Behind Bright, Washington state school bursts into national spotlight with championship of nationally-acclaimed MaxPreps Holiday Classic; Complete results below.
19th Annual MaxPreps Holiday Classic at Torrey Pines
When: Friday Dec. 26 to Tuesday Dec. 30
What: National boys basketball tournament
Where: Five different sites in San Diego County
Size: 77 teams, five divisions
Division I commits: 30
Video of tournament: Click here.
Division champions: Bellevue-Wash. (National), Long Beach Poly (American), Folsom (Senator), Maranatha (Governor), Chaparral (Mayor)
Previous stories: Tournament Preview, Friday, Saturday, Jeremy Tyler/ feature/tournament notes, Monday.
Below: Full Tuesday results, box scores, All-Tournament teams.
Note: All schools from California unless noted.
By Mitch Stephens
MaxPreps.com
SAN DIEGO, Calif. – Just as surmised, the most coveted prize of the 2008 MaxPreps Holiday Classic at Torrey Pines was scooped up and flown away by a talented, disciplined and well-coached squad from out of state.
Turns out the National Division championship trophy is headed to Bellevue, Wash., not Jersey City, N.J.
Lightly-regarded Bellevue, sort of a basketball afterthought in the Evergreen State, joined the ranks of national non-California juggernauts St. Anthony (N.J.) and Oak Hill Academy (Va.) to capture the 19th annual event with a 58-54 victory over another upstart, Eisenhower (Rialto) in Tuesday’s finals at Torrey Pines High.
Fueled and personafied by junior point guard and National Division MVP Aaron Bright, the un-nationally-ranked Wolverines (9-1) displayed all the skills, balance and versatility it had shown in the previous three games.
But what turned out to be the difference in this one was that Bellevue dug deep and showed a true tough quality to knock off an equally gritty and well-coached Eisenhower squad.
In a finely-played, nip-and-tuck affair where neither team led by more than six points, Bellevue fought back from a 54-49 lead with 3 minutes, 10 seconds to play propelled by the 5-11 Bright, who drilled a 3-pointer, sunk two free throws, made two steals and forced a key miss all in the final sequence.
Bright finished with a game-high 18 points and had loads of support, especially from 6-5 wing Alex Schrempf (15 points, eight rebounds) and 6-7 all-tournament selection Colton Christian (13 points, 11 rebounds, three blocks).
After Bright’s 3-pointer, Christian fed Matt Olson and Schrempf for layups to give Bellevue a 56-54 lead with 1:13 left. Bright then helped seal it with 8.4 seconds left with two free throws.
Eisenhower, which had averaged more than 10 3-pointers a game in the tournament, didn’t have anyone score in double figures and it didn’t score in the final 3:10. The Eagles, without a player taller than 6-4, eventually seemed to wilt against Bellevue’s size and physicality.
“I think what I’m most proud of is how we fought back and dug in,” Bellevue coach Chris O’Connor said. “One of the three keys I wrote before the game is that we had to be tougher down the stretch. I think we were.”
Bright did most of the defensive work on Creighton-bound guard Andrew Bock, who had largely carried the Eagles throughout the tournament with 74 points in three games. Bright held him to just nine points on Tuesday, on 4-of-15 from the field, only one beyond the 3-point arc.
Bock had made 12 tournament 3-pointers before Tuesday. .
“Besides everything else Aaron does for us, he wants to cover our opponent’s best guard as well,” O’Connor said. “The kid just has guts.”
Said Bright: “This was a gut-check win. It feels so great because there are so many great teams down here and we beat a great team to win it.”
Though the Wolverines controlled Eisenhower’s 3-point game, the Eagles scrapped and fought to seemingly take control at the end of the third quarter. Bock hit his only 3-pointer, Kirby Gardner and Nazareth Richards each made two free throws and Devin Garner added a putback for an 8-0 run.
When Bock made a tough driving jumper, the Eagles led 43-37 heading into the final quarter and the game appeared to be theirs. They had outscored Bellevue 21-11 in the quarter.
“Our confidence was there but down the stretch we simply didn’t execute and they did,” Eisenhower coach Steven Johnson said. “It was a good tournament for us. A real good tournament. But we didn’t come here to finish second. We wanted to win it all and right now the guys are very disappointed.”
