (3-2) trailed 33-25 at intermission only to be overpowered 24-11 in the third quarter by the Titans.

“They got away from us in the 3rd quarter,” Stephens “( Poway ) is a Top 10 team. They’re by far the best team we’ve played this year. We haven’t seen a team that tall in a long time.”

Steele Canyon: Casey Balikian 10, Danny Bwinika 8, Justin Norwood 7, Johnta Mitchell 5, Daniel King 5, Michael Jordan 4, Cody Wells 2, Dylan Kirchhofer 2, Donovan Habib 1.

MONTGOMERY 58, VALHALLA 37 – The Norsemen (1-4) lacked firepower as they dropped Saturday’s (Dec. 17) Mount Miguel Invitational encounter to visiting Montgomery.

“The things that we normally do, we didn’t do tonight,” said Valhalla coach KEITH JACKSON. “We just weren’t the same team tonight. We didn’t have the same intensity and discipline.”

Valhalla: Spencer Havird 10 (4 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl), A.J. Allen 8 (5 reb), Chris Shields 6 (6 reb, 1 stl), Andrew Lozoya 3 (5 reb, 1 stl), Cody Gladu 3, Patrick Flippo 2 (6 reb, 2 blk, 2 stl), Amil Hermiz 2 (5 reb, 2 ast), Ryan Ernsbarger 2 (3 reb), Josh McClenachan (3 reb, 1 ast), Kevin Mills (1 ast, 1 stl), David Gazelle 1, Nick Shamasha (1 ast).

The layin attempt by Valhalla's Chris Shields (left) is challenged by Mount Miguel's Jaz Woodard (Photo by Frank Price, youatplay.com) VIEW/PURCHASE ADDITIONAL PHOTOS

© East County Sports.com
SPRING VALLEY (12-17-11) — Could be the Mount Miguel Matadors are the premier boys basketball team in East County.

So says Valhalla coach KEITH JACKSON.

“All I know is they are the best team we’ve played so far,” The Norsemen’s skipper said. “I’m not trying to cut anybody else short. All I can say is what I’ve seen.”

Of course, the Valhalla coach is not eliminating his team as a title contender for the Grossmont Hills League crown.

Meanwhile, Mount Miguel (4-0) outscored the visiting Norsemen in all four quarters en route to a 69-55 victory in Friday’s (Dec. 16) Mount Miguel Invitational.

Once again the No. 8-ranked Matadors displayed a balanced attack led by THOMAS BUTLER’s 19 points.

Valhalla’s CHRIS SHIELDS slammed in 19 points, which included a trio of treys to go along with 7 rebounds and 5 blocks.

“We had a big-time scorer last year that we haven’t been able to replace yet,” Jackson said. “But Shields has stepped up nicely in the first four games. He may be the guy to do that.”

Mount Miguel received a double-double from CORY LITTLETON, who scored 11 points and crashed the boards for 14 rebounds.

Guards MARCUS BOOKER and IZZY WAGNER added 14 points apiece to complete the Matadors’ balanced scoring attack.

“We got stops when we needed them and capitalized on points when they were there,” said Matadors coach JAY ROWLETT.

Mount Miguel: Thomas Butler 19 (5 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Marcus Booker 14 (4 reb, 4 ast), Izzy Wagner 14 (3 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Cory Littleton 11 (14 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl),

Tony Wills 6 (1 reb), Jaz Woodard 3 (1 reb), Malcolm Jackson 2 (5 reb), Marcellus Jones (1 ast).

Valhalla: Chris Shields 19 (7 reb, 2 ast, 5 blk), Kevin Mills 9 (2 reb, 1 stl), Spencer Havird 8 (2 reb, 4 ast, 2 stl, 1 blk), Andrew Lozoya 6 (3 reb, 1 ast),

Amil Hermiz 4 (4 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl), A.J. Allen 4 (3 reb, 1 ast), David Gazelle 3 (1 ast), Patrick Flippo 2 (1 ast, 1 stl).

SYDNEY, Aust. 66, CHRISTIAN 51 – It's been a hectic week on the campus of Christian High for the boys basketball team. All five starters on the floor for the Patriots’ Friday (Dec. 16) night encounter were on the football field just 7 days ago, winning the CIF Division V championship.

That hinted that the Patriots (2-1) might not have had a chance against a giant all-star team from Sydney, Australia that entered the game with a 10-1 record.

Christian did more than simply hold its own, though. But the second quarter eventually did the Patriots in as they surrendered an 18-4 scoring deficit en route to suffering their first loss of the season.

For Christian it was literally a tall task against these Aussies because their starting point guard stood 6-foot-6. That's one inch taller than Christian’s SHANE DILLON, who is the Patriots tallest player at 6-foot 5.

The Australians length didn't stop there. It rose all the way up to the dingo center who was 7-foot 1.

After shooting just 4-of-17 from the field in the first quarter for 12 points, the Patriots went 0-for-9 in the second quarter to wind up with a paltry 16 percent field goal percentage at the half.

"We we're just off in the first half," junior STEPHEN JOHNSTON explained. "Especially in the second quarter and the first half."

That adds up to a measly 16 percent, but that can be directly contributed to facing a defense that had close to a 35 foot wingspan.

Seniors JASON GAINES and Dillon did the majority of the scoring, posting 20 and 15 points respectively, but the role-players are going to be key for the Patriots if they want to succeed this season.

"We're gonna have a real good season this year," JAKE LARSEN proclaimed after leading the Pats with 8 rebounds against the oversized kangaroos. "Once we get a couple more weeks of practice under our belts, we will be a team to look out for."

One major difference in the game was the 2-3 zone that the Australian squad brought with them from down under. With all that length they could have put the Syracuse Orangemen to shame. That defense held the Pats to 5-for-23 from downtown.

"We played a little intimidated at first," coach KELVIN STARR admitted. "The second quarter was the difference in the game. We haven't worked on any zone offense and we've only had 2 practices, so facing that zone was a definite challenge for us. But if we make some shots it's a different game. It starts with our role-players this year and trickles down to if J (Gaines) and Shane really try and don't just go through the motions. If everyone decides they really want to win we can be a good team this year."

Christian: Jason Gaines 20 (4 reb, 2 stl, 2 blk), Shane Dillon 15 (5 reb, 6 ast, 2 stl), Jake Larsen 4 (8 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Tyler Ballard 4 (2 reb), Phillip George 3 (3 reb), Stephen Johnston 3 (2 reb, 1 ast, 3 stl, 1 blk), Trenton Sauls 2 (5 reb, 1 stl)

— Andrew Smith

STEELE CANYON 61, RANCHO BERNARDO 53 – The road Warriors of Steele Canyon are proving that they like dribbling away from home.

All three of the Cougars’ North County Classic victories have come on foreign soil, including Friday’s (Dec. 16) romp over the Broncos at Rancho Bernardo.

After falling behind 41-26 in the first half, the Cougars applied the defensive clamps during the final two periods to ration the Broncos to 12 points.

“RB made only two field goals in the second half,” said Steele Canyon coach DEREK STEPHENS. “We tightened up our defense and we were beasts on the boards in the second half. We did a great job of boxing out and that seemed to frustrate Rancho Bernardo.”

The turning point in the game came in the 4th quarter with the Broncos leading 56-52 with just over four minutes to go. Steele Canyon’s DANIEL KING sank four consecutive free throws (two the result of a technical foul) to tie it up.

Only a handful of seconds after that DYLAN KIRCHHOFER converted a layup to put Steele Canyon ahead for keeps.

Steele Canyon: Casey Balikian 15, Cody Wells 12, Michael Jordan 10, Dylan Kirchhofer 10, Daniel King 7, Justin Norwood 5, Phillip Russell 2.

HELIX 63, PARADISE 28 – Maybe it was because ROMARIO WILSON won the tournament slam dunk contest prior to Friday’s (Dec. 16) second round of the Red Bluff Invitational in Northern California.

The Highlanders (2-5) held Redding Paradise to single scoring digits in all four quarters as they snapped a five-game losing streak to qualify for Saturday’s (Dec. 17) Red Bluff consolation championship.

All 14 Highlanders played in the game and 10 of them scored. Junior KAELAN MITCHELL powered in 17 points to set the pace.

“Our defensive intensity was so much better than it was in the first game of this tournament,” said Helix assistant coach ANDY MERIDETH. “It was good to see our kids smile after the game. It was such an upbeat atmosphere in our locker room.”

Helix: Kaelan Mitchell 17, Titus Young 11, Xavier Jones 8, Isaac Randall 5, Kene Anigbogu 4, Malik Pride 4, Michael Todd 4, William Mildenhall 4, Romario Wilson 3, Derrick Chandler 3.

MONTGOMERY 63, FOOTHILLS CHRISTIAN 60 – Sophomore CALEB HOFFMAN is attempting to take some of the scoring pressure off senior guard DALTON MOSSER.

Hoffman poured in 25 points in Friday’s (Dec. 16) Mount Miguel Invitational loss to Montgomery. The 6-foot guard, who was 4-for-7 from three-point range, has scored 52 points in his last two starts.

Mosser knocked down 18 points and plucked 9 rebounds off the glass for the Knights (2-7), who led the Aztecs 30-25 at intermission. Montgomery shifted to a zone in the 3rd quarter and that altered Foothills’ shots enough to make a difference.

Foothills Christian: Caleb Hoffman 25 (6 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl), Dalton Mosser 18 (9 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl, 1 blk), Nick Loudon 9 (3 reb, 2 ast, 2 blk), Andre Johnson 7 (7 reb, 2 ast), Joseph Buenrostro 1 (2 ast), A.J. Hoffman (1 reb).

Helix High point guard Titus Young vs. Red Bluff. (Photo by Greg Barnette, courtesy Redding.com)

© East County Sports.com
TIERRASANTA (12-16-11) — Given that his team had a late start due to football commitments, Christian coach KELVIN STARR is pleased by his team’s 2-0 start to the season, which includes Thursday’s (Dec. 15) Kiwanis Tournament 49-40 win over host Serra.

“We were better today than yesterday, but still tuned the ball over 23 times,” Starr noted.

Bottom line is Christian did not allow Serra to gain the scoring edge in any of the four quarters.

“We held them to 28 percent shooting,” Starr noted. “We kept them out of the paint and a lot of credit for that was JASON GAINES. He led our defense.”

Gaines also shared the bulk of the offensive load with 15 points. His senior sidekick SHANE DILLON also knocked down 15 points and gobbled up 15 rebounds.

Christian: Shane Dillon 15 (15 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl, 3 blk), Jason Gaines 15 (4 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 3 blk), Stephen Johnston 7 (2 reb), Jake Larsen 6 (5 reb, 1 ast, 4 stl), Trenton Sauls 4 (3 reb), Phillip George 2 (2 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl).

