By Corey Kwok
Championship: La Canada 58, Mark Keppel 48
La Canada’s prowess on the boards, along with another swift night offensively from the tandem of Matt Faber and Mike McGlashan, proved to be a decisive difference for the Spartans who wrapped up their first Arroyo Invitational title since 2006 by beating Mark Keppel 58-48.
McGlashan scored at will throughout the tourney, having poured in 22, 17, and 27 (Friday) during prior games before chipping in 19 tonight to go along with six rebounds and six assists to earn all-tournament MVP honors. Faber hit two threes and punched in ten points, ten rebounds.
Keppel’s Jordan Young made sure La Canada didn’t easily take off into the sunset and scored a game high 26 points, with most of that coming via six from beyond the arc. Young scored across the lane after a Max Katz pass at the end of a 10-0 run in the fourth with 2:45 left to rally Keppel to within four, but the Aztecs got no closer afterwards and failed to score until the waning seconds. LC had already funneled off a key 6-0 run in the meantime to put it on ice.
La Canada 19 14 16 9 58
Mark Keppel 10 12 14 12 48
3rd: Arcadia 73, California 63
C.J Perez scorched the net for five buckets (12 pts) in the third and dropped four second half bombs. He also added four assists, a block, and finished with 24 points to power Arcadia past California 73-63 to take the Arroyo Invitational bronze. The Apaches built a 19 point advantage with four threes early in the fourth before being outscored 14-2 the next four minutes by the Condors, who rallied to within a touchdown’s length with 95 seconds to play.
Kiran Koneru added another 20 to complete the powerful Apache tandem as the senior point guard dialed long distance on four treys from Santa Anita Avenue. Robby Haines was Arcadia’s go-to guy on the boards with a dozen rebounds, also aiding the offense as well by scoring eight points. Arcadia went a perfect 10 for 10 at the charity stripe and six for six in the closing minute.
Cal went to Matt Arceo often over the last three frames and the winger didn’t disappoint, leading the Condors with 18 points and seven caroms. Point guard Matt Lambrecht tacked another 11 points and three steals. Their potent boarding threat Maximo Gonzalez was kept in check by the Apaches who did an excellent job boxing him out, limiting him to just five.
Arcadia 16 12 21 24 73
California 5 16 19 23 63
5th: Bishop Amat 49, Walnut 43
Bishop Amat wrestled control away from Walnut after burying them beneath a 9-0 run to open the fourth and a 14-2 run before galloping across the wire 49-43. Tyler Hill led the Lancers with 21 points after sitting out the first. Daniel Rodriguez added 14, and Joseph Cook provided a dozen rebounds plus eight points.
The Mustangs were on fire near the end of quarter one as Zach Galman (19 pts) and Bryan Gholar splashed treys after each other for a 15-7 lead. Then, Amat steadily chipped away closing the half on an 11-5 drive catching Walnut in the third quarter and scooting away in the fourth.
Aubrey Coleman had 7 rebounds and so did Gholar, who elsewhere added 11 points, three assists, and a steal while Chibuzo Okoro blocked two shots. The Mustangs’ big highlight of the game undoubtedly came two minutes into the second period where Gholar lasered a well timed pass to a high flying Brandon Croom along the baseline for a two handed slam that rocked the Vern Nelson Fieldhouse.
Bishop Amat 7 11 11 20 49
Walnut 15 7 11 10 43
7th: Montclair 81, West Covina 71
Montclair lit up the scoreboard in the first half for 55 points. That was more than enough for the Cavaliers to fend off a valiant West Covina rally 81-71.
Both teams had seven players reach double figures. Montclair had four and was led by Saffi Khan with 14, plus 4 steals. Devyn Sampson got off to a 6 for 8 start from the field to tally 13, while postman Larry Nakiso ransacked the first quarter for four deuces, four blocks, five rebounds, and an assist before settling for 12 points for the day. Sergio Marquez was the other Cavalier in double digits with 10. Point guard Jonathan Huang added four assists and three thefts.
West Covina’s Mike Oniyah topped all scorers with 17 and also had five steals and six rebounds. Andrew Torres (5 boards) and Jared Valdiviez both added 10 points. Brian Fortuna scored nine and so did Horace Nguyen, who notched another three steals. Kevin Martinez kept the WC offense rolling with four assists, a block, and two takeaways.
Montclair 26 29 20 6 81
West Covina 10 21 21 19 71
Consolation Final/9th: Wilson (Hacienda Heights) 48, Baldwin Park 30
Taking advantage of a Baldwin Park drought, Wilson played steady through out to get the 48-30 victory.
Newman Lee took charge recording five thefts and a dozen points. Not to be outdone was Brandon Miramonte, who finished with 10 points, 14 rebounds, three blocks and two steals.
The Braves were led by Drake Guillen’s 10 points 9 rebounds, Jimmy Ramirez’s 3 assists, and Alexis Baron’s eight points-three steals.
Wilson-HH 12 12 13 11 48
Baldwin Park 5 5 11 9 30
11th: South El Monte 49, Alta Loma 48
For the second straight year at the Arroyo Invitational, South El Monte won on the last bucket of the game as Anthony Jimenez (“A.J”) sighted and hit Ray Natividad underneath for the eventual winning score with 19.9 seconds left. The MVL’s Southmen won 49-48, knocking off Alta Loma of the tough inland empire Baseline league.
South left the door open for Alta Loma in the third and trailed by eight on three occasions in the fourth. But a Natividad three coupled with a 6-0 run in the last 1:50 propelled South to the win. Natividad and Jimenez both had 3 steals and also each had 14 and 13 points.
Adom Jacko scored a game high 16 to lead Alta Loma, who also had Pri Wicker (10 points, 9 rebounds) and Cameron Moinian (10 points, 8 rebounds) post double figures.
South El Monte 11 14 9 15 49
Alta Loma 9 13 16 10 48
13th: Arroyo 51, Los Altos 47
When Los Altos fought back Arroyo faced the challenge and stood its ground as Mark Roche and Sam Aholoka each converted on critical sets of free throws. With the Conquerors closing to within four inside the last minute, Aholoka heaved a Jacob Meredith pass for a decisive deuce and seven point Knights lead with 27 seconds to go.
Roche scored 14 of his 15 in the second half and was a board short of a double-double. Arroyo was led by Primitivo Gomez’s 19 points on six caroms, two blocks, and the same in assists. Sam “Red” Torres captured five boards along with Meredith, who added four assists.
Steven Rivera’s 17 foot jumper on the right wing off Carlos Lupercio’s pass closed out the opening frame with the Knights leading 15-10.
Los Altos 10 5 10 22 47
Arroyo 15 10 13 13 51
15th: La Puente 56, Monrovia 48
La Puente took advantage of numerous Monrovia turnovers in the first half and pounced on a dozen more miscues in the third, and took a six point lead into the fourth. The Warriors by as much as 11 deep into the period and held on for their first win of the year over the Wildcats 56-48 to avoid last place in the Arroyo Invitational.
German Pompa had seven steals and six rebounds on top of 15 points while the high Warrior scorer was Javier Lopez with 16 on 7 for 11 shooting. Marco Ponce had five thefts while Juan Cruz took another three.
David Palomares racked up 13 points and 10 rebounds in the first half for Monrovia before finishing with 17 and 14. M-Town was with out Jay Henderson, Derrin Jenkins, and Ellis McCarthy who were busy winning a CIF title in football.
La Puente 12 18 13 13 56
Monrovia 11 19 7 11 48
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