By Corey Kwok
(La Canada) – Muir’s scintillating start to the season added another laurel to its resume with a 59-52 victory over Saugus to secure the La Canada Holiday Classic championship Saturday night.
With the win Muir remained undefeated with an 8-0 record that includes another tourney title – the Rose City Roundball Classic Governor’s Division over opening week.
Jelani Mitchell ignited a 7-0 run with three straight buckets while Mikey Cockrell shuttled three assists to key a fourth quarter response for Muir and regain the lead after Saugus chipped away and briefly forged ahead.
Mitchell finished with 26 points and 10 rebounds to earn Tournament MVP honors for his efforts. Cockrell, in all, had five assists. Taturs Mayberry was the other all-tourney selection for Muir with nine points and nine boards.
The Mustangs seized control during the game’s opening acts, having little trouble attacking inside and scoring in transition to pave the way for a 22-8 lead with 6:30 left in the second quarter. Bell-Jeff transfer Andre Frazier (9 points, 3 rebounds, 3 blocks, 1 assist) continued to dazzle his Muir comrades, helping initiate that early run by posting three first quarter blocks.
Jeremy Gatewood then almost single-handedly shot Saugus back into contention as he hit a trey, stole the ball and buried another 10 seconds later, before splashing a pair of free throws that slashed Muir’s lead to 22-16.
Gatewood, who hit five three pointers and scored 21 points, racked up all but 3 of the 24 Centurion first half points with five three pointers, but would yield no more. The Mustangs countered as Mitchell dropped three deuces and dished down low to Brian Carrier and Mayberry for more buckets to help Muir maintain a 35-24 lead at halftime.
However, the ‘Stangs nearly froze in the third quarter, making only a pair of free throws and hitting 2 of 12 from the field. A new downtown hero emerged for Saugus in Chris Lockwood (18 points) who buried a total of six from three point range and helped engineer the Centurions’ rally over that stanza with four bombs and two assists. Lockwood tied it up with one just 1:09 to play in the third and teammate Matt Coleman laid a tip-in to give Saugus a 43-41 lead at the end of the third.
Mitch Davis opened up the fourth with an inside scoop for a 4 point Centurion lead but from there Muir engineered the Cockrell-Mitchell show to assume command. Mitchell hit a clutch jumper off a Cockrell assist and iced a pair of 1-and-1’s to seal the trophy for the Mustangs. Tevin Polk also came up big with 9 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals, and 1 block.
S 8 16 19 9 52
M 17 18 6 18 59
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