The Wolverines, who went a disappointing 19-8 last year, were at the other end of the emotional spectrum. Calm and poised throughout the five-day event, they celebrated openly with hugs, flailed fists and shouts.
“This is huge for us,” said Schrempf, son of former NBA standout Detlef Schrempf, who was in the stands along with about 40 or more Bellevue fans/family members. “This should be a stepping stone and a confidence booster when we go back to Washington.”
Said Bright: “As great as this is we can’t be satisfied. This will hopefully just carry over so we’ll be totally prepared for February.”
Bellevue, ranked third (3A) in its state, is the first Washington team to even make the tournament finals.
When the National Division was first drawn up, defending national champion St. Anthony (New Jersey, N.J.) was the natural favorite but it began the tournament with the worst defeat in legendary coach Bob Hurley’s 35-year career, a 69-40 defeat to Bishop O’Dowd (Oakland).
St.. Anthony responded with three straight wins to win the consolation crown, but the Wolverines claimed the very biggest prize, one the Friars had claimed six times before.
“It all came down to trust,” Bright said. “We got down at times in the game but we trusted each other to make plays when we needed to most. That’s just what we did.”
See box score.
THIRD PLACE
BISHOP O’DOWD (Oakland) 51, SAN DIEGO 31: Playing four games in five nights can produce duds such as this one. The Dragons (8-3) came to play and got contributions all around including 12 points each from Nick Capiti and Justin Brue.
San Diego still looked stung from a humbling semifinal loss to Eisenhower, plus 6-10 post Jeremy Tyler, one of the nation’s top juniors, was hurting from a right shin injury. He had just 14 points, well off his three previous games of 41, 41 and 34. Nobody else scored more than four for the Cavers (5-3)
Tyler lost his cool at one point and was accessed a technical foul late in the third quarter. He went to the bench and never returned.
“We saw how Eisenhower defended him and tried to do the same,” O’Dowd coach Doug Vierra. “I thought we did a real good job on him, cut down on our turnovers and played very well. I’m very pleased.”
The Dragons, an annual visitor over the last two decades, recorded its second-best finish ever going 3-1 and taking third in the tournament's largest and toughest division.
“This is big because it proves we can play with any one on any given night,” Brue said. “Plus we got over our 2-2 jinx. Seems like we go 2-2 every year hear and this will hopefully get us over the hump.”
Box score.
FIFTH PLACE
ROCKLIN 77, WINDWARD (Los Angeles) 66 : In a battle of 6-10 centers and future UCLA Bruins, Rocklin’s Brendan Lane (25 points, 12 rebounds) by far got the upper hand over Anthony Stover (eight points, 11 rebounds, three blocks).
In the most telling sequence, Lane buried a 3-pointer from the wing in the third quarter. On the team’s next possession, Lane had another open three-point from the same spot, but when Stover came out to block it, Lane drove right past and sent down a big tomahawk dunk..
“He’s got that much versatility on offense,” Rocklin coach Steve Tyler said. “That was very impressive.”
As were the Thunder, who won three of four games in the tournament including a Windward team ranked No. 1 in the state (Division IV). Rocklin (11-2) also got 19 points by Pat Stover and 17 from Tony Williams. Jacob Rubin led Windward (9-4) with 14 points but Michigan-bound standout Darius Morris was limited to nine points. Box score.
CONSOLATION TROPHY
ST. ANTHONY 54, BELLARMINE PREP (Tacoma, Wash.) 41: After a very rocky start, the Friars (6-1) responded with their third straight win as Villanova-bound Dominic Cheek and Bellarmine’s talented point guard Abdul Gaddy each scored 20 points. Both players are considered on among the top 20 seniors in the country. St. Anthony outscored Bellarmine 32-17 in the second and fourth quarters. Box score.
More National Division scores
Newark Memorial 59, West Valley 48. Box score.
Bellarmine (San Jose) 66, Santa Rita (Tucson, Ariz.) 41. Box score.
Chrisman (Mo.) 75, Reno (Nev.) 58. Box score.
Pasadena 56, Foothills Christian (El Cajon) 50. Box score.
National All-Tournament Team
MVP Aaron Bright (Bellevue), Colton Christian (Bellevue), Andrew Bock (Eisenhower), Justin Brue (Bishop O’Dowd), Jeremy Tyler (San Diego), Dominic Cheek (St. Anthony), Abdul Gaddy (Bellarmine Prep, Wash.), Darius Morris (Windward), Brendan Lane (Rocklin), Ifanyi Ezefor (Newark Memorial), Joe Burton (West Valley), Niyi Harrison (Bellarmine, San Jose), Terrell Stoglin (Santa Rita).