STEELE CANYON 51, SAN MARCOS 46 – Senior MICHAEL JORDAN recorded a double-double of 14 points and 14 rebounds Thursday (Dec. 15) as the Cougars (2-1) edged the host team in a North County Classic encounter.

This one came down to the wire. Jordan sank a pair of free throws to snap a 46-46 tie with 45 seconds remaining.

Then it was JUSTIN NORWOOD’s turn as he turned a steal into a breakaway bucket and a free throw with 15 ticks left and that ultimately put the game away for Steele Canyon.

“Jordan was an absolute beast out there for us,” Cougars coach DEREK STEPHENS said. “ Norwood came up big in the second half when he scored all 10 of his points.”

Steele Canyon: Michael Jordan 14 (14 reb), Justin Norwood 10, Casey Balikian 9, Cody Wells 6, Tyler Gulino-Jones 5, Dylan Kirchhofer 4.

FOOTHILLS CHRISTIAN 84, MELBOURNE (Australia) 82 (OT) – The Knights received an unexpected lift in Thursday’s (Dec. 15) Mount Miguel Invitational victory in Spring Valley.

That boost was provided by sophomore CALEB HOFFMAN, who scored a career-high 27 points – eight of them coming in overtime – as the Knights improved to 2-6.

ANDRE JOHNSON also was effective in the clutch, ringing up 8 of his 17 in the 4th quarter and five more in the OT.

DALTON MOSSER, who nailed a buzzer-beater at the end of regulation to send the game into overtime, tallied 10 of his 26 points in the final period.

As a team, Foothills shot .485 (32-66) from the field, including 11 of 23 from long distance.

Foothills Christian: Caleb Hoffman 27 (3 reb, 6 ast, 3 stl), Dalton Mosser 26 (2 reb, 3 ast, 5 stl), Andre Johnson 17 (7 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl), Nick Louden 8 (1 ast, 2 stl), Joe Buenrostro 4 (1 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl), A.J. Hoffman 2 (2 reb, 2 stl).

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“There were a lot of distractions,” said Helix assistant coach ANDY MERIDETH. “These guys are still young, still learning how to win.”

TITUS YOUNG had a chance to win it at the end but missed two free throws.

“Titus is the guy we want to shoot that ball,” Merideth said. “He’s our leading scorer, our best player. He could go out there again and make that shot. We have a lot of confidence in him.”

The Highlanders play the loser of the Paradise/South Medford game at 2:30 on Thursday (Dec. 16).

Helix: Titus Young 19, Kaelan Mitchell 9, Romario Wilson 5, Isaac Randall 5, Michael Todd 4, Malik Pride 2.

© East County Sports.com
SPRING VALLEY (12-15-11) — Not many basketball teams tip off their seasons any later than the Christian High Patriots did this year.

Realizing that the hub of his team would be involved in the San Diego CIF Division V football playoffs, Christian’s veteran basketball coach KELVIN STARR decided not to rush into any early season hoop tournaments.

“This was a typical first game back for us,” Starr said. “It was very sloppy, but we have a lot of football players who have had just two practices before their first game.”

None the less, the Patriots received 19 points, 7 rebounds and 3 blocks from quarterback SHANE DILLON and 17 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists from end JASON GAINES in Wednesday’s (Dec. 14) opening round Kiwanis Tournament 50-49 victory over Otay Ranch at Scripps Ranch.

Football player STEPHEN JOHNSTON was the hero as he sank two free throws in the final three seconds giving the Patriots the one-point victory.

Otay Ranch (1-4) has lost three of its games by a total of five points.

Christian: Shane Dillon 19 (7 reb, 3 blk), Jason Gaines 17 (6 reb, 3 ast, 1 blk), Stephen Johnston 5 (5 reb), Jake Larsen 4 (2 ast, 7 reb, 3 stl), Michael Letouzic 5 (2 reb).

MOUNT MIGUEL 74, RAMONA 46 – Some might question whether the Mount Miguel Matadors should be ranked in the Top 10, which they are – at No. 8.

Granted, this is not a team loaded with superstars, but these guys can play as is evident by their 3-0 start.

Mount Miguel stampeded to a 65-25 lead after three quarter against visiting Ramona in Wednesday’s (Dec. 14) Mount Miguel Invitational encounter.

“We played with a running clock in the fourth quarter,” said Matadors coach JAY ROWLETT.

Junior IZZY WAGNER netted 11 of 12 free throws on his way to a 22-point finish for the Matadors.

Steady THOMAS BUTLER contributed 17 points, while guard MARCUS BOOKER pitched in with 15 points and 6 assists.

CORY LITTLETON led the Matadors by collecting 9 caroms, and showed the agility that made him an All-EastCountySports.com first team pick with 5 steals.

Overall the Matadors gathered 17 steals and netted 21 of 24 free throws (87.5 percent).

“This was the first game we have played good defense right from the start,” said Rowlett. “We played good defense in the 1st and 3rd quarters, especially. I was proud of our defensive effort tonight.”

Mount Miguel: Izzy Wagner 22 (4 reb, 4 ast, 3 stl), Thomas Patrick 17 (3 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl), Marcus Booker 15 (5 reb, 6 ast, 3 stl), Cory Littleton 8 (9 reb, 5 stl), Tony Wills 6 (4 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Malcolm Jackson 4 (6 reb, 1 stl), Jaz Woodard 4 (2 reb, 2 stl), Marcellus Jones 2 (1 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl).

PATRICK HENRY 93, FOOTHILLS CHRISTIAN 84 (OT) – In one of the highest scoring games this season, the Knights of Foothills Christian came up on the short end in Wednesday’s (Dec. 14) Mount Miguel Invitational contest.

This was a game that almost wasn’t played, as the Patrick Henry Patriots arrived so late to Mount Miguel that the game had already been called by the officials. However, by mutual consent it was decided to continue with the game and the Patriots took the floor with minimal warm-up.

With a defender’s hand in his face Knights’ junior NICK LOUDEN connected on a 3-pointer from the corner at the final buzzer to send the game into overtime.

The Knights (2-4) were not so lucky in overtime, scoring only once as DALTON MOSSER connected on 1 of 2 free throw opportunities.

But that was one of the few periods that Mosser didn’t have the hot hand as he finished with 31 points on 11 of 24 shooting. He landed 5 of Foothills Christian’s 11 three-pointers in the contest. He also was 4-for-5 from the free throw line.

ANDRE JOHNSON nailed 8 of 17 shots from the field on his way to a 20-point game. He also led the Knights with 9 rebounds.

Not to be forgotten was sophomore CALEB HOFFMAN, who sank 8 of 15 shots from the floor en route to a career-high 19 points.

Foothills Christian was behind by 9 at the half. In the 3rd quarter the Knights pulled ahead 64-63 but could not maintain their advantage.

Henry had a deep bench while the Knights were hampered by an ankle injury to JOE BUENROSTRO which took him out of the game at the start of the 2nd half, and AUSTIN MOSTRONG had 4 fouls.

Foothills Christian: Dalton Mosser 31 (6 reb, 3 ast), Andre Johnson 20 (9 reb), Caleb Hoffman 19 (4 reb, 5 ast), Joe Buenrostro 6 (2 reb), Nick Louden 6 (2 reb, 2 ast), Austin Mostrong 2, A.J. Hoffman (1 reb, 1 ast).

MADISON 62, VALHALLA 48 – After taking a 32-26 halftime lead, the Norsemen’s offense went stagnant as they succumbed to Madison in a Mount Miguel Invitational contest on Wednesday (Dec. 14) at Morse.

Senior forward CHRIS SHIELDS turned in a powerful double-double of 13 points and 12 rebounds in a losing cause for the Norsemen (1-2). Shields was 6 of 11 from the field. He accounted for the only 3-point bucket for Valhalla, which was 1-for-12 from long distance.

To make matters worse, four Norsemen fouled out in the final period – 3 of them starters – as Madison claimed a 20-5 scoring edge.

Valhalla: Chris Shields 13 (12 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk), Amil Hermiz 7 (3 reb, 4 ast, 1 stl), Matt Butcher 7 (2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Andrew Lozoya 6 (4 reb, 1 ast), Spencer Havird 3 (3 reb, 6 ast, 2 blk), A.J. Allen 5 (8 reb, 1 blk), Taylor Hammet 4 (1 reb), David Gazelle 2 (1 reb), Kevin Mills 1 (1 ast), Patrick Flippo (1 reb).

Temecula-CHAPARRAL 52, STEELE CANYON 43 – After a flashy start to the season earlier in the week the Cougars saw an early 13-10 lead fade away as they dropped a North County Classic decision to Temecula Chaparral (8-1) on Wednesday (Dec. 14) at San Marcos High.

“Actually I’m happy to be where we are,” said Steele Canyon coach DEREK STEPHENS. “Of course I’d rather be 2-0 instead of 1-1.”

Senior CASEY BALIKIAN knocked down 18 points – half of them coming on 3-pointers – to pace Steele Canyon scoring. He has scored 33 points in the first two Cougars contests.

DANNY BWINIKA also landed 3 shots from long distance as he finished with 10 points, giving him 22 markers out of the gate.

Chaparral outscored the Cougars 34-21 in the middle two quarters to put the game away.

“They’re a real disciplined team that didn’t make the mistakes that we did,” noted Stephens.

Steele Canyon: Casey Balikian 18, Danny Bwinika 10, Michael Jordan 5, Cody Wells 5, Justin Norwood 1, Tyler Gulino 4.

VALLEY CENTER 58, SANTANA 33 – The struggling Santana Sultans were hoping to avenge a one-point loss to host Valley Center from a year ago when they drove through traffic for one hour, 25 minutes for Wednesday’s (Dec. 14) non-league rematch.

“That was a long ways to go to take a butt-whippin’,” Santana coach TIM BARRY said. “When I scheduled this game I thought we’d have all of our players.”

Valley Center pounded Santana on the offensive glass, collecting 17 caroms.

“That’s way too many second chances,” Barry said. “They killed us on put-backs.”

MIKE ROSOLINO was the only Santana player to reach double digits on this night as Valley Center forged in front 24-10 by halftime.

On an off-the-court high note for Santana (1-5), Barry hopes returning letterman JASON CORBISEZ – a 6-foot-3 senior guard – will lend veteran support in the immediate future. He had elbow surgery in July and his recovery had not been as rapid as expected.

The good news is Corbisez has been cleared to join the Sultans roster as of Thursday (Dec. 15).

Santana: Mike Rosolino 12 (5 reb), Jordan Vargas 6 (2 reb, 1 stl), Daniel Levens-Lowery 4 (2 reb, 2 ast), A.J. Bratlien 4 (5 reb), Christian Barry 3 (3 reb, 1 stl), David Albright 2 (1 reb), Andy Miller (2 reb), Dustin Murphy (1 ast).

