Day 2 at MP Holiday Classic: Was the Poly-Wenonah game best ever?

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. — For all those who stuck around of what looked to be a thorough and complete victory for Wenonah (Birmingham, Ala.) and Alabama basketball, would concur this was a triumph for high school basketball.

Many who have been around to see them, might also concur that Long Beach Poly's 90-89 double-overtime victory over the three-time defending Alabama state champion was the greatest game in the 11-year history of the MaxPreps Holiday Classic.

See all Friday scores, Saturday's schedule at MPHC

Most who left Rancho Mirage High School at almost 11 p.m. after a full day from the 119-team, 11-division tournament, were talking in terms if it was the best high school game they had ever seen. 

"If it's not the best, it's right up there with the best," said Poly coach Shelton Diggs, who could barely breathe because he was talking so fast and feverishly, which was sort of like the pace of the game. "It's the best I've ever been involved with."

That's largely because of the final result and that the Jackrabbits (8-3) fought back from a 17-point deficit overall and 14 in the fourth quarter to win the quarterfinal game of the Invitational Division.

Poly outscored Wenonah 26-12 in the fourth quarter, due largely to the efforts of strapping 6-foot-2 barrel-chested senior guard Kameron Murrell, who scored all but 12 of his game-high total of 37 after the third quarter.

It helped offset the jaw-dropping performance of Wenonah's No. 5, 6-foot point guard and Alabama commit Justin Coleman who scored 36 points.

At one point in the fourth quarter, the quick, determined and skilled guards traded four straight baskets with dizzying moves and improbable shots.

At the end of the second overtime, however, it was two other unlikely players to step up on either side to make decisive plays. The first was a 3-pointer by Kameron Hardrick after a nice feed from Coleman to put Wenonah up 89-88 with 12.1 seconds remaining.

Hardrick had scored just two points until that point.

Then, while Wenonah was certainly keying on Murrell, who made 7-of-11 three-point attempts, junior guard Ke'jhan Feagin took the ball from the top of the key, drove through the paint and hit a pretty runner in the lane under heavy duress with 5.0 seconds left.

"The play was for me to either take the shot or kick it to (Murrell)," Feagin said of his 13th and 14th point of the night. "The shot was there."

Said Diggs: "That's K.J. (Featin's nickname). He's been a clutch and a top player for us since he was a freshman. He doesn't freeze in the moment."

Either did Coleman, who took the ensuing inbound pass, dribbled and weaved his way down the court quickly, and spotted up perfectly for a 23-footer that was straight as a string, but a touch long.

It glanced off the back of the iron. The Jackrabbits stormed the court and gave collected group hugs in two or three different spots.

Many of the Wenonah players dropped to their knees with the crushing defeat. They quickly got up and respectively stood in line for the post-game handshake. The Dragons were heartbroken but gracious.

It was one of those games nobody should have to lose.

"That's what Poly is all about," Diggs said. "We never give up. We fight to the end."

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But how do the Jackrabbits gather enough and emotional fortitude to come back Saturday and win a semifinal game?

"We'll be ready," Feagin said. "We always find a way."

The Jackrabbits face Jackson (Mill Creek, Wash.), the state 4A runner-up last year, who breezed to a surprisingly lopsided 68-48 victory over Columbia Christian. That semifinal game is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at the Rancho Mirage.

Both semifinal games, the dunk and shooting skills competition can be seen via a stream on the MaxPreps home page, powered by the NFHS network

The other semifinal game pits Capital Christian, a 48-42 upset winner over No. 16 Etiwanda, against Westchester (Los Angeles, Calif.), which breezed by St. Edward 66-58, at 6 p.m.

Following the semifinal games will be the 3-point shooting and dunk contests, which figure to fill the large and spanking new Rancho Mirage main gym.

Other Invitational scores
Capital Christian (Sacramento) 62,Beverly Hills (Calif.) 49
Wenonah 89, Tampa Catholic (Fla.) 79
St. Edward (Lasod, Ohio) 72, Sunnyslope (Phoenix, Ariz.) 70
Long Beach Poly 65, American Fork (American Fork, Utah) 43

Consolation games
Calabasas (Calabasas, Calif.) 62, Orangewood Academy (Garden Grove, Calif.) 36
Alemany (Mission Hills, Calif.) 63, JSerra Catholic (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) 47
Catalina Foothills (Tucson, Ariz.) 54, Leuzinger (Lawndale) 47
Bellevue (Wash.) 61, Beverly Hills (Calif.) 57
Sunnyslope (Phoenix, Ariz.) 62, Issaquah (Issaquah, Wash.)
De La Salle (Concord, Calif.) 61, Harvard-Westlake (Studio City, Calif.) 52

Head and shooting case: The St. Edward basketball team tried to get into his team's head, Westchester senior Elijah Stewart said.