AMERICAN DIVISION AT CATHEDRAL CATHOLIC
CHAMPIONSHIP
LONG BEACH POLY 73, MAYFAIR (Lakewood) 53: Who needs practice? Who needs conditioning? Evidently Julian Camper doesn’t.
The Poly 6-5, 265-pound senior forward, just out from the school’s nationally-ranked football team, was named American Division MVP after scoring 12 points and grabbing seven rebounds in the team’s championship-game victory at Torrey Pines.
Camper, the team’s leading scorer and rebounder a year ago, was also Poly’s starting tight end and managed just three practices following the team’s CIF State Open Division Bowl loss to Grant (Sacramento).
As disappointing as the loss was – “we cried for about a day,” he said – it was a great relief and distraction to jump into hoops.
He led a balanced scoring attack on Tuesday as Shelton Boykins (12 points), Michael Mayes (11) and Ronald Nezey (10) also scored in double figures. Poly improved to 10-2.
Mayfair (8-4), which never led, got 12 points apiece from Brenton Owens and Tim Douglas and 11 by Kyle Richardson.
“It feels great to be back and feels great that my teammates trust me like they do,” Camper said. “We got some young guys on the team and they’re going to look to me to help lead the way.”
Camper said he’s about 15 pounds over his normal basketball weight. “In football you just eat and lift, eat and lift,” he said. “It was a little tough getting up and down the court, but I got comfortable pretty quick.”
That’s an understatement. He scored 14, 14, 13 and 12 in four straight victories at the tournament and made 23 of 33 shots and 7 of 9 free throws.
“(Camper) sets the tone in everything we do,” Poly coach Sharrief Metoyer said. “With him back we are that much deeper and were pretty much complete.”
Metoyer relies heavily on all his troops and the Jackrabbits seem to have a good time on the court, sharing good-natured barbs with teammates and foes alike. With a good mix of youth (three sophomores) and experience (five juniors and eight seniors), and guards and bigs, Metoyer believes sky is the limit with this group.
Camper and Boykins, a 6-5 junior, leads a balanced scoring attack with 13.5 scoring averages, followed by 6-3 sophomore Alex Carmon (10.3) and 6-1 senior guard Michael Mayes (10.2).
“We’re going to try to take home a CIF championship,” he said. “We think we can compete with the big boys.”
Box score..
THIRD PLACE
TESORO (Rancho Santa Margarita) 69, BINGHAM (South Jordan, Utah) 57: Brett Gudim had 22 points, Cody Wittick 17 and Chris Manresa 12 as Tesoro (12-2) opened up with an 18-9 advantage in the first quarter and never gave up the lead. Shad Sammerville had 17 and Ben Clifford and Remington Peck added 11 apiece for Bingham. Both teams made eight 3-pointers, five coming from Wittick. Box score.
CONSOLATION TROPHY
LEUZINGER (Lawndale) 72, LONG BEACH JORDAN 70: It was a classic battle of balance versus one hot shooter as the versatile attack of Leuzinger (10-3) held off Jordan and Will Ervin, who erupted for 29 points. Jerry Evans had 15 points and Delon Wright, Aqeel Quinn and Julian Wheel all had 14 for Leuzinger, which outscored Jordan 28-13 in the second quarter but then was outscored 26-17 in the fourth. Jordan dropped to 8-3. Box score.
MORE AMERICAN CONSOLATION SCORES
College Park (Woodlands, Texas) 65, St. George’s (Canada) 47 Box score.
Roosevelt (Seattle, Wash.) 46, Xavarian (Brooklyn, N.Y.) 44 Box score.
Cleveland (Los Angeles) 72, Van Nuys 49 Box score.
College Park (Texas) 75, Simi Valley 58 Box score.
Don Bosco Prep (Ramsey, N.J.) 69, Ironwood Ridge (Ariz.) 51 Box score.