© East County Sports.com
RANCHO SAN DIEGO (12-14-11) — Opening night was less than ideal for the Valhalla Norsemen as they failed to generate much offense in a lopsided loss to Morse.

That same struggle ended up lasting exactly 12 minutes and 22 seconds into their second contest of the season before the Norsemen squad realized it’s not just putting the ball through the net that can win games.

Defense would eventually get the Norsemen into the win column for the first time this season Tuesday (Dec. 13) night as they handed Ramona a 57-51 setback in the Mount Miguel Invitational.

“We’re known as a physical defensive team and we have a lot of really fast guards,” senior AMIL HERMIZ said after scoring 9 points while adding 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 5 steals and 3 blocks. He's quoted as molding his game after Rajon Rondo who also plays with the mentality...defense first. “No one here cares about stats. We just want to win games any way possible.”

The scrappy bunch of Norsemen would then take their first lead against Ramona when junior KEVIN MILLS made a steal at midcourt and got fouled on the break, but made both free throws to give them their first advantage at 23-21.

On the next possession MATT BUTCHER chopped up enough meat for his own “occupy the paint” block party as he rejected 3 straight Bulldog shots, but the Norsemen would eventually trail by as many as 7 until a small scuffle broke out between the two teams big men that changed everything.

One bump turned into another and before you knew it one of them apparently went too far with a “Yo Mamma” joke that got him ejected from the game and the Norsemen team immediately responded.

“I’m not gonna lie,” Mills professed. “That really pumped us up because we are one team, one heartbeat and we can’t go anywhere without every single guy on this team.”

CHRIS SHIELDS, the high scorer for the Norsemen racking up 14 points while also collecting 6 rebounds, agreed.

“We’ve been working so hard for a month now and the whole time our focus has been on being a family, because without a family you can’t do anything you want to accomplish as a team,” Shields said.

Just to prove what kind of team effort the Norsemen put forth the final team stats said it all.

Even though they only shot 37 percent from the field, as a group they out- rebounded Ramona 36-23.

The Norsemen had 12 assists on 18 made field goals. They notched 11 blocks as a family and also snatched the ball out of the Bulldogs’ mouth 13 times with quick-handed steals.

“It’s only our second game so we’re still obviously trying to work some things out,” Valhalla head coach KEITH JACKSON admitted. “Our defense just made plays down the stretch for us tonight that eventually won us the game.”

Valhalla: Chris Shields 14 (6 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl, 2 blk), Amil Hermiz 9 (5 reb, 4 ast, 5 stl, 3 blk), Matt Butcher 9 (7 reb, 1 ast, 3 stl, 2 blk), Spencer Havird 8 (6 reb, 4 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk), Kevin Mills 7 (5 reb, 1 stl), A.J. Allen 5 (5 reb 1 ast, 3 blk), Andrew Lozoya 5 (1 reb), Patrick Flippo (1 reb).

— Andrew Smith

MOUNT MIGUEL 64, PATRICK HENRY 43 – Putting points on the board has not been a problem for the Mount Miguel Matadors two games into this season. Fact is the Matadors have produced 143 markers while rolling to a 2-0 start in the Mount Miguel Invitational.

Junior IZZY WAGNER knocked down 22 points, senior THOMAS BUTLER pitched in 16 points and senior MARCUS BOOKER chalked up 14 tallies as the Matadors outscored host Patrick Henry 38-14 in the second half of Tuesday’s (Dec. 13) tournament tilt.

“We’ve been shaky starters in the first half of both of our games,” Mount Miguel coach JAY ROWLETT said. “That is something we have to correct in the future.”

Mount Miguel: Izzy Wagner 22 (3 reb, 2 ast), Marcus Booker 14 (4 reb, 6 ast, 4 stl), Thomas Butler 16 (4 reb), Cory Littleton 5 (11 reb, 1 stl), Tony Wills 5 (3 reb, 1 stl), Jaz Woodard 2 (3 reb), Malcolm Jackson (7 reb), Marcellus Jones (1 reb, 1 ast).

© East County Sports.com
SANTEE (12-13-11) — For a team that few people regarded as a playoff team, the El Capitan Vaqueros continue to beat the odds. That is, they’ve won 5 straight after a season-opening loss.

Better than that, they captured the title for winning the San Diego D-III Challenge on Monday (Dec. 12) by defeating the Kearny Komets 47-45, at Santana.

“It was kind of a blur at the end,” said Vaqueros coach JASON CAVAZOS. “But it was a key win in terms of confidence building for us.”

A 3-point play by TRAVIS HULSEY in the final seconds gave the Vaqueros the victory with 8 seconds remaining.

Hulsey rebounded a shot by El Capitan’s main marksman TYSON KYGAR.

“We were plagued by foul trouble with our key players,” Cavazos said. “So I had to bring Tyson and NESTOR RAMIREZ in and out of the game in the final minute so they didn’t have to play defense.”

The strategy worked as neither player fouled out.

Kygar led the Vaqueros with 17 points and AUSTIN BETTS added 16 points of his own.

“We were one point down when Kygar narrowly missed a 3-pointer,” Cavazos said. “Give credit to Hulsey for being in position to put the game away.

El Capitan: Tyson Kygar 17 (5 reb, 4 ast, 8 stl, 2 blk), Austin Betts 16 (1 ast, 5 stl, 1 blk), Nestor Ramirez 7 (2 ast, 8 reb, 6 stl), Travis Hulsey 6 (8 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl, 3 blk), Kameron Brown 1 (1 ast, 5 reb, 3 blk), Adam Jacob (1 ast, 2 stl), Ryan Quentin (1 reb, 1 stl).

STEELE CANYON 68, DEL NORTE 62 – It was five games into the season before Steele Canyon first tasted victory a year ago.

So it would be assumed that the visiting Cougars are off to a promising start this year considering they opened the season with a victory over the Nighthawks in Monday’s (Dec. 12) North County Classic contest.

It did not start out that way as Steele Canyon fell behind 11-0.

“We looked like a team who was playing its first game,” said Cougars coach DEREK STEPHENS. “We were extremely tentative.”

The Cougars erupted for 30 points in the 3rd period. DANNY BWINKA, who paced the Cougars with 19 points, buried a trio of 3-pointers to lead the Cougars’ 3rd period uprising.

In that same period CASEY BALIKIAN added a pair of treys on his way to a 15-point finish to go along with 7 assists.

The Cougars MICHAEL JORDAN contributed 10 points and 7 rebounds.

Probably one of the biggest changes in the game was the Cougars were able to tame Del Norte’s number one marksman Tyler Evans, who hit four 3-pointers in the 2nd quarter and 24 points in the game. In the stretch run, however, Evans tallied only 7 points.

Steele Canyon: Danny Bwinka 19 (5 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl), Casey Balikian 15 (6 reb, 7 ast, 1 stl), Michael Jordan 10 (7 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Cody Wells 9 (1 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Dylan Kirchhofer 6 (1 reb, 1 stl), Phillip Russell 5 (4 reb), Justin Norwood 4 (3 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Daniel King (3 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk), Tyler Gulino (3 reb, 1 stl).

MORSE 69, VALHALLA 44 – It was a typical season opening outing for Valhalla, but an unwanted result in Monday’s Mount Miguel Invitational encounter against an unrated Morse outfit.

“I knew coming out we were playing a pretty good team,” said Norseman coach KEITH JACKSON. “We were down 15 and tried to take some risks and it backfired. They shot a ton of free throws but we hung in there in the 2nd half.”

“We were down 10 in the 3rd quarter. Late in the game our field goal percentage was atrocious. We came out shooting fairly well in the 1st half and we made our free throws pretty well. It was one of those games where there were a lot of free throws. We made our shots in the 1st half but didn’t do so well in the 2nd.”

“Morse started making their shots and got on the free throw line a lot. They kept the gas on us the whole game. They didn’t pull off. They didn’t stop pressing, never took their starters out.”

Senior forward CHRIS SHIELDS rifled out a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds to pace the Norsemen.

Junior SPENCER HAVIRD added 14 points of his own for Valhalla.

“We played a decent team coming out of the gate – this was Morse’s 8th game and it was our first. We didn’t do enough things well, but I see some promise. There are some things we can work on.”

Valhalla: Chris Shields 14 (10 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl), Spencer Havird 14 (4 reb, 1 ast), Amil Hermiz 7 (3 reb, 1 ast, 5 stl), A.J. Allen 5 (6 reb, 1 ast, 2 blk), Matt Butcher 3 (2 reb, 1 ast), Kevin Mills 1 (1 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl), Andrew Lozoya (1 reb, 1 blk), Patrick Flippo (1 ast, 1 blk), Ryan Ernsbarger (1 reb), Cody Gladu (1 reb), Taylor Hammet (1 reb).

RAMONA 68, FOOTHILLS CHRISTIAN 62 – No report was received for this Monday (Dec. 12) Mount Miguel Invitational game.

Foothills Christian: Joe Buenrostro 3 (2 reb, 3 stl), Nick Louden 8 (1 reb, 1 stl, 2 ast), Dalton Mosser 24 (4 reb, 5 stl, 3 ast), A.J. Hoffman (2 reb, 1 stl), Andre Johnson 17 (4 reb, 1 blk, 3 stl, 3 ast), Caleb Hoffman 8 (1 reb, 4 stl, 4 ast), Austin Mostrong 2 (2 reb).

By Andrew Smith
© East County Sports.com
SANTEE (12-11-11) — Grossmont Valley League giants Monte Vista and Mount Miguel might have something a little more challenging to think about this season.

Santana which finished 10 games over .500 last year, is staring at a 1-3 record without LANDON LOZOYA. Don’t count the Sultans out, though. El Cajon Valley, which ended last season 2-22, is off to a promising 3-0 start.

Then there are the Vaqueros from El Capitan that finished last season 10-17.

With everything in the early part of the 2011-12 basketball season a bit “topsy-turvy” it should not come as a surprise that the Vaqueros have claimed 4 victories in their first five contests after edging Crawford 53-51 in Saturday’s (Dec. 10) semifinals of the San Diego Division III Challenge at Santana.

“I’m definitely excited about our good start this year,” senior captain TYSON KYGAR proclaimed. “With 4 wins under our belt after only winning 10 last year the sky is the limit.”

Teammate KAMERON BROWN agreed.

“We’re playing really good so far this season and all of us are really excited so hopefully we keep things going in the right direction.”

The semifinal win against the Colts was anything but easy.

Trailing by one with the ball at the top of the key, Brown waited for Kygar, who was being chased by two defenders, to get open. After a screen from RYAN QUENTIN gave him a glimpse of daylight Brown delivered what turned out to be a delicious dime as Kygar sunk the trey and the Vaqueros moved into the tournament championship game on Monday.

