La Salle-Temple City Holiday Classic: Final Day

By Corey Kwok                                        

Thursday December 30

Montebello 60 Maranatha 54 (Championship)

The Maranatha Minutemen mounted an inspired fourth quarter rally but simply ran out of time against Montebello. The Oilers dominance through the first three quarters allowed them to carry a 20 point lead into the homestretch and it proved just enough to successfully defend their La Salle-Temple City Holiday Classic title 60-54.

Montebello sped off to a 11-0 start and made it tough for Maranatha to get in sync by forcing 17 turnovers in the first three panels and limiting the Minutemen to single digits scoring (8) in both stanzas of the opening half.

The Oilers closed out with ten unanswered points in the second quarter to take a 33-16 lead at the break. It stretched to a 19-4 run midway into the third and a 22 point, 42-20 Montebello lead as four different Oilers scored.

Jeremy Major scored ten of Maranatha’s 16 in the first half, completed a three point play in the third and scored 11 more in the fourth quarter rally to lead the Minutemen and all scorers with 24, notching 7 caroms as well.

Power forward Stephen Van Spronsen had a tough go of it in the first half (1 for 8 field goals) but went 3 for 4 the next to finish with 8 points and 11 rebounds. RJ Straker scored 5 and filed in a dish, two steals, and a block with five rebounds.

Montebello guard Darius Middleton earned tournament MVP honors with a team high 20 point game while also providing five boards, three dishes, and two thefts. Oiler fan favorite and 6-foot-10 man in the middle Antonio Worthy closed out Montebello’s scoring with a slam dunk in transition off a steal-and-assist from Middleton and in all posted 17 points and 14 rebounds, with 2 blocks, 2 steals. John-Michael Carabes added another 11 points while Anthony Osorio scored 5 and helped the Oilers with seven offensive rebounds, of which his team totaled 20 overall.

Maranatha   8    8  11  27     54

Montebello 17 16  14  13     60

Maranatha – Major 24, Van Spronsen 8, Ryan Holstein 7, Andrew Elffers 5, Straker 5, Josh Chamberlain 5

Montebello – Middleton 20, Worthy 17, Carabes 11, Osorio 5, Richard De La Cruz 4, Hector Martinez 3

La Canada 51, St Francis 46 (3rd Place)

In the battle of next door neighbors St Francis and La Canada played just as any true rivalry game would – a fight to the end with neither team surrendering a significant lead. It was LC however who got the best of St Francis in the end as they tipped the see-saw with a 7-0 closeout to capture third place in the La Salle-Temple City Holiday Classic with a come from behind 51-46 victory over SF, despite missing star all-everything Mike McGlashan to a knee injury.

Dario Civon was the Spartan that came through with many of the crucial shots for LC as the guard produced in each quarter, nailing 4 of his first 5 on the floor before finishing with a game high 16 points. Matt Faber had 7 and wiped the boards clean on both ends for 13 rebounds while Riley Moore sparked the Spartans by dropping 8 points – all in the final frame.

Shooting sensation Emerson Castaneda poured in five three-pointers for all of his scoring (15), including a bomb with 2:33 to play that became the Golden Knights’ last lead (46-44) and score. Zack Gardea fueled and funneled St Francis’ offense for another 12 points while elsewhere providing support with 7 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals.

St Francis  14  13  6   13       46

La Canada 12 12  11  16       51

Muir 78, Crescenta Valley 60 (5th Place)

The fifth-place game of the La Salle-Temple City Holiday Classic offered a preview of Pacific league action as conference foes Muir and Crescenta Valley tipped off.

It was a close battle for a half, as Muir led 35-28 at the break before dismantling CV with a 43 point to 32 second half shootout. The Falcons were held down to seven third quarter points during that surge.

Mustang guard Dion Nelson, fresh off a crisp 6 for 8, 13 point game the night before, parlayed his consistency again to knock down 8 of his first 9 buckets for a game high 24 points. Nelson, also ripping five steals this contest, would tally up an impressive 14 for 18 shooting mark overall to score 37 in these last two games.

Three other Mustangs finished in double figures in this high scoring affair. The electrifying DeShawn Hayes poured down 20 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, and was three steals short (7) of pulling off a triple-double. Tevin Polk was next with 14 followed by 10 from Justin Knowles who added 4 assists and 2 steals.

CV wingman Christian Misi pulled down eight boards, rejected two shots, and had 18 points to share leading scorer ranks with Davis Dragovich, who kept the Falcons out of a bigger hole with five baskets in the fourth. Deep threat point guard Dylan Kilgour was the other CV Falcon in double figures with 11 points and a trio of treys.

Muir 16  19  19  24    –      78

C.V. 15  13   7   25    –      60

Muir – Nelson 24, Hayes 20, Polk 14, Knowles 10, Jelani Mitchell 7, Taturs Mayberry 2, Maurice Ballard 1

C.V. – Misi 18, Dragovich 18, Kilgour 11, Nick Kelly 5, Oshin Mahmoodian 4, Chris Chemlekian 3, Rudy Avila 1

La Salle 64, Arcadia 62 (Consolation final – 9th Place)

La Salle had every chance to pull away with a series of double digit leads, but an unrelenting Arcadia refused to go down without a fight as they cut a 14 point deficit down to two.

A technical foul free throw gave Arcadia a chance to win it on the last possession with less than three seconds left, but the three from downtown fell wide left, allowing the tournament host Lancers to escape 64-62 to take the consolation final trophy.

Post player Gary Mkrtichyan was unstoppable in the first where he scored 11 before going 8 for 12 overall in the paint for 22 points and 10 rebounds to lead La Salle while Kishon Sanders recorded his second double-double in three games with 10 points and caroms to complement three first-quarter blocked shots. Ian Schuler caught fire in the third quarter by swishing a pair of treys and a short jumper while the rest of the Lancers’ bench received support from Israel Lacy, Jeff Briegel, Marcus Tappan, and Peter Nuguid,

Kiran Koneru also posted 22 in the scorebook for Arcadia who at one point led by eight in the second quarter after a 13-0 run.

The Lancers responded with a flurry of their own and scored 11 of the game’s next 13 to take a 30-29 lead with 2:14 left in the half. Ronnie Han went to the charity stripe and reclaimed the lead for the Apaches before Nuguid took it back for La Salle with a buzzer beating toss-in at halftime.

The Apaches’ Robby Haines ignited his team in the first period with 9 points on four baskets and caroms before foul trouble limited him until the fourth. Haines finished with 13. Jeff Radzwill came off the Apache bench and knocked down 5 of 7 shots for 11 points. The Arcadia bench narrowly outscored La Salle’s, 18-17.

Arcadia 22   9   14   17    –      62

La Salle 19 13   20   12    –      64

Other scores:

7th – Mark Keppel 67, Temple City 42

11th – Hoover 58, Gabrielino 54

15th – Franklin 71, AGBU Manoukian 49

13th place game between Marshall (L.A.) and St Paul was not reported.

 

 

 

 

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