American All-Finals Team
MVP Julian Camper (Long Beach Poly)
Michael Mayes (Long Beach Poly)
Tim Douglas (Mayfair)
GOVERNER’S CUP DIVISION AT RANCHO BERNARDO
CHAMPIONSHIP
MARANATHA CHRISTIAN (San Diego) 54, APPLE VALLEY 47: Division MVP Chen Cai, a dominating 6-7, 250-pound sophomore, scored 30 points and grabbed 15 rebounds leading Maranatha Christian (10-3) to victory. He scored 107 points in four victories. Santiago Simental had 11 points and six assists for the winners, while Kimani Lane had 22 points and Keauyon Fields added 10 for Apple Valley (11-3), which was outscored 14-2 at the foul line. All-tournament selection Absolom Smith was held to seven points. Box score.
THIRD PLACE
RANCHO BERNARDO (San Diego) 67, LINCOLN (San Diego): Connor McClelland had 29 points and Rancho Bernardo (11-3) outscored Lincoln 36-22 in the second half to win going away. Rasean Simpson had 15 and Javonte Byrd 11 for Lincoln (10-4). Box score.
CONSOLATION TROPHY
PONDEROSA 59, SAN BERNARDINO 35: For the second straight game, Steve Lackey had a big game with 19 points but this time he got a lot of offensive help, this time from Brad Waldow (17 points) as Ponderosa (10-2) won the consolation title. Devonte Chattman had 13 points for San Bernardino which had just 21 points through three quarters. . Box score.
MORE GOVERNOR CONSOLATION SCORES
Peninsula 65, Villa Park 39. Box score.
Bishop Alemany (Mission Hills) 60, San Marcos 50. Box score.
Spanish Springs 71, Hercules 58. Box score.
Van Nuys 57, Huntington Park 55. Box score.
Brea Olinda (Brea) 70, St. John Bosco (Bellflower) 52. Box score.
Governor All-Finals team
MVP Chen Cai (Marantha)
Davis Porter (Maranatha)
Absolom Smith (Apple Valley)
SENATOR’S CUP DIVISION AT LA COSTA CANYON
CHAMPIONSHIP
FOLSOM 78, LIBERTY (Henderson, Nev.) 57: Division MVP Tony Johnson, a 5-11 senior guard, exploded for 29 points, Patrick Akins, a 6-2 senior, had 16 and all-tournament selection Kori Babineaux, a 6-3 sophomore, contributed 14 as Folsom (12-1) rolled to convincing championship victory. Coach Mike Wall's squad went on a 23-9 run in the third quarter to record its fourth straight double-digit margin victory. Kenneth Peters had 18 points, Cameron Peters 16 and Thomas Lauguigo 10 for Liberty Chrisitan (7-2). Box score.
THIRD PLACE
EL TORO (Lake Forest) 67, MESA (Ariz.) 58. After a turtle slow start, this one finished with a bang as each scored 25 in the fourth quarter. Donavon Jackson had 22 points, KC Bierlich 12 and Andy Nakase 11 for El Toro (11-4), which made 15 of 16 free throws, mostly in the fourth quarter. Donte Medder had 30 points for Mesa (8-6), which also got 11 points from Mohamad Sobh. El Toro trailed 8-4 at the end of one quarter. Box score.
CONSOLATION
PACIFIC HILLS (Los Angeles) 68, RESEDA 66. Pacific Hills used a 20-11 third-quarter run and 23 points from Derick Flowers to pull out the win. Alex Osbourne had 20 and Femi Kannike 16 for Pacific Hills (10-4). Five Reseda players score in double figures led by Rasheem Harris (20). Ryan Watkins (13), Darius Moore (12), Andrew Fowler (10) and Randall Harris (10) all had big games for Reseda (10-6). Box score.
MORE SENATOR CONSOLATION SCORES
Catalalina Foothills 54, Mission Prep 39. Box score.
Cienga (Vail, Ariz.) 58, Brmingham (Lake Balboa) 56. Box score.
Arroyo Valley (San Bernardino) 76, La Verne Lutheran 66. Box score.
James Logan 74, Bakersfield Christian 59. Box score.
La Costa Canyon 51, Carlsbad 38. Box score.
Senator All-Finals team
MVP Tony Johnson (Folsom)
Kori Babineaux (Folsom)
Kenneth Peters (Liberty)
MAJOR’S CUP DIVISION AT WESTVIEW (Unless noted)
CHAMPIONSHIP
CHAPARRAL (Temecula) 64, TORREY PINES (San Diego) 58: When you face a squad as talented, well-coached and balanced as Chaparral, you better be on your ‘A’ game.