With two defenders trailing him he basically sunk the eventual game-winning shot with 4 hands in his face.

“He’s a great shooter and he’s put in a ton of time in the gym over these last four years, so anytime he gets a look I tell him to take it because you never know if that will be the only one he gets all game with defenses starting to key on him,” El Capitan coach JASON CAVAZOS said.

Against Crawford, the biggest lead either team possessed was a 6-point advantage. In fact after the 4:10 minute mark in the second quarter the margin never expanded past 3 points the entire game.

“I thought we came out a little flat,” Cavazos admitted. “That was a little expected though for it being a day game on a Saturday with no crowd support like a Friday night crowd. I thought Tyson kinda carried us which is good, but eventually we have to get more guys involved. This was the first game this season where he actually did more than he should have.”

Just like any Crawford squad, these Colts were fast, quick and athletic.

The Colts put their best defender on Kyger but he still went on to shoot 13-of-21 from the field for 31 points, including 5-of-10 from downtown.

The Vaqueros only trailed for 11 seconds in the first half, but the Colts fronted Kygar a little tighter after halftime and once they took the lead at 35-33 they would end the 3rd period with some slight momentum as they seemed to stymie El Cap’s attack.

Coach Cavazos had one single message for his squad as they entered the 4th stanza…

“Relax!”

The first shot for the Vaqueros swished through the net as Kygar nailed a triple, but they found themselves down 51-50 with 2 minutes left on the clock.

“It wasn’t our best effort,” Kygar said. “But a win is a win.”

El Capitan: Tyson Kygar 31 (5 reb, 2 ast, 5 stl), Nestor Ramirez 9 (6 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl), Kameron Brown 8 (7 reb, 3 ast, 3 blk), Adam Jacob 3 (6 reb, 2 ast), Nathan Geisel 2 (4 reb, 1 stl), Scott Ross (1 reb, 1 ast), Travis Halsey (2 reb, 1 ast), Jason Quentin (1 stl).

© East County Sports.com
ESCONDIDO (12-10-11) — Nobody can exactly remember the last time El Cajon Valley began a basketball season at 3-0. But that’s where the Braves stand now following Friday’s (Dec. 9) non-league squeeze of Orange Glen, 72-38.

“We played hella good against Orange Glen,” said second-year Braves coach MARTY ELLIS. “Our kids are starting to buy into what we are trying to sell, which is bring energy every game.”

Four Braves finished in double scoring figures, led by ANDRE NIKKITA, who popped in 21 points., 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 5 steals and a block.

Sophomore BRENDEN BROCIOUS finished with 14 markers, most coming on four 3-pointers.

DERRICK MOORE pulled a double-double of 10 points and 14 rebounds to go along with 4 steals and 3 blocks.

EDON LUSHI landed a trio of 3-pointers to finish with 10 points for the Braves, while DEON KELLY added 10 rebounds to go with his 9 points.

Although he didn’t rank high in the stats, Ellis noted that JEREMIAH PATTON was a major contributor with 11 rebounds and 4 steals.

“Like I tell my kids at every game, if we can have one guy set the table we can all eat,” Ellis said. “Patton provided that in this game.”

El Cajon Valley: Andre Nikkita 21 (7 reb, 5 ast, 5 stl, 1 blk), Brenden Brocious 14 (3 reb, 3 ast, 3 stl), Derrick Moore 10 (14 reb, 2 ast, 4 stl, 3 blk), Edon Lushi 10 (5 reb, 1 stl), Deon Kelly 9 (10 reb, 2 stl), Deshe Tibbs 4 (4 reb), Jeremiah Patton 2 (11 reb, 4 stl, 1 blk), Sangar Hasan 2 (1 reb).

MONTE VISTA 58, HILLTOP 47 – All-tournament pick JAMES JACKSON guided the Monarchs to a victory over the host team in Friday’s (Dec. 9) final day of the Hilltop Tournament.

The 6-foot-8 Jackson hammered down 26 points, making 14 of 18 free throws and securing 8 rebounds as the Monarchs improved to 4-2 in the victory over Hilltop.

Jackson produced 100 points and 36 rebounds in the five tournament games.

“James goes to wherever we need him to attack,” said Monte Vista coach JAMES CARROLL.

The spearhead of the latest Monarch victory was REUBEN NWANDO, who scored 8 straight points to begin the 3rd period, extending Monte Vista’s lead to 33-19.

“He’s kind of a streak shooter – an explosive kid,” said Carroll of Nwando.

Six-foot-4 DEVIN RENDO is rapidly becoming a major contributor for the Monarchs. Against Hilltop he pitched in 10 points and 6 rebounds.

“He’s a very athletic kid – a 6-5 high jumper in track,” said Carroll.

Monte Vista: James Jackson 26 (8 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl, 2 blk), Reuben Nwando 10 (5 reb, 3 ast, 3 stl), Devin Rendo 10 (6 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk), D’ondre Coleman 7 (4 reb, 1 stl), Kylie Luster 4 (8 reb, 3 stl, 1 blk), K.J. Houston 1 (7 reb, 3 ast, 3 stl, 2 blk), Xavier Daniels (1 reb, 1 stl).

WESTVIEW 47, HELIX 43 – While the Highlanders continue to struggle on the court due to injuries and a couple of key players still involved in the state-playoff-bound football team, they are showing stealth-like improvement.

That was obvious in Friday’s (Dec. 9) hard-fought loss to Westview in the Hilltop Tournament.

“Since we have no post game we don’t draw too many fouls,” Helix coach JOHN SINGER said.

Case in point, Helix was 3-for-5 from the charity stripe in the loss to Westview.

“We have nobody to throw the ball in to,” Singer noted. “None of our players are big enough to play with their back to the basket. Obviously we don’t really have any bigs.”

Thus the abundance of Helix’s points have to come from off the dribble, drives to the basket and jump shots.

“Right now we have to do things almost perfect to beat a team like Westview,” Singer said.

TITUS YOUNG led the Highlanders with 15 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists, while KAELAN MITCHELL contributed 10 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals and a block.

ISAAC RANDALL and ROMARIO WILSON each contributed 8 rebounds for Helix.

“I think what impressed me most is we only committed 7 turnovers,” Singer said.

Helix: Titus Young 15 (5 reb, 5 ast, 2 stl), Kaelan Mitchell 10 (4 reb, 3 ast, 4 stl, 1 blk), Mike Todd 8 (2 ast, 2 stl), Romario Wilson 5 (8 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk), Derrick Chandler 2 (5 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk), Ernesto Martinez 2 (2 reb), Isaac Randall 1 (8 reb, 1 stl, 2 blk).

OTAY RANCH 66, WEST HILLS 62 – The host Wolf Pack suffered a frustrating loss in Friday’s (Dec. 9) Wolf Pack–Horsman Automotive Tournament at the hands of visiting Otay Ranch.

“There’s no other way to say it, but we gave this one away,” said West Hills assistant coach LUCAS ARMSTRONG. “We led by 8 points after one quarter and then made a couple of mental mistakes down the stretch that cost us the game.”

Junior MARTIN PANAYOTOV scored a career-high 16 points, which included hitting 3 of 6 shots from beyond the arc.

JERON SATTERFIELD chipped in with 12 points as the Wolf Pack fell to 2-2.

An unsung hero for the Pack was 6-foot-4 KEVIN McLAUGHLIN, who came off the bench to help stabilize the Pack’s inside game.

“He doesn’t tear it up in the box scores, so people don’t even know who he is,” said Armstrong. “But he gave us some key minutes and really helped us inside the paint.”

West Hills: Martin Panayotov 16 (3 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Jeron Satterfield 12 (4 reb, 4 ast), Alex Parsons 9 (3 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl), Jonny Preston 6 (2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), D.J. Lewis 6 (7 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk), Nick Findley 5 (2 stl), Kevin Straub 3 (5 reb, 6 ast, 3 stl), Joey Clark 2 (2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Kevin McLaughlin 2 (1 reb, 1 stl), Ryan Williams (1 reb, 1 stl).

HOOVER 77, GROSSMONT 51 – Veteran coach FRANK FOGGIANO didn’t make any excuses after his Foothillers were hammered by Hoover in Friday’s (Dec. 9) Titan Tip-Off at Eastlake.

“ Hoover has better athletes”, Foggiano said. “And my kids were a little intimidated by them. It was a glorified recreation game – everybody was running around. That’s just how they play.”

Once again though Grossmont’s inside muscle man DEREK RUSTICH ripped off a double-double of 25 points and 12 rebounds to pace the Foothillers (1-4).

ROBBY NESOVIC added 16 points, anchored by a pair of treys and 6 for 6 free throw shooting.

“In the 2nd half it was an 8-point game,” Foggiano said. “It took my guys awhile to get up to speed but we learned how to anticipate a little better.”

Grossmont: Derek Rustich 25 (12 reb, 2 ast), Robby Nesovic 16 (7 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Austin Swisher 6 (1 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl), Adam Robinson 4 (4 reb), Bilal Rahim 4 (3 reb), Ryan Green (2 ast, 1 stl), J.T. Barnes (2 reb), Ryan Cooksey (2 reb), Anthony Lawrence (1 reb), Jake Herrod (2 ast).

MT. CARMEL 82, FOOTHILLS CHRISTIAN 57 – An obvious lack of depth continues to plague Foothills Christian (1-4). The Knights trailed host Mt. Carmel only 16-15 after the first quarter of Friday’s (Dec. 9) Eagle Invitational.

The Sundevils outscored the Knights 42-21 in the middle two quarters to decide the issue.

Senior ANDRE JOHNSON paced the Knights with 22 points, hitting 7 of 13 shots from the floor including a trio of 3s. He also landed 5 of 7 free throws, delivered 4 assists and shared the team rebound high of 6.

Any chance the Knights had in matching strides with the Sundevils was lost early in the 3rd quarter when Mt. Carmel stretched a 39-26 lead by scoring the first 8 points after intermission.

CALEB HOFFMAN added 13 points, sinking 4 of 8 chances from the field, 1 trey and 4 of 6 free throws for 13 points.

Although all of the Knights starters contributed to the scoring total, Foothills Christian received no points off the bench.

Foothills Christian: Andre Johnson 22 (6 reb, 4 ast, 2 stl, 2 blk), Caleb Hoffman 13 (2 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl), Dalton Mosser 8 (6 reb, 5 ast, 4 stl, 4 blk), Nick Louden 8 (1 reb, 1 ast), Joe Buenrostro 6 (3 reb, 4 stl), A.J. Hoffman (1 reb).

© East County Sports.com
CHULA VISTA (12-9-11) — Wanna know who is the best team in East County ?

Check out head coach JAMES CARROLL’s Monte Vista Monarchs. These guys are pretty good. They proved that in Thursday’s (Dec. 8) overtime victory, 62-59, against No. 7 ranked Torrey Pines in the Hilltop Tournament.

