Long Beach Poly headlines 16 champions at West Coast Jamboree

The headliner — Long Beach Poly (Calif.) — and its queen of the court — Ayanna Clark — delivered the goods.

But the Jackrabbits (8-3) and their 6-foot-3 USC-bound post were far from the only winners at the massive 128-team West Coast Jamboree last week in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. MaxPreps is one of the sponsors for the 16-year-old event.

Fifteen others were crowned champions as well.

Clark, ranked the No. 1 junior post in her class, had 22 points and 12 rebounds despite being saddled with fouls in a 55-45 win over Bishop O'Dowd (Oakland, Calif.) in the title game of the Platinum Division at Las Positas College in Livermore.

Clark was dominant in the first half as the junior was automatic from within five feet. The only way Bishop O'Dowd was able to stop the post player was to send her to the bench with foul trouble. And indeed the Long Beach Poly star was relegated to the bench with four fouls only a couple minutes into the second half.

For a short period of time both teams were without their star players as Bishop O'Dowd standout Myah Pace (nine points, 10 rebounds) was kneed in the head going for a rebound and sat out half the third quarter. The Jackrabbits took a 30-24 lead into halftime and never seemed to lose control of the game even without Clark on the court.

Stepping up in Clark's absence was Kyra Brady as the junior had eight of her 12 points in the second half. The relatively young Bishop O'Dowd team received a strong second half effort from two seniors Salihah Bey and Aerial Chavarin. Bey had a team high 12 points and seven rebounds, while Chabarin took advantage of Clark missing most of the second half to score eight points and collect nine rebounds.

Clark had three double-doubles and she's just rounding into shape after missing the first two weeks of the season with a concussion. She pretty much had her way in a first half that saw her score 18 points and snag 10 rebounds while showing off a mid-range shot to go with her inside game.

Clark had 18 points and 14 rebounds in Poly's 76-37 win over Brookside Christian (Stockton) and 15 points and 15 rebounds in a second round 63-42 rout of Sacramento. She was an easy choice as the David "Scoop" Jackson Most Valuable Player Award.

"She's just rounding into shape and starting to play really well after missing that time with the concussion," Poly head coach Carl Buggs said.

Pace, who already has offers from Arizona State, Michigan, Washington, San Francisco, and St. Mary's, plus Ivy League schools Harvard, Princeton and Yale, was named the Jim Capoot Memorial Award winner for sportsmanship and inspirational play, named in memory of the former Vallejo head coach who was killed in the line of duty in 2011 in his day job as a Vallejo police officer.

Since transferring to O'Dowd when she moved from Indiana prior to her sophomore season, Pace has steadily improved her game and shown with her temperament she has the complete package to produce at the next level.

With O'Dowd losing Asha Thomas and Aisia Robertson and their leadership on the 2014 CIF Division III state championship team its Pace that has taken on the leadership role as well for the fairly young Dragons squad.

"We gave up too much on the glass and that offset our playing good defense," O'Dowd head coach Malik McCord said.

Other tournament champions

Championship Game Results

Platinum – Long Beach Poly 55, Bishop O'Dowd (Oakland) 45 at Las Positas College

Diamond – Brea Olinda (Brea, Calif.) 65, Carondelet 62 at Bentley in Lafayette

Gold – Antelope (Calif.) 57, Bishop Manogue (Reno, Nevada) 41 at Las Positas College

Amber – Turlock (Calif.) 42, Escalon 26 at Bentley

Amethyst – Encinal (Alameda, Calif.) 61, Santa Rosa 52 at Jesse Bethel

Coral – Chico (Calif.) 65, Albany 52 at Berean Christian in Walnut Creek

Emerald – Castro Valley (Calif.) 50, Del Oro 49 at Castro Valley

Garnet – Mt. Shasta (Calif.) 42, Berean Christian 37 at Berean Christian

Jade – Dougherty Valley (San Ramon, Calif.) 40, Justin-Siena (Napa) 23 at College Park in Pleasant Hill

Onyx – St. Helena (Calif.) 32, Point Arena 29 at Ygnacio Valley in Concord

Pearl – Sierra (Tollhouse, Calif.) 44, Los Banos 42 at Valley Christian in Dublin

Quartz – Concord (Calif.) 57, Middletown (Calif.) 47 at Alhambra in Martinez

Ruby – Sheldon (Sacramento, Calif.) 67, St. Francis (Sacramento) 63 at College Park

Sapphire – Fairmont Prep (Anaheim, Calif.) 82, Campolindo (Moraga) 58 at Ygnacio Valley

Topaz – Presentation (San Jose, Calif.) 54, Scotts Valley 40 at Alhambra

Zircon – Dublin (Calif.) 71, Central (Fresno) 63 at Valley Christian

Antelope win battle of unbeatens

In a battle of undefeated teams, Antelope of the Sacramento area defeated Bishop Manogue of Reno 57-41 to win the Gold Division championship game.

Leading the way for the Titans were the Johnson sisters, Nadia Johnson and Nia Johnson, as the duo combined for 30 points, 17 rebounds and six steals. The Miners, one of the best teams in Nevada, were led by a strong performance from the undersized Malia Holt. The 5'8 junior post player had 19 points and a team high 10 rebounds.

Antelope rushed out to a quick 7-0 run to start the game, but then went cold for most of the rest of the first quarter. Bishop Manogue bounced back with some timely 3-point shots from team captain Tawni Henderson, as the senior would finish the night with 14 points.

Nadia Johnson and Angelica Baylon took over after the break for the Titans, as Johnson had 12 of her 19 points and Baylon added 13 of her 16 points in the second half. Antelope outscored Bishop Manogue 35 to 19 to finish out the contest after the game was tied at 22-22 through two periods of play.

Richardson to the rescue

Brea-Olinda won its fourth and denied Carondelet (Concord, Calif.) a sixth one when the Ladycats beat the Cougars in an exciting 65-62 Diamond Division championship game victory at Bentley.

With Arizona State-bound Reili Richardson at full strength — she was ill during a 2-2 performance at the Nike TOC — Brea-Olinda (10-2) won four straight games.

Richardson won MVP honors with 22 points, seven assists and six steals against Carondelet. Sophomore Tyiona Watkins also had 22 points in the title-game victory.

The Ladycats were favored and came right out with a 10-2 run but by halftime the Cougars led by a point and were in it until the final the very end. Maaeva Dwiggins (10 points) scored to make it 62-62 with 43 seconds left but from there they could not score again and Brea-Olinda got three free-throws including two by Watkins.

Brianna Simonich, a 5-foot-11 junior forward, led Carondelet (6-5) with 21 points and 13 rebounds to earn the Diamond Division Jim Capoot Memorial award.

Middletown Strong

The feel-good story of the tournament was Middletown, which lost in the championship of the Quartz Division to Concord 57-47.

In the fall, Middletown, a small, rural town in Lake Town, was gutted by one of the state's worst fires, the Valley Fire, which destroyed 1,280 homes. The school was saved, but many student's families were left homeless, including that of starting point guard Kaleigh Alves.

Her family, now in a rental home, is in the process of rebuilding.

Alves, along with several other Middletown players who have persevered, have been relentless on the court. And off of it. The Mustangs won previous Jamboree games over Alhambra (Martinez) 47-30 and Analy (Sebastopol) (48-21).

Middletown, which had its travel accommodations covered by the Diablo Valley Tourism Business Improvement District and the West Coast Jamboree, is now 7-4 on the season.

Isabel Montalvan and Paige Duncan were others whose family's lost homes.

"We can't say thank you enough," Middletown coach Anthony Bazzano said.