Torrey Pines coach John Olive had no major complaints following his team’s tight championship game home loss in the Major’s division. Well, except one
“We made 8 of 22 free throws,” Olive said shaking his head. “We can analyze it all and break things down but frankly, that’s a huge part of why we lost.”
Olive, of course, acknowledged the stellar play from Chaparral’s Mitchel Anderson, a 6-3 senior guard, who scored a game-high 18 points and was voted Division MVP.
The Pumas (12-2) also got strong play from point guard Darren May (18 points) and Jordan Hinzman (12 points).
But the Falcons’ free throw woes was curious considering they are such a good shooting team, as proven by their 10 3-pointers, two in the final seconds by freshman standout Joe Rahon (14 points), who made three overall.
All-tournament pick Trevor Newquist (15 points) and Nick Kerr (11 points) also had three 3-pointers for the winners and Colin Parker played a strong interior game with 14 points.
But, like Torrey Pines, Chaparral also drilled 10 3-pointers, three each from May and Anderson, and two each by Hinzman and Greg Leslie. Like the Falcons, the Pumas struggled from the line, especially late, hitting just 12 of 24.
But they definitely picked up defensive intensity to start the second half as Torrey Pines (11-2) didn’t have a field goal for the first 6:30 of the third quarter, when it was outscored 18-7.
“We really didn’t do much differently,” Chaparral coach Ed Coyle said. “We were down a couple at halftime but I thought we were playing well enough. We just didn’t get a lot of breaks. I just told them to keep playing hard and it would work out.”
The Pumas prevailed despite a quiet game from 6-5 guard and all-tournament selection Xavier Johnson, considered one of the top freshmen in the state, if not the country. Johnson, who is projected to grow to 6-9, had just six points after scoring a combined 41 the three previous games.
“He’s a very special, special player,” Coyle said. “Probably the best I’ve coached at this stage in my 30-some years.”
Torrey Pines has its own special freshman in Rahon, who according to Olive is slightly ahead of his older brother James Rahon, now at Santa Clara University. The elder Rahon has definitely helped Joe progress.
“They are very close and obviously work out together,” Olive said. “Joe is ahead in just an overall feel for the game and he’s more confident.”
He showed that by drilling consecutive 3-pointers with 18.7 and 12.2 seconds to go to cut the lead to 63-58. But a free throw by Anderson all but sealed it.
“We didn’t do anything special the second half we just got it done,” Anderson said. “We knew they were dangerous with all their shooters. But we have some pretty good shooters also.”
Box score.
THIRD PLACE
PALM DESERT 61, CATHEDRAL CATHOLIC (San Diego) 53: Palm Desert (8-5) fought back from deficits of 20-14 and 32-27 by outscoring Cathedral 34-21 in the second half behind Alex Anderson, who scored a game-high 30 points. Matt Moynihan had 14 for Cathedral (6-6) and teammates Nick Madeen adn Andres Aldrete combined for 18. Box score.
CONSOLATION TITLE
VISTA DEL LAGO (Folsom) 65, LAKESIDE (Lake Elsinor) 49. Down 47-46 heading into the final quarter, Vista del Lago went on a remarkable 19-2 run to win going away. Hayden Lescault had 21 points, Demarcus Wishom 18 and Marques White 14 for the winners (10-5). Nate Wimberly had 18 to pace Lakeside. Box score.
MORE MAJOR CONSOLATION SCORES
Apple Valley 57, St. Joseph 48. Box score.
Francis Parker 57, Westview 50. Box score.
Temecula Valley 62, La Jolla 52. Box score.
Rancho Buena Vista 66, Otay Ranch 61. Box score.
J. Serra 72, Bingham (2) 62. Box score.
Major All-Finals team
MVP Mitch Anderson (Chaparral)
Xavier Johnson (Chaparral)
Trevor Newquist (Torrey Pines)
ONE MORE SCORE
TORREY PINES JV 58, BINGHAM (3) 55: Jesse Neugarten had 23 points and Blake Hanson drilled three 3-pointers in the first quarter and finished with 14 as Torrey Pines used a 21-point fourth quarter to roll to victory. Neugarter scored 10 of his points in the fourth quarter as Ray Xu had six of his 10 in the run.
E-mail Mitch Stephens at mstephens@maxpreps.com