JAMES JACKSON, a 6-foot-8, 200-pound senior who is apparently playing under the radar given his lack of publicity, knocked down 27 points and grabbed 8 rebounds as the Monarchs handed the Falcons their first loss in six years of competing in the Hilltop Tournament.

Torrey Pines hustled to a 29-19 halftime lead behind the shooting of Joe Rahon who finished with a game-high of 32 points.

After that Jackson took over in the 2nd half, scoring 24 points including the bucket that tied the game at 52-all, which eventually sent it into overtime.

The key bucket in the extra session was delivered by senior guard K.J. HOUSTON who landed a 3-pointer with one minute remaining to secure the Monarchs’ lead for keeps.

“That was a clutch shot,” said Carroll.

Houston finished with 15 points and 5 assists.

Probably the most unsung hero for Monte Vista thus far has been senior DEVIN RENDO, who landed 12 points and nabbed 6 rebounds.

“That’s another big game we’ve gotten from him,” Carroll said.

Monte Vista: James Jackson 27 (8 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk), K.J. Houston 15 (4 reb, 5 ast, 1 stl, 2 blk), Devin Rendo 12 (6 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 2 blk), Reuben Nwando 6 (5 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl, 2 blk), Kylie Luster 2 (6 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk), Xavier Daniels (1 reb, 1 stl), Jahzdion Taylor (1 reb, 1 blk).

MISSION BAY 56, HELIX 50 – Veteran coach JOHN SINGER could sulk about the Highlanders’ 1-3 start, which includes a hard-fought loss to Top 10 power Mission Bay in Thursday’s (Dec. 8) Hilltop Tournament in Chula Vista.

The inexperienced Highlanders could have easily hoisted the white flag after falling behind the Buccaneers 31-17 in the 1st half. Helix made a nice regroup in the 2nd half to make it a nail-biter at the end.

“We competed well in the 2nd half,” Singer said. “We even went up a point in the 4th quarter. We showed some resolve against a solid Mission Bay team.”

Four Highlanders finished in double scoring digits led by KAELAN MITCHELL’s 14 points.

ISAAC RANDALL, one of two seniors who earns regular playing time, contributed a double-double of 13 points and 16 rebounds.

“We moved some guys around and asked them to play some positions that they really didn’t want to play,” Singer said. “I think because we had some success with it that those guys are starting to believe that maybe I know what I’m talking about. So far it’s been learning on the job, at least until we get our (playoff bound) football players back.”

Helix: Kaelan Mitchell 14 (8 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Isaac Randall 13 (16 reb, 2 at, 3 stl), Romario Wilson 10 (8 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl), Titus Young 10 (2 reb, 1 stl), Michael Todd 2 (2 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl), Derrick Chandler (1 reb, 3 ast, 1 blk), Xavier Jones (1 stl), Ernesto Martinez (1 reb).

VISTA 55, GRANITE HILLS 51 – Based on their first half performance the Eagles could have easily folded against visiting Vista on Thursday’s (Dec. 8) final round of the Eagle Invitational.

The Panthers pranced to a 35-16 halftime advantage and then held on for the victory.

“I was really proud of the way we came back in the 2nd half,” said Granite Hills coach RANDY ANDERSON. “We got it down to 4 points but we spent so much energy coming back that we just couldn’t pull it out.”

Six-foot-9 senior SCOTT ATKINSON turned in another brilliant performance for Granite Hills with 13 points, 14 rebounds and 8 blocked shots. No question, he is the premier big man in East County.

Anderson also handed out accolades to 6-foot-4 STEPHEN KEPPEL, who has been a steady performer through the first five games.

“He doesn’t put up huge numbers but he’s been solid all around,” said Anderson of Keppel.

Another one of that ilk is CODIE SIMMONS who choked off Vista scoring machine 6-foot-3 Sedrick Childress, who came in averaging 30 points. Simmons limited Childress to 14 points.

“That was one of the keys to our comeback,” Anderson said.

Granite Hills: Scott Atkinson 13 (14 reb, 8 blk), Joey Grubb 12 (4 ast, 2 stl), Kyle Pierson 12 (2 reb), Stephen Keppel 7 (3 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk), Koltin Higgins 5 (2 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk), Codie Simmons 2 (4 reb, 5 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk).

© East County Sports.com
EL CAJON (12-8-11) — There may be some East County teams with more size inside the paint than the Grossmont Foothillers, yet when coach FRANK FOGGIANO’s 1-2 punch of ROBBY NESOVIC and DEREK RUSTICH is in a groove this team will project itself as the Inland’s finest.

A 6-foot-4 junior, Rustich turned in a powerful double-double of 26 points and 19 rebounds as Grossmont (1-3) edged visiting Mira Mesa, 68-67, in Wednesday (Dec. 7) Eastlake Titan Tip-Off Classic encounter.

Rustich was at his best in the final 4:30 of the 4th quarter after Nesovic left the lineup with a leg bruise. Twelve of Rustich’s points came over that stretch, including a game-winning layup in the final 10 seconds.

As Mira Mesa prepared to inbound the ball under the basket for what it hoped would be a game-winning hoop, Grossmont’s JAKE HERROD stole the inbound pass with 2 seconds left to record the save in his first varsity game.

“This is the first game we’ve had Jake,” Foggiano said. “He’s been out with strep throat.”

Nesovic finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Once again he was deadly from the free throw line, cashing in 10 of 11 chances.

“Robby’s injury wasn’t serious but there’s no sense to risk putting him back in in a game like this,” Foggiano said.

Once again the Grossmont co-stars made significant contributions as the Foothillers posted their first win in four starts.

Grossmont: Derek Rustich 26 (19 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl), Robby Nesovic 20 (11 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl), Balil Rahim 8 (4 reb), Austin Swisher 6 (2 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Ryan Cooksey 4 (3 reb), Anthony Lawrence 2 (2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Steven Williams 2 (1 reb), Jake Herrod (1 stl).

UNIVERSITY CITY 55, SANTANA 51 – Injury-riddled Santana was outscored 36-16 in the middle two quarters of Wednesday’s (Dec. 7) San Diego DIII Challenge contest.

A.J. BRATLIEN paced the Sultans (1-3) with 21 points, 10 rebounds. He also led the team with 4 assists and registered a block, which is rare for under-sized Santana. The senior guard hit 7 of 10 from the floor (one of them a 3) and 6 of 7 free throws.

Noting that the 6-foot Bratlien had a block, Santana coach TIM BARRY said, “Right now we have no starters over six feet so its important to get blocks. University City has some big guys. Their big guy (Kyle Holder) scored 45 points against Brawley. We shut him down. He didn’t score in the 1st quarter, had 5 points in the 2nd, and only 9 points in the 2nd half. We did a really good job on him.”

DANIEL LEVENS-LOWERY was on the mark, burying 5 three-pointers on his way to an 18-point finish for Santana.

“We got a steal with almost no time left and went for a breakaway layup, and missed it,” said Barry. “We had a bad run at the end of the 3rd quarter. We were there in the last two minutes but we’re still trying to find an identity. The kids played hard, they played great.”

Santana: A.J. Bratlien 21 (10 reb, 4 ast, 1 blk, 2 stl), Daniel Levens-Lowery 18 (1 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Mike Rosolino 6 (1 reb, 1 stl), Andy Miller 5 (1 reb, 3 ast), David Albright 3 (1 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Jordan Vargas (4 reb), Dustin Murphy (1 reb, 1 stl).

MORSE 79, FOOTHILLS CHRISTIAN 51 – Bottom line here is Foothills Christian just ran out of gas in Wednesday’s (Dec. 7) Eagle Invitational game at Granite Hills.

The short-handed Knights started off fast, taking a 19-14 first quarter lead. But the continual pressure defense applied by Morse eventually wore Foothills Christian down.

The Knights (1-2) were unable to maintain a 9-point lead in the 2nd quarter due to that pressure and illness and were eventually outscored 30-9 in the final quarter to turn the game into a rout.

Of course it’s tough to win a game when only three players score.

Foothills Christian: Dalton Mosser 28 (7 reb, 1 blk), Caleb Hoffman 12 (3 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Andre Johnson 11 (6 reb, 4 ast, 1 blk), Austin Mostrong (6 reb), Nick Louden (2 reb), Joe Buenrostro (1 ast).

© East County Sports.com
SANTEE (12-7-11) — It’s been several years since West Hills has made any noise in East County basketball. But given its impressive start, the Wolf Pack may be able to make a notable howl this season.

Sure it’s only been three games but the Pack has captured two victories, including a 70-67 nod over Sweetwater in the Wolf Pack-Horsman Automotive Tournament on Tuesday (Dec. 6).

The Pack’s victory over the Red Devils was something special since the national television cameras of MTV’s Grammy-winning serial “Made” were on hand to film the proceedings in front of a full house in the West Hills gym.

“The atmosphere was electric,” said Wolf Pack assistant coach LUCAS ARMSTRONG. “Our fans, their fans – everybody was going crazy.”

Bottom line is West Hills pulled out its second victory in three starts with five players in double digits.

“I know it was really exciting for Sweetwater since the focus was on their kid, but we’re just glad that we came away with a win,” Armstrong said. “This is something they’ll all look forward to seeing.”

ALEX PARSONS scored 16 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals and 2 blocks to pace the Pack. JONNY PRESTON matched him in points with 16, while KEVIN STRAUB scored 8 of his 12 points in the pivotal 4th quarter.

NICK FINDLEY pitched in 12 points, hitting 4 of 5 three-point shots, and JERON SATTERFIELD added 10 points on 4 for 8 shooting while gobbling up a team-best 8 rebounds.

West Hills: Alex Parsons 16 (7 reb, 3 ast, 4 stl, 2 blk), Jonny Preston 16 (5 reb, 4 stl), Kevin Straub 12 (3 reb, 1 ast), Nick Findley 12 (2 ast, 1 stl), Jeron Satterfield 10 (8 reb, 5 ast, 4 stl), D.J. Lewis 4 (4 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl, 1 blk), Martin Panayotov (1 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk), Joey Clark (1 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl), Ryan Williams (1 reb, 1 ast).

GRANITE HILLS 58, RANCHO BERNARDO 49 – SCOTT ATKINSON, the most pristine pivot in East County, took control of Tuesday’s (Dec. 6) Eagle Invitational contest against Rancho Bernardo.

He buried 9 of 12 shots from the floor for Granite Hills and 7 of 11 free throws as he tallied 25 points, 19 rebounds and 10 blocked shots for the most outstanding triple-double of the season so far.

“They were trying to trap us at half court,” said Eagles coach RANDY ANDERSON. “We did a good job of getting the ball to Scott inside. He also did a good job of finishing strong.”

JOEY GRUBB added a dozen points, 3 assists and 3 steals.

