By Corey Kwok
Championship: South Hills 48, Temple City 36
Korey Serna presented matchup problems all night with his mountainous 6-foot-9 stature and took advantage of it all to deliver an extraordinary 21 point, 20 rebound game for South Hills (8-3), who clipped Temple City 48-36 to win the Azusa tournament championship.
It was also a season rematch as the teams had met in nonleague play a week earlier, with the Rams stunning the Huskies 61-58.
South Hills added some outside flair in the second and third quarters as Jeriko Santos (11 points) knocked down a trio of threes.
Ryan Cosato (14 points) buried four treys to spur TC in the first half but scored just a lone deuce afterwards in the fourth. Brandon Lee drilled two from behind the arc towards 8 points. Kasmir Khaliq (4 points) filled up the other stats with 12 rebounds, 3 blocks, a steal, and 2 dimes.
TC: 13, 8, 6, 9 — 36
SH: 15, 16, 9, 8 – 48
TC – Cosato 14, Brandon Lee 8, Felix Awujo 6, Khaliq 4, Goren Lee 2, Matt Der 1, John Nghiem 1
SH – Serna 21, Santos 11, Chris Porter 5, Mikelle Cortez 5, Dinari Belachew 4, Steven Rubin-Woods 2
3RD: Covina 50, Azusa 27
An excellent first half output down low by Chris Sotelo with constant pulses of dimes from polished point guard Mike Peters was the perfect doctor’s prescription for Covina, who dusted off and showed no hangover from Wednesday night’s tough, narrow loss by galloping past tournament host Azusa 50-27 to take the bronze trophy.
Sotelo, finishing with 19 points and 8 rebounds, was 6 of 7 from the floor with a free throw for 13 points in the first half.
Peters fed 6 assists took 6 rebounds, and scored 9. Nino Harrell was on the scoring end of three of his dishes in the opening quarter for 7 of his 12 game points.
Aztec wingman Jordan Blackburn scored 10 points to lead Azusa. Gridiron sensation Desmond Reed showed flashes of brilliance on the hardwood and marked all of his 6 points over the first two frames while also yanking four steals.
A: 5, 10, 6, 6 — 27
C: 11, 13, 14, 12 – 50
A – Blackburn 10, Reed 6, Jessie Wurtz 5, John Bibat 2, Kevin Perez 2, Mario Flores 1, Brian Millan 1
C – Sotelo 19, Harrell 12, Peters 9, Edgardo Campos 4, DeAntwan Pitts 4, Blythe Curry 2
5TH: Jurupa Hills 47, Mountain View 27
Justin Augustine, Xavier Uribe, and Malcolm Royston all blocked a shot in the first quarter, as Jurupa Hills set precedence early before moderately sprinting by Mountain View 47-27. ‘View has now dropped 3 of its last 4.
Jamain Owens (18 points) and Augustine (13 points) accounted for nearly two-thirds of the Spartan offense, combining for 31 points and 7 3-pointers.
The lone bright spot for the Vikings was Jonathan Almanza, as he totaled 10 points, 10 rebounds, and 2 blocks.
JH: 10, 14, 12, 11 — 47
MV: 4, 7, 8, 8 – 27
JH – Owens 18, Augustine 13, Malcolm Royston 8, Jerome Morelos 2, Kennedy Royston 2, Tristan Mason 2, Danny Aguilera 2
MV – Almanza 10, Tranquilino Padilla 5, Jonathan Zepeda 4, Felipe Ocampo 3, Isaiah Mendoza 3, Eduardo Soria 2
7TH: Gladstone 39, El Monte 25
Gladstone outscored El Monte 17-7 over the final nine minutes to open up a tight game and win 39-25, dodging last-place in the Azusa tournament.
Vince Delgado led the Gladiators (and all scorers) with 11, including a block, pair of assists, and two steals. Eddie Servin dropped in 8 points and fielded 10 caroms.
Johnny Casillas and Alex Berumen both scratched in 5 points to lead the Lions. Jorge Caldera (4 points) had a nice day on the boards with 9, while Memo Silva buzzed the floor for four steals.
G: 11, 5, 10, 13 — 39
EM: 4, 7, 9, 5 – 25
G – Delgado 11, Joe Fernandez 9, Servin 8, Erick Martinez 4, Manuel Chavira 3, Alex Mendez 2, Ben Reaves 2
EM – Berumen 5, Casillas 5, Caldera 4, Juarez 4, Gabriel Garcia 4. Silva 3
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