But the only person able to get into Stewart's head, he said, is Stewart himself.

The 6-foot-4 guard headed for Loyola Marymount, coming off what he called a "horrible day," decided to do some meditation in his hotel room Friday before the team's showdown with Ohio's top-ranked team St. Edward.

Positive thinking, visualization, meditation — whatever Stewart experienced — it worked, to the tune of a career high 37 points leading the Comets to an impressive 66-58 Invitation Division quarterfinal victory at Rancho Mirage High School.

Westchester, the defending tournament champions, held off numerous St. Edward charges after it jumped to leads of 19-8 after one quarter and 34-18 at halftime.

"Just closed my eyes, thought of positive things on the court and just recreated it in my mind over and over again," said Stewart, who had 23 points by halftime and made 10 of 13 shots, including 4-of-5 on 3-point attempts. He also led the Comets with eight rebounds as Westchester moved into the semifinals to face Capital Christian, an upset winner over Etiwanda.

So how bad was it Thursday, when Westchester swept two games, but hardly in impressive fashion.

"My shot was just way off," he said. "I was shooting air-balls. I haven't shot an air-ball since the seventh grade."

When St. Edward, an impressive group of athletes and spirited team, came out with a chant, Stewart said the Jackrabbits looked at each other and all reacted differently.

"Some of us laughed, some of took it personal," Stewart said. "I just paid no mind."

Besides, he had baskets to focus upon. Only teammate Layon Gooden scored in double figures with 13.

St. Edward's efforts was there, but as loud as it crowd cheered and the team exalted and flailed fists, Westchester had too much. The Comets kept their cool and won going away.

St. Edward was led by Kipper Nichols (14 points), Marsalis Hamilton (12) and Malcolm Walters (10).

The unknown: Few knew how good Jackson is but after a 68-48 quarterfinal win over Columbia Christian (Portland, Ore.), the Timberwolves are plenty good enough to make it to the semifinals of the 24-team Invitational Division.

The Timberwolves got 31 points from Dan Kingma (7-for-14 on 3-pointers) and 16 points by Portland State-bound Jason Todd. Freshman Isaac Bonton had 20 points for Columbia Christian and Kameron Chatman, the tournament's top senior recruit at No. 36 in the nation, had 12.

Because Washington allows only 20 regular-season games – five nonleague – this was only Jackson's fourth game of the year. The Timberwolves couldn't even be ranked by MaxPreps coming into the tournament because it hadn't played three games.

Jackson lost in last year's state 4A championship game after 27 straight wins.

"That was a pretty tough tournament," said Jackson coach Steve Johnson after a vice-grip handshake. "But we came down here to face top competition and players like (Chatman). We played well today, but I don't really know what grade to give it because we've only played four games. … We definitely played well against a very good team."

The Timberwolves look in midseason form. They definitely take care of the ball, find the open man and hit the open shot.

Capital Christian upsets No. 16 Etiwanda:  Tyler Jennings wanted the ball at the end. Not to make a Kobe Bryant-esque impossible game-winning shot. He just wanted to get fouled.

The Capital Christian (Sacramento, Calif.) senior guard made 10 straight free throws, four in final 20 seconds to lead the Northern California small-school power Cougars to a 48-42 MaxPreps Holiday Classic Invitational Division quarterfinal upset over previously unbeaten and No. 16 nationally ranked Etiwanda (Calif.) at Rancho Mirage High School.

Clutch free-throw shooting is nothing new to Jennings, who made the game-winning free throw to win a Sac-Joaquin Section title last season. Then he drilled three straight free throws to send a Gridley Tournament game into overtime and ultimately a victory.

On Friday, none of his four final free throws even touched iron. Jennings finished with a team-high 12 points, fellow senior guard Uchenna Iroegbu and Michigan-bound forward D.J. Wilson had 11 apiece. Wilson, 6-8 forward, added a game-high 10 rebounds for the 13-1 Cougars.

Etiwanda (12-1), which played almost all the game without No. 44 national recruit Jordan McLaughlin (injured left shoulder), was led by 12 points from Dominick Alexander and 10 by Kameron Edwards. The Eagles made just 14 of 44 shots) and 3-for-19 from the 3-point line.

Capital Christian didn't exactly light it up from the field either (10 of 31), but it drilled 23 of 28 from the line, led by Jennings, who also had a game-high five assists.

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