“KYLE PIERSON (in his first game back after injury) provided a spark in the 2nd half with two key putbacks,” said Anderson. (The Broncos) were smaller than us and we did a good job of defending them on the perimeter.”

Pierson, in his first game back from injury, was right on the mark as he made 3 of 3 field goal attempts, 3 of 4 free throws, grabbed 7 rebounds and dished an assist.

Granite Hills: Scott Atkinson 25 (19 reb, 10 blk), Joey Grubb 12 (3 reb, 3 ast, 3 stl), Kyle Pierson 9 (7 reb, 1 ast), Stephen Keppel 7 (7 reb, 3 ast), Koltin Higgins 3 (3 ast, 1 blk), Nate Jeter 2 (3 reb, 5 ast), Codie Simmons (2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), D.J. Palomera (3 reb, 1 stl).

MISSION BAY 70, MONTE VISTA 62 – This was a heartfelt loss for the Monarchs, who were up by eight points in the first half yet rallied from a 13-point deficit in a disappointing defeat in Tuesday’s (Dec. 6) Hilltop Tournament contest.

Senior DEVIN RENDO scored a career high 13 points and bagged 7 rebounds for the Monarchs (2-2), while JAMES JACKSON poured in 17 points and captured 6 rebounds in a game that was tied 32-all at halftime.

“The one thing about Jackson, he’s been consistent every game,” Monte Vista coach JAMES CARROLL said. “It was pretty exciting to see Devon have his best game.

“Our problem was on the perimeter where we gave up eight 3-pointers. We did not do a good job of contesting their shots.”

K.J. HOUSTON chipped in 11 points for the Monarchs and REUBEN NWANDO added 8 points and 8 rebounds.

“Our guards did not do a good job protecting the perimeter,” Carroll said. “And that cost us. When you don’t contest a shot you know it’s gonna hurt you.”

Monte Vista: James Jackson 17 (6 reb, 4 ast, 3 stl), Devin Rendo 13 (7 reb, 1 stl), K.J. Houston 11 (2 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk), Reuben Nwando 8 (8 reb, 4 ast), Kylie Luster 7 (7 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), D’ondre Coleman 4 (2 reb, 2 ast), Xavier Daniels 2 (1 reb, 1 stl).

TORREY PINES 55, HELIX 41 – ROMARIO WILSON rolled a double-double of 16 points and 11 rebounds in Tuesday’s (Dec. 6) Hilltop Tournament loss to Torrey Pines.

ISAAC RANDALL added 10 points and 8 rebounds.

Although the Highlanders were never in contention, Joe Rahon led Torrey Pines with 30 points including 4 threes. Rahon has accepted a scholarship to Boston College.

Helix: Romario Wilson 16 (11 reb, 2 ast), Isaac Randall 10 (8 reb, 1 blk), Titus Young 9 (3 reb, 2 ast), Michael Todd 3 (2 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Ernesto Martinez 2 (1 reb, 1 ast), Kaelan Mitchell 1 (6 reb, 2 ast), Derrick Chandler (3 reb, 1 ast), Xavier Jones (1 ast).

© East County Sports.com
LAKESIDE (12-6-11) — A furious fourth-quarter rush by host El Capitan led to a 55-54 San Diego DIII Challenge victory over La Jolla on Monday (Dec. 5).

“We were down by 22 points in the 4th quarter,” noted Vaqueros coach JASON CAVAZOS. “And we came back and won by one at the buzzer.”

The knockout punch was delivered by TYSON KYGAR, who canned a 3-pointer to decide the issue.

“It might have been the best comeback I’ve ever been a part of,” Cavazos said. “I have a bunch of kids that never quit. I told the kids it’s not how you start the game, it’s how you finish the game.”

Case in point was Kygar, who tallied 3 points in the 1st quarter, 4 markers in the 2nd stanza, four points in the 3rd period and then exploded for 20 points in the final quarter. He made five 3s in the 4th quarter as well as recording all of his 8 steals.”

La Jolla made only one basket in the 4th quarter, the rest of their 7 points were on free throws.

“Tyson basically took it on his shoulders and said ‘let’s go.’ He was not going to lose this game. The team got him the ball in the right spots,” Cavazos said.

Tyson had 21 points, including four 3s against San Dieguito on Friday (Dec. 2).

El Capitan: Tyson Kygar 30 (2 reb, 5 ast, 8 stls, 1 blk), Austin Betts 10 (2 reb, 1 ast), Nestor Ramirez 4 (6 reb, 3 ast, 6 stl), Adam Jacob 3 (2 reb, 4 ast, 1 stl), Travis Hulsey 2 (10 reb), Kameron Brown 2 (5 reb, 1 blk), Scott Ross 2 (1 reb), Ryan Quinten 2.

LA COSTA CANYON 64, GROSSMONT 51 – Veteran coach FRANK FOGGIANO is not alarmed that his Foothillers have staggered out of the gate at 0-3 in the Eastlake Titan Tip-Off.

“We are going to be fine,” he said. “We took a big step forward against a quality team.”

Senior ROBBY NESOVIC paced visiting Grossmont with 25 points at LCC, landing 14 of 15 free throws. What Foggiano thought was odd is that Nesovic did not draw a single foul in the fourth quarter. None of his points came during the final period.

That and DEREK RUSTICH, who operates in the paint, never shot a single free throw.

“We threw the ball inside to Derek probably 20 times,” Foggiano said. “How do you suppose he never got fouled when they pushed Robby all over the place?”

Despite the loss, Foggiano was pleased that seven Foothillers contributed to the scoring total.

“What I liked is we had more guys involved in the offense,” he said. “We didn’t have all of our guys standing around watching Robby.”

Grossmont: Robby Nesovic 25 (7 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Derek Rustich 8 (11 reb, 1 stl), J.T. Barnes 6 (1 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl), Austin Swisher 5 (2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Bilal Rahim 3 (4 reb), Anthony Lawrence 2 (1 reb), Adam Robinson (3 reb, 1 ast).

© East County Sports.com
CHULA VISTA (12-4-11) — Monte Vista coach JAMES CARROLL admitted this was not a thing of beauty, yet he found the outcome of Saturday’s (Dec. 3) Hilltop Tournament 35-33 victory over San Diego very satisfying.

“This one was really ugly,” said Carroll. “About the only guy who came to play was JAMES JACKSON.”

And Jackson did play, pouring in 18 points, grabbing 10 rebounds, dishing 4 assists and recording a steal as Monte Vista beat San Diego for the second time this week.

In the low-scoring seesaw battle the game came down to the final 10 seconds when Jackson hit a 12 footer from the left elbow.

“ San Diego played in a zone to slow the game down,” said Carroll. “I don’t think we played particularly well but they are a good team and I’m glad we beat them twice.”

None of the Monarchs scored more than four points other than Jackson.

Monte Vista: James Jackson 18 (10 reb, 4 ast, 1 stl), Kylie Luster 4 (5 reb, 3 stl), A.J. Houston 4 (2 reb, 2 stl, 1 blk), Reuben Nwando 4 (2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Devin Rendo 3 (2 reb), D’ondre Coleman 2 (2 reb, 1 ast, 4 stl), Xavier Daniels (2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Jahzdion Taylor (2 reb, 1 ast).

WEST HILLS 82, EC-SOUTHWEST 56 – After an anemic start earlier in the week, the Wolf Pack found its stride in Saturday’s (Dec. 3) second round of the

Wolf Pack–Horsman Automotive Tournament in Santee.

The Pack shot better than 49 percent from the field as it knocked off the Eagles from the Imperial Valley by more than doubling their offensive output in a season-opening loss to Scripps Ranch.

“I think the biggest difference is our kids did a better job of distributing the ball, which is evident by our 19 assists,” said West Hills assistant coach LUCAS ARMSTRONG. “We also shot the ball better from the free throw line (11 for 12).”

West Hills led 50-26 by halftime.

“I think our kids responded well coming off that loss to Scripps Ranch (57-38),” Armstrong noted.

Senior center ALEX PARSONS, who scored only three points in the opener, reared up to lead the Wolf Pack with 20 points, hitting 8 of 13 shots from the field and all four of his free throws.

JERON SATTERFIELD chipped in with a dozen points as did D.J. LEWIS.

To make this a quintella MARTIN PANAYOTOV and JONNY PRESTON pitched in with 10 points apiece.

West Hills: Alex Parsons 20 (6 reb, 3 ast, 4 stl), Jeron Satterfield 12 (7 reb, 4 ast, 5 stl), D.J. Lewis 12 (3 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl), Martin Panayotov 10 (5 reb, 4 ast, 4 stl), Jonny Preston 10 (1 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl), Joey Clark 5 (2 reb, 1 ast), Kevin Straub 4 (2 reb, 1 stl, 1 blk), Kevin McLaughlin 2 (7 reb, 2 ast), Ryan Williams 2 (6 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Nick Findley 3 (2 reb, 2 stl), Will Llamas 2 (2 reb, 2 stl), Eric Fox (2 reb, 1 stl), Justin Sun (1 ast, 1 stl).

ARMY-NAVY 71, FOOTHILLS CHRISTIAN 65 – Senior DALTON MOSSER gave his best TROY LEAF impersonation in Saturday’s (Dec. 3) Eagle Invitational encounter against the Army-Navy Academy at Granite Hills.

In an attempt to carry the Knights on his back, Mosser buried 29 points – more than half coming on five 3-pointers. Overall, the 6-foot-1 guard landed 9 of 18 shots from the floor and netted all six of his free throw attempts.

ANDRE JOHNSON chipped in with one of his best games, scoring 17 points.

Foothills Christian: Dalton Mosser 29 (5 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 2 blk), Andre Johnson 17 (6 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl, 3 blk), Caleb Hoffman 9 (2 reb, 3 ast, 1 blk), Joe Buenrostro 7 (3 reb, 1 ast, 3 stl), Nick Louden 3 (2 reb), A.J. Hoffman (1 reb, 1 stl).

RANCHO BUENA VISTA 74, HELIX 48 – Veteran coach JOHN SINGER is accustomed to fortifying his team following football season.

Some might say that is because Helix is a football school. That is not completely true because the Highlanders’ athletes excel on many fronts.

“One of our best kids (BRIAN VALADEZ) has his hand in a cast, and we will probably get three or four kids out of football,” Singer said. “That should help. Right now, though, we are no better than a decent JV team.”

Ouch!

Helix (1-1) hustled in front of the Longhorns 19-15 in Saturday’s (Dec. 3) second round of the Hilltop Tournament. After that the Highlanders’ offense stalled.

Newcomers KAELAN MITCHELL (15 points, 4 rebs) and ISAAC RANDALL (13 points, 7 rebs) paced Helix in the loss to RBV (1-1).

