Bishop Gorman's Shabazz Muhammad poured in 41 points as the Gaels beat Whitney Young 69-50.
Photo by Louis Lopez
SANTA ANA, Calif. – With local favorite UCLA in the mix for his services,
Shabazz Muhammad's appearance in the Nike Extravaganza was as highly-anticipated as any at the event since Kevin Love took the floor against host Mater Dei in 2007.
The nation's top-ranked senior prospect didn't disappoint, pouring in an efficient 41 points as national No. 12
Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas) dominated
Whitney Young (Chicago) 69-50 in the finale of the two-day, 14-game event at the Meruelo Athletic Center.
"Everything was on today so I just showed my full arsenal and it came out to good production," Muhammad said.
No. 1 in the MaxPreps Class of 2012 Top 100, the 6-foot-6 wing hit on all six 3-point attempts and 13 of 20 field goal attempts overall. He had 15 at the end of the first quarter and 21 of Bishop Gorman's 31 points at halftime. Fifty didn't seem out of the question until the Gaels (20-4) built a substantial lead late in the third quarter.
"There's a lot of fans paying money, you want to come out and have a good show," Muhammad said. "I try to do that all the time. It was a good show for us. It was an all-out team effort."
Following the game, a frenzied media contingent pinned Muhammad down for an update on his recruitment. He rattled off Kentucky, Duke, UCLA, Arizona, Kansas and UNLV as the primary players.
"Those are my main ones right now," he said.
Whitney Young (12-8), playing without injured frontline standouts Tommy Hamilton (6-9) and
Paul White (6-8), stayed within striking distance for the first 20 minutes.
Jahlil Okafor, a 6-10 sophomore, was largely responsible for that by fighting through and going over defenders for tough buckets. Okafor finished with a team-high 17 points.
Back-to-back dunks by UNLV-signee
Demetris Morant and
Rosco Allen (Stanford) gave Bishop Gorman a 12-point cushion midway through the third quarter. The sequence proved to be demoralizing for Young as the lead continued to grow, ballooning to 21 points by the end of the quarter.
No. 7 Mater Dei (Santa Ana), 71, La Verne Lutheran 66Xavier Johnson
Photo by Louis Lopez
Trailing 49-47 early in the fourth quarter, Mater Dei rattled off a 12-3 run to put away La Verne Lutheran and extend its Nike Extravaganza win streak to five games.
It was Mater Dei's fourth game in eight days and second in as many nights as part of the Extravaganza.
"We had a tired group of guys. We played really well through it today," Mater Dei head coach Gary McKnight said. "I don't think we were the sharpest we have been but I don't think it was because of effort."
The Monarchs (22-2) received a monster performance from Colorado-bound senior
Xavier Johnson, who finished with 19 points and 15 rebounds. He also teamed with sophomore
Stanley Johnson – no relation – to help limit Arizona-bound Lutheran star
Grant Jerrett to just seven points.
Katin Reinhardt added 17 points for Mater Dei.
Eli Stalzer (11) and Stanley Johnson (10) also finished in double figures.
Junior guard
Eric Cooper – another Arizona commitment – finished with a game-high 21 points for La Verne Lutheran (18-6). Sophomore
Brian Beard Jr. had nine points and nine assists.
Mater Dei hasn't lost at the Nike Extravaganza since 2007, when Love carried
Lake Oswego (Ore.) to a 61-52 victory over the Taylor King-led Monarchs.
No. 20 Long Beach Poly 67, Orange Lutheran 45Foul trouble limited Long Beach Poly's
Roschon Prince to just seven minutes of action and five points in the first half, but the junior star made up for it in the second to finish with 25 points, nine rebounds, three assists and two steals.
"He gives other guys confidence when he is on the court," Long Beach Poly head coach Sharrief Metoyer said of Prince. "He frees up the other guys and then he does what he does."
Despite Prince's early struggles, the Jackrabbits still led 22-17 at halftime. Orange Lutheran hit just three field goals in the first 16 minutes of play and shot 25.6 percent (10 of 39) for the game.
Junior guard
Reuben Strickland added 21 points and six rebounds for Poly (21-1).
Arizona signee
Gabe York paced Orange Lutheran (14-10) with 23 points, but made just 5 of 19 field goal attempts and had five turnovers.
Darien Williams also finished in double figures for the Lancers with 11 points to go along with seven rebounds.
Taft (Woodland Hills) 73, Loyola (Los Angeles) 57
Taft (21-3) pulled away in the second half of a showdown between state title hopefuls for its 11th win in a row, leading by as many as 25 late in the fourth quarter.
Anthony January, a 6-7 senior post who recently decommitted from Texas-El Paso, led the Toreadors with 26 points and 14 rebounds. Junior guard
Kris Yanku contributed 11 points and five assists.
The Toreadors connected on 16 of 27 field goal attempts in the second half (59.3 percent).
Jacob Hazzard was high man for Loyola, drilling five 3-pointers en route to 19 points.
MORE SATURDAY SCORESWestchester (Los Angeles) 45,
Capistrano Valley (Mission Viejo) 42
Fairfax (Los Angeles) 73,
Eisenhower (Rialto) 67
Ocean View (Huntington Beach) 92,
Mission Viejo 80
JSerra Catholic (San Juan Capistrano) 76,
Colony (Ontario) 73 (OT)
Los Alamitos 56,
Upland 50
AROUND THE GYMMater Dei senior guard
Eli Stalzer provided halftime entertainment for the Eisenhower-Fairfax game, showing high-major skills on the piano. ... UNLV legend Jerry Tarkanian was among the notables in attendance. He was honored at halftime of the Bishop Gorman-Whitney Young game and received a warm ovation from the crowd at Mater Dei. ... Fresh off a big road win at Stanford on Saturday, Arizona's Sean Miller was among the contingent of current college coaches in the building. ... 7-footer
Conor Clifford turned in arguably the most impressive performance during the morning session, piling up 26 points and 13 rebounds in Ocean View's win over Mission Viejo.