By Corey Kwok
Championship: Montclair 53 La Canada 43
Montclair went on a 13-4 run through the fourth quarter’s first 6 1/2 minutes, and that surge held firm the final 90 seconds to help knock off defending tournament champion La Canada 53-43.
Josh Sanchez gave the Cavaliers a pivotal effort off the bench with 7 points and 2 assists in the fourth. One of those dimes was a nice feed to Bobby Talamantes who in turn buried a decisive three pointer for a 49-41 Montclair lead into the final minute. On top of that, Talamantes had earlier nailed another trey with 1.9 to go before halftime. Sanchez, along with teammate Jody Smith (12 points), both sank a pair of free throws within the final 30 seconds to help seal the win. Kevin Fregoso added 4 assists, while Devyn Sampson mixed it up in the second half (7 points, 4 boards, one block, with a pair of assists and steals).
La Canada, twice down by seven in the third, piled up a nice 15-6 stretch to take a 35-33 lead on Connor Boyd’s layup off Dan Jun’s inside shovel with 2.9 to play in the stanza. Boyd was the game’s leading scorer with 13 points and 8 rebounds. Jun gave the Spartans an excellent bench contribution with 9 points, an assist, and 5 rebounds in the second half. Darrell Dansby bookended LC’s offensive attack with 12 points and 8 caroms.
3rd: Keppel 52 Arcadia 42
A ghastly 21 turnovers dubbed with a near-10 minute scoring drought nullified a fast start for Arcadia, who mustered just 6 in the second and 8 in the third before falling to Keppel in the Arroyo tournament bronze game.
Garrett Masada was the lead offensive spark-plug of the Aztec assault, flushing four treys in the third quarter, scoring 14 of his game high 20 in that period, elsewhere posting 6 rebounds and 4 steals. Cameron Wong netted 12 of his 13 points with a pair of threes in the first half. Not to go unmentioned were the superb efforts behind the scenes from Bailey Kikuchi (5 pts 6 assists) and Matthew Low (8 points, 4 assists).
The Apaches, absent starting all-purpose player Taylor Lagace, were led by Jeffrey Radzwill’s 16 points and 7 rebounds. Brian Taylor had 9 and was followed by Stephen Smith (8 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, steal and block). Kevin Gill (4 points) tossed in a pair, with one of those a coast-to-coast, steal-and-deuce.
5th: Wilson (Hacienda Hts.) 45 Bishop Amat 41
Timely execution both defensively and offensively helped the Wildcats overcome a bombardment of treys and sustain a late Lancer rally to win 45-41 for 5th place in the Arroyo tournament.
Bishop Amat managed little in the paint but flourished from downtown, accounting for 33 of their 41 points via eleven three-pointers that were strung out from midway into the opening quarter until the 1:18 mark of the fourth. Taylor Olvera led the way with 18 points on six threes. Ruben Meza popped a trifecta of those to account for his 9 points.
Matthew Ng flushed a deep three as the shot clock expired on Wilson’s opening second quarter drive and led the team with 11 points, 3 assists, and 3 steals. Brandon Miramontes keyed his inside prowess going 5 for 7 (10 points) and via excellent box-outs, shored up a handful of crucial rebounds. Ryan Del Rosario swiped another three and buried two treys along with Jared Ong-Siong.
7th: La Salle 66 South El Monte 19
La Salle dominated South El Monte throughout, easily speeding to a lopsided lead at halftime (44-9) before finishing likewise, on top by 47, to take 7th place in the Arroyo tournament.
Shot opportunities not only lacked, but many of the few they got failed to fall for the Eagles, who compounded its woes by committing 17 first half turnovers (10 in the first). The Lancers relentlessly capitalized in transition and forced a running clock in the fourth.
It was another day in the office for Jordan Hill as he turned in 15 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, and another pair of shot-blocks in a brisk three quarters of work for La Salle. The Lancers were able to circulate dibs for their entire team because of the lofty lead, and in all – 13 players made their mark in the scorebook and stat charts.
Garrett Stone deuced one time but yanked down 10 rebounds. Jeff Briegel had 5 points-9 boards, Marcus Tappan put on a show in the second (4-5, 8 points), Peter Nuguid (6 points) buried a pair from beyond the arc. Jalen Gray (6 points, 2 steals) dropped two dimes, and Izzy Lacy led all players with four steals to round out the Lancer highlights.
The lone bright spot for South was Antonio Sandoval, who weaved his way through defenders for three buckets (6 points) in the second half.
Other scores:
9th: Alta Loma 55, Monrovia 31
11th: Arroyo 66, La Puente 45
There was no looking back for the host Arroyo Knights from start to finish as they raced to a 15-3 lead in the first quarter and emptied the bench midway through the third when the lead hit 30. Primitivo Gomez shined with a monstrous 29 point game, knocking down five 3-pointers and grabbing 9 rebounds in the process. Also benefitting Arroyo’s cause was Edgar Lupercio (14 points, 6 assists), who added four treys to complement six assists.
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