Helix: Kaelan Mitchell 15 (4 reb, 1 ast), Isaac Randall 13 (7 reb), Titus Young 6 (2 reb, 3 ast), Romario Wilson 5, Michael Todd 4, Malik Pride 3, Derrick Chandler 2.

POWAY 57, GROSSMONT 37 – The host Foothillers (0-2) were out of Saturday’s (Dec. 3) Eastlake Titan Tip-Off Classic against Poway by halftime as the Titans led 39-14.

Grossmont: Robby Nesovic 14 (5 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Derek Rustich 10 (8 reb, 1 stl), Bilal Rahim 4 (4 reb), Adam Robinson 4 (2 reb), Christian Meno 5.

© East County Sports.com
CHULA VISTA (12-3-11) — At this point in the season, it is the same old story for Helix veteran coach JOHN SINGER. He has key players still involved in the San Diego CIF football playoffs.

In Friday’s (Dec. 2) season opener in the Hilltop Tournament in South Bay, junior guard TITUS YOUNG was the pivotal Highlanders performer in Helix’s 42-40 victory over host Hilltop.

Young, who led Helix with 18 points, hit 3 of 4 free throws shots in the final period to put Helix up by 2 points to seal the victory.

“We have to have Titus on the floor,” said Helix assistant coach ANDY MERIDETH. “In this game he was the only player we had out there with any varsity experience.”

Hilltop nailed 7 of 16 shots from three-point distance.

“That’s what kept the game close,” Merideth noted.

Helix missed a dozen point-bank layups. If they had made half of those they would have won by a dozen. It was a raucous home crowd at Hilltop.

Helix: Titus Young 18 (5 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl), Isaac Randall 7 (7 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl, 1 blk), Romario Wilson 7 (5 reb, 1 ast, 3 stl), Kaelan Mitchell 4 (7 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl), Michael Todd 3 (6 reb, 1 ast, 3 stl, 1 blk), Xavier Jones 3 (1 stl), Ernesto Martinez (3 reb), Derrick Chandler (2 ast, 1 stl), Malik Pride (1 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl),

WESTVIEW 54, MONTE VISTA 51 – What started out as a run-and-gun affair led by the Monarchs 23-19 after one period in Friday’s (Dec. 2) Hilltop Tournament game at Hilltop, turned out to be a defensive scramble in the end.

“Westview is considered one of the better teams in the county,” Monte Vista coach JAMES CARROLL said. “Probably the biggest thing about them is they did not turn the ball over.”

Probably the biggest ding against Monte Vista (1-1) is the Monarchs failed to score in the opening five minutes of the third quarter after maintaining a 30-28 halftime edge.

Four Monarchs finished in double scoring figures led by guard K.J. HOUSTON (14 points, 4 assists, 5 rebounds).

Monte Vista: K.J. Houston 14 (5 reb, 4 ast), Jackson 12 (4 reb, 1 ast,1 stl), Reuben Nwando 11 (3 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk), James Kylie Luster 10 (6 reb, 1 blk), D’ondre Coleman (1 ast, 1 reb, 1 stl), Jahzdion Taylor (2 reb), Devin Rendo (1 reb).

BRAWLEY 56, SANTANA 55 – The host Sultans wound up on the wrong side of a rollercoaster ride in Friday’s (Dec. 2) San Diego DIII Challenge encounter.

This was a somewhat bitter defeat as Santana squandered an early 16-2 lead to fall to 1-2.

“Since at present we do not start anyone taller than 5-foot-11, we have to generate everything we get off pressure,” Santana coach TIM BARRY said.

Brawley battled back to take a 12-point lead in the fourth quarter, but Santana hustled in return to tie the game 55-all with 14 seconds remaining.

“We fouled with 9.3 seconds left and Brawley made one free throw to edge in front,” Barry said.

But the coach believed Santana was going to snatch a victory when DANIEL LEVENS-LOWERY drove inside the paint for the final shot.

“He did everything right," Barry said. “He made a spin move, squared up to take the final shot. It was contested, but his shot was on the money just rimmed and came off. What I liked about it is he wanted to be the guy. He wanted that last shot. I just feel sorry for him that it didn’t fall his way.”

Santana: Daniel Levens-Lowery 22 (2 reb, 4 ast, 1 stl), Mike Rosolino 13 (4 reb, 2 stl, 1 ast), A.J. Bratlien 8 (8 reb, 3 stl, 2 ast, 1 blk), Andy Miller 6 (5 reb, 2 stl), David Albright 2 (4 reb), Dustin Murphy 2 (5 reb), Vargas 2 (1 reb, 1 stl).

EL CAPITAN 62, SAN DIEGUITO 38– Known more for his skill as a defensive maestro, NESTOR RAMIREZ scored a career-high 20 points to help lead host El Capitan to its second straight victory in Friday’s (Dec. 2) San Diego DIII Challenge contest.

“We really came together tonight,” El Capitan coach JASON CAVAZOS said. “We know TYSON (KYGAR) can score, but we also know that he needs to involve more of his teammates. He did that in this game. He’s making opponents concentrate on defending him and then dealing the ball to an open teammate.”

Cavazos is elated with his team chemistry.

“We played great defense – made them work for everything they got,” the coach said. “We have a group of guys this year who like to bang bodies.”

One of those is 6-foot-7 senior KAMERON BROWN.

“You won’t see his name up high in the scorebook that much,” Cavazos said. “But he is a shot blocker and attacks the boards.”

No other information was reported.

© East County Sports.com
EL CAJON (12-2-11) — When was the last time the El Cajon Valley Braves began a basketball season 2-0?

A year ago El Cajon Valley finished 2-22.

After two starts this season the Braves are sitting on a 2-0 mark, including Thursday’s (Dec. 1) impressive 41-36 overtime victory over visiting Montgomery.

The Braves outscored the Aztecs 11-6 in overtime. A three-point basket by SANGAR HASAN gave El Cajon Valley a 33-30 lead it wouldn’t lose. Then ANDRE NIKKITA popped in eight of his game-high 20 points to seal the deal.

“This is basically an all new team,” El Cajon Valley coach MARTY ELLIS said. “I’m proud of the way they hung together and played great defense. Good things are going to happen for this group.”

El Cajon Valley: Andre Nikkita 20 (7 reb, 4 ast, 4 stl), Derrick Moore 13 (19 reb, 6 stl, 1 blk), Sangar Hasan 5 (3 reb, 4 stl), Deon Kelly 2 (7 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 2 blk),

Jeremiah Patton 1 (8 reb, 1 stl, 1 blk), Deshe Tibbs (1 reb), John de la Cruz (1 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl).

MORSE 58, GRANITE HILLS 45 – In another oddity, the Granite Hills Eagles scored only 12 points in a single half as they fell to host Morse Thursday (Dec. 1) in an Eagle Invitational encounter.

Trailing 33-12 at intermission, the Eagles clawed back in the second half but could erase the sizable deficit.

Granite Hills: Joey Grubb 16 (2 ast, 2 stl), Scott Atkinson 9 (14 reb, 6 blk), Nate Jeter 9 (7 reb), Stephen Keppel 6 (8 reb), Koltin Higgins 3 (3 reb), Codie Simmons 2 (4 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl).

VISTA 94, FOOTHILLS CHRISTIAN 62 – No report from the Knights on this Eagle Invitational contest.

EL CAPITAN at BRAWLEY – This non-league gam was cancelled.

© East County Sports.com
EL CAJON (12-1-11) — After winning only two of 24 games in his first year as El Cajon Valley coach, MARTY ELLIS has to view Wednesday’s (Nov. 30) season-opening 61-37 triumph over visiting High Tech High-San Diego as a positive omen.

“Basically, we have only one returning player,” said Ellis, a former San Diego CIF Player of the Year.

That player is sophomore BRENDEN BROCUIS, who tossed in 16 points, the majority coming from four 3-pointers.

“At this school it seems like we have players coming and going around the clock,” Ellis said.

Six-foot-4 junior guard DERRICK MOORE turned a double-double of 10 points and 11 rebounds.

ANDRE NIKKITA chipped in with 14 points, 5 assists and 4 steals for the Braves.

“I think this is the first time all of El Cajon Valley’s winter sports teams – boys and girls soccer, boys and girls basketball, and wrestling – all won in same week,” Ellis said proudly. “I’m trying to get the administration to spring for free hotdogs for all of the athletes. I’m here to try to build unity at this school. I think we have some good coaches on board.”

El Cajon Valley: Brenden Brocious 16 (3 reb, 2 stl, 3 ast), Andre Nikkita 14 (6 reb, 4 stl, 5 ast, 1 blk), Derrick Moore 10 (11 reb, 1 blk), Deon Kelly 8 (9 reb, 2 stl, 1 blk), Sangar Hasan 5 (2 reb, 4 ast), Edon Lushi 3 (3 reb, 1 stl), John De la Cruz 2 (4 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl), Jeremiah Patton 1 (8 reb, 1 blk), Deshe Tibbs 1 (1 reb, 1 stl), Mustafa Alrubai 1 (1 reb).

SANTANA 64, MAR VISTA 52 – Injury-riddled Santana found some new offensive sources in Wednesday’s (Nov. 30) San Diego DIII Challenge against visiting Mar Vista.

Senior guard A.J. BRATLIEN registered career highs of 26 points, 11 rebounds and 4 steals as the Sultans evened their season ledger at 1-1.

“Bratlien had a very productive game,” understated Sultans coach TIM BARRY. “He had a great game in the 4th quarter.”

DANIEL LEVENS-LOWERY added 13 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals.

“Levens-Lowery is still having to play out of position – he’s a shooting guard but he’s having to play the point position right now because we don’t have (our normal point guard) CHRISTIAN BARRY, who has a broken hand. Levins-Lowery is doing a tremendous job.

“For people who don’t know the game, it’s hard to know just how hard it to step in at that position.”

Santana: A.J. Bratlien 26 (11 reb, 1 ast, 4 stl), Daniel Levens-Lowery 13 (6 reb, 5 ast, 4 stl), Mike Rosolino 9 (2 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl), David Albright 5 (5 reb, 2 ast, 4 stl), Dustin Murphy 5 (3 reb, 2 stl, Jordan Vargas 4 (4 reb, 1 ast),), Andy Miller 2 (2 reb, 2 ast).

EL CAPITAN 46, KEARNY 44 – The Vaqueros (1-1) led by 20 points one minute into the fourth quarter of Wednesday’s (Nov. 30) San Diego DIII Challenge against visiting Kearny.

The Komets never caught the Vaqs, but missed a last second shot that could have won the game if it was on the mark.

Senior TYSON KYGAR was 6-for-8 from three-point range as he finished with 29 points to pace the Vaqueros. In two games Kygar has produced 46 points.

El Capitan: Tyson Kygar 29 (6 reb, 3 stl), Nestor Ramirez 7 (5 reb, 3 ast, 5 stl), Kameron Brown 6 (2 reb, 1 blk, 1 stl), Austin Betts 3 (2 ast, 4 reb,) Scott Root 1, Travis Hulsey (2 ast, 3 reb, 2 stl), Adam Jacob (1 reb), Scott Ross (1 reb).

MT. CARMEL 56, GRANITE HILLS 55 – Host Granite Hills had a one-point lead and the ball with 15 seconds remaining in Wednesday’s (Nov. 30) Eagle Invitational encounter against the visiting Sundevils.

A turnover five seconds later put Mt. Carmel in position to win. A layup by Austin Steadman with 3.7 seconds remaining gave the Sundevils the winning margin.

The Sundevils sprinted to an 8-0 start, but the Eagles (1-1) caught up by the close of the opening quarter at 10-10.

“We kept our composure and came right back,” Granite Hills coach RANDY ANDERSON said. “But 20 turnovers killed us. We missed a lot of good looks that didn’t help, either.”

Six-foot-9 senior post SCOTT ATKINSON turned in a powerful performance for Granite Hills. He was 8-for-8 from the floor (including one 3), and 7-for-9 from the free throw line for 24 points. He crashed the boards to corral 15 rebounds and blocked 7 shots.

“The guys did a good job of getting Scott the ball,” Anderson said.

Granite Hills: Scott Atkinson 24 (15 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl, 7 blk), Joey Grubb 13 (3 reb, 5 ast, 4 stl), Stephen Keppel 9 (5 reb, 1 blk), Koltin Higgins 5 (1 reb, 1 ast), Codie Simmons 2 (2 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl), D.J. Palomera 2 (2 ast, 1 stl).

EASTLAKE 67, GROSSMONT 64 – Versatile 6-foot-5 senior ROBBY NESOVIC and 6-4 junior DEREK RUSTICH muscled in 45 points and gathered 30 rebounds between them but it wasn’t enough to hold off visiting Eastlake in Wednesday’s (Nov. 30) Titan Tip-Off.

Nesovic, also a blue chip pitcher, totaled 24 points and 12 rebounds, while Rustich rustled up 21 points and 18 rebounds.

After building a 48-41 advantage through three quarters, the Foothillers let this one slip away when they were outscored 26-16 over the final eight minutes.

“We were 18 of 34 from the free throw line,” Grossmont coach FRANK FOGGIANO said. “We had a little difficulty there. In the 4th quarter we shot 18 free throws and missed 8.”

Grossmont: Robby Nesovic 24 (12 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl), Derek Rustich 21 (18 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl), J.T. Barnes 8 (2 eb, 3 ast, 1 stl), Christian Meno 6 (1 reb), Bilal Rahim 5 (2 reb), Ryan Green 2 (2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Adam Robinson (2 reb), Anthony Lawrence (2 reb), Austin Swisher (1 reb).

FOOTHILLS CHRISTIAN 52, CLAIREMONT 46 – There was not a whole lot of difference in the Foothills Christian mode of offense in Wednesday’s (Nov. 30) Eagle Invitational at Clairemont.

The three-point shot continues to reign supreme, as the Knights knocked down 8 of 24 in a come-from-behind victory over the Chieftains (0-2).

DALTON MOSSER poured in 22 points – including a pair of threes and 6-for-8 free throw shooting to pace the Knights.

Foothills lost the services of 6-foot-6 JAMAL AYTES, who transferred to Junipero Serra in San Juan Capistrano for his senior year.

Foothills Christian: Dalton Mosser 22 (5 reb, 4 blk, 1 ast), Andre Johnson 11 (7 reb, 1 blk, 2 stl, 4 ast), Joe Buenrostro 9 (5 reb, 2 ast), Caleb Hoffman 5 (9 reb, 1 blk, 1 stl, 2 ast), Nick Louden 3 (1 reb, 1 ast), Austin Mostrong 2 (1 reb).

SCRIPPS RANCH 57, WEST HILLS 38 – After a 9-2 start in Wednesday’s (Nov. 30) season opener of the Wolf Pack–Horsman Automotive Tournament, West Hills offense stalled, helping the visiting Falcons prevail.

MARTIN PANAYOTOW hit a pair of threes for the Wolf Pack.

West Hills: D.J. Lewis 8 (1 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Joey Clark 7 (1 reb), Martin Panayotov 6 (1 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl), Jeron Satterfield 6 (5 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Nick Findley 4 (1 ast), Alex Parsons 3 (4 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl, 1 blk), Jonny Preston 2 (1 reb, 1 ast), Ryan Williams 2 (2 reb), Kevin Straub (1 ast, 1 stl), Kevin McLaughlin (1 reb), Justin Sun (1 stl).

© East County Sports.com
SAN DIEGO (11-30-11) — Make no mistake about it, the Monte Vista Monarchs will be an East County powerhouse this season.

The veteran Monarchs proved that by beating San Diego in Tuesday’s (Nov. 29) non-league encounter by clubbing the Cavers 57- 46 in their own den.

Monte Vista led by 18 points early in the fourth quarter, but allowed the Cavers to close the gap.

“They have a lot of size – a guy 6-9 and a guy 6-6,” Monarchs coach JAMES CARROLL said. “I have to give credit to KYLIE LUSTER (6-6, 230) for limiting their 6-9 guy. Kylie also got 6 points in the 4th quarter to help us maintain our double digit lead.”

Point guard K.J. HOUSTON hit 6 of 9 shots from the field including 3 of 4 from 3-point distance as he finished with a team-best 16 points.

Big individual scoring nights are probably not going to happen with this Monte Vista crew, which has more depth than any team in East County. Just the same it’s hard to overlook a game like JAMES JACKSON produced, which included 8 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 steals and 3 blocks.

“When you know you have a veteran team like we do you’re always anxious to get started,” Carroll said. “You want to see how you measure up against some of the better teams, and San Diego is one of the better teams.”

Monte Vista begins play in the Hilltop Tournament against a Westview crew that returns all five starters from a year ago.

“That’ll be a good test for us,” Carroll noted.

Monte Vista: K.J. Houston 16 (3 reb, 3 ast, 3 stl, 1 blk), Ruben Nwando 10 (2 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl, 2 blk), D’ondre Coleman 9 (2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk), James Jackson 8 (9 reb, 8 ast, 3 stl, 3 blk), Kylie Luster 8 (7 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl), Devin Rendo 4 (1 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk), Joseph Lee 2, Xavier Daniels (1 reb, 2 stl), Jahzdion Taylor (2 reb).

GRANITE HILLS 62, CLAIREMONT 21 – Ten Eagles contributed to the scoring as Granite Hills opened the season by blowing out visiting Clairemont in the

Eagle Invitational on Tuesday (Nov. 29).

Junior JOEY GRUBB set the pace with 14 points on 6 of 11 shooting from the floor. He also made 7 steals and dished 4 assists.

“Joey’s such a hard worker,” Granite Hills coach RANDY ANDERSON said of the 5-foot-10 guard. “He’s probably the hardest worker on our team.”

Senior NATE JETER pulled a double-double of 10 points on 5 of 12 shooting to go along with a dozen rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals.

“I was pleased with our defensive intensity,” Anderson said of the Eagles, who limited the Chieftains to 11 points through three quarters.

Granite Hills was 7 for 23 from 3-point range and 27 of 57 in its overall shooting.

“We were getting a lot of perimeter shots,” noted Anderson. “We probably could have made more than we did but I think we have a more well-rounded team than we have had in the past.”

Granite Hills: Joey Grubb 14 (4 ast, 7 stl), Nate Jeter 10 (12 reb, 6 ast, 4 stl), Stephen Keppel 8 (6 reb, 3 blk), Danny Densel 8, Codie Simmons 5 (4 reb, 4 ast, 4 stl), Koltin Higgins 5 (4 reb), D.J. Palomera 4 (5 ast, 3 stl), Wes Wehrman 3, Danny Smith 3, Scott Atkinson 2 (9 reb, 4 blk),, Alonzo Beepath (2 reb).

CRAWFORD 55, SANTANA 53 – MIKE ROSOLINO scored a career-high 21 points for host Santana in Tuesday’s (Nov. 29) San Diego DIII Challenge opener in Santee.

“We fought all night ­– it was a beautiful effort,” said Santana coach TIM BARRY. “We just could not get that sucker tied after they took the lead at the end of the half (32-28). We did pull within one or two, and had three good looks at the basket but could not tie it up. We had the last possession and DANIEL LEVINS-LOWERY took a 6- to 8-footer – put up a good shot but it just didn’t fall in.”

Take note that Santana’s best basketball player – ­ LANDON LOZOYA – is involved in the San Diego CIF Division IV football playoffs. To make matters worse the Sultans lost 6-foot-9 RYAN BICKFORD, who returned home to Washington where he plans to play his senior season.

The Sultans woes continue with the loss JON CORBISEZ.

“I don’t think we start a kid who is taller than six feet and we were down four starters. Jon Corbisez had a bone replaced in his elbow in July. He’s going through rehab but it’s not healing as fast as we’d hoped.”

But Barry, who was recently named the Santana varsity baseball coach, is a positive guy.

“I could not have been more pleased with our effort tonight.”

Santana: Mike Rosolino 21 (4 reb, 2 stl), Daniel Levins-Lowery 17 (9 reb, 5 ast), A.J. Bratlien 10 (13 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Jordan Vargas 3 (4 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), David Albright 2 (2 reb), Dustin Murphy (3 ast, 1 stl), Andy Miller (1 ast, 4 stl).

SD-SOUTHWEST 60, EL CAPITAN 58 – It was a tough opening night for the El Capitan Vaqueros in Tuesday’s (Nov. 29) San Diego DIII Challenge opener at San Diego Southwest.

“We were up by 3 points and their best player hit a 3-point shot with one minute left to play,” Vaqueros coach JASON CAVAZOS said. “They fouled my big man and he missed both of his free throws. They went up by two and we had a chance to tie it and missed the shot.”

Alex Villegas poured in 41 points to pace the Raiders. He netted a pair of threes and was 13-for-16 from the free throw line.

“We knew him because we played them in the summer but we didn’t know how to stop him,” Cavazos said.

TYSON KYGAR, who paced the Vaqueros with 17 points and 8 rebounds, was in foul trouble the whole game.

“We missed a lot of easy baskets – probably more than 20 layups,” Cavazos said.

El Capitan: Tyson Kygar 17 (8 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl), Austin Betts 13 (3 reb, 3 ast), Kameron Brown 11 (5 reb, 1 blk), Nestor Ramirez 10 (5 reb, 3 ast, 1 blk, 4 stl), Justin Phoenix 3, Travis Hulsey 2 (13 reb), Adam Jacob 2, Scott Ross (1 reb, 1 stl), Scott Root (1 reb).