By Corey Kwok
Scores: In order from 1st to last:
Championship – Bishop Amat 51, Wilson 36
3rd – La Canada 61, Walnut 57
5th – Mark Keppel 65, Chino 20
7th – California 66, Montclair 63 (1 OT)
9th (Consolation Final) – Arcadia 59, La Puente 44
11th – Monrovia 45, West Covina 43
13th – Arroyo 48, Los Altos 41
15th – South El Monte 49, Bosco Tech 48
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Bishop Amat 51, Wilson 36 – Championship
Bishop Amat captured its first Arroyo Invitational championship in 13 years with a hard fought 51-36 win over Wilson of Hacienda Heights.
The title bout began in full force as four baskets fell within 41 seconds.
Kevin Nakayama drained a triple to put the Wildcats up 8-7 midway through the first quarter. Wilson led 13-9 after one, but went cold in the second quarter making only a pair of free throws and one bucket on four attempts as the Lancers closed the half on a 10-0 run.
Austin Lacy and Olumba Ekpo both dealt deuces, and Dion Hudson went 2 for 2 outside the arc. Tyler Goldston capped it with 1:10 left by hitting a 28 foot jumper.
Amat led 23-17 at the half and got more breathing room on a 13-4 third quarter surge that helped them carry a 39-25 lead into the fourth. Tyler Hill scored 7 of his team high 12 in that period, including a trey and a couple of put backs.
Wilson strung together an 8-0 run and made it a 35-44 game with 3:17 to play on a Jeffrey Nibo deuce, a Justin Cheng three, and a pair of Mark Fujii free throws. But that was as close as the Wildcats got.
The Lancers boxed out, ate the clock, and took down rebound after rebound. Lacy added a bucket and went 4 for 4 at the line during the last 1:46 to solidify the trophy.
BA 9 14 16 12 – 51
WIL 13 4 8 11 – 36
BA – Hill 12, Hudson 11, Goldston 8, Lacy 8, Ekpo 6, Daniel Rodriguez 3, Jeff Davis 3
WIL – Cheng 12, Nakayama 7, Nibo 7, Fujii 5, Shane Yamamoto 3, Newman Lee 1, Jared Ong-Siang 1
La Canada 61, Walnut 57 – 3rd place
Rocky Moore, La Canada’s senior all-everything guard swished 5 of 6 shots beyond the arc and scored 25 points overall to lead La Canada to a 61-57 win of defending Arroyo Invitational champion Walnut.
The Spartans successfully rained ten threes on 30 attempts.
Moore ended the first on a nine point roll, capping it with consecutive treys. The last one was a buzzer beater from the top of the key to give LC a 16-6 lead after one.
Walnut responded with a 23-11 second quarter surge led by dominant post play from Leonard Rhodes (12 points) and Chibuzo Okoro (9).
Kevin Real completed a three point play to inch the Mustangs up 29-27 at halftime. It became Aubrey Coleman’s turn in the second half, as he netted 6 of 8 shots from underneath (7 for 10 overall) and finished as the team’s leading scorer with 14 points.
Matt Faber scooped up seven caroms and Mike McGlashan (9 points, 3 rebounds) tipped in three assists for LC.
LC 16 11 19 15 – 61
WAL 6 23 14 14 – 57
LC – Moore 25, Jeff Grigg 13, McGlashan 9, Omar Rady 7, Dario Civon 3, Faber 2, Mason Holle 2
WAL – Coleman 14, Rhodes 12, Okoro 9, Cameron Lew 7, Brian Gholar 5, Real 3, Christian Chen 3, Ed Bravo 2, Zack Galman 2
Arcadia 59, La Puente 44 – 9th (Consolation Final)
Taylor Lagace had 20 points and Kiran Koneru added 15 to help drive Arcadia past La Puente 59-44.
Jonathan Tom collected 3 steals, and Chris Severo fed 4 assists. CJ Perez and Maury Bruce each recorded blocks. A pair of Koneru free throws 1:01 before the break provided Arcadia their largest lead of the game, 38-20.
La Puente was led by 9 rebounds and 11 points from German Pompa, and another nine in the book by Jacob Sandoval.
ARC 16 24 11 8 – 59
LP 9 14 8 13 – 44
ARC – Lagace 20, Koneru 15, Tom 8, Franky Yan 6, Perez 4, Daka Ying 3, Robbie Haines 2, Bruce 1
LP – Pompa 11, Sandoval 9, Daniel Gonzalez 7, Marcos Ponce 4, Manuel Garcia 4, Javier Lopez 2, Andrew Garcia 2, Brandon Rios 2, Julian Sanchez 2, Kevin Chenet 1
Mark Keppel 65, Chino 20 – 5th
Keppel’s suffocating defense held Chino to nine first half points paving the way to a 36-9 advantage at the break and a 65-20 rout.
Electrifying junior Sam Thim scored 19, rebounded eight, added five assists, and four steals. Timmy Wong added eight and there were six each from Aaron Lee Cameron Lee-Sung, Jordan Young and Justin Young.
Samuel Holmes led Chino with five points including a trey, and Mark Valencia chipped in four.
MK 16 20 20 9 – 65
CNO 5 4 4 7 – 20
MK – Thim 19, Wong 8, Lee 6, Lee-Sung 6, Jordan Young 6, Justin Young 6, Jonathan Saisho 4, Jonathan Marty 3, Max Katz 3, Eric Yu 2, Alex Haluska 2
CNO – Holmes 5, Valencia 4, Steve Merrill 4, Kevin Livingston 3, Jon Garnica 2, Donnell Rose 2
California 66, Montclair 63 (1 OT) – 7th
California’s Chris Ortiz (19 points, 4 steals) was hot in the second half as the sharpshooter drilled 5 of 7 from downtown in a 66-63 win over Montclair in overtime.
Ortiz’s clutch free throws 17.1 from the end of overtime held up as a Montclair heave from the freeway caught only air. California High (3-2) rebounded from a deficit of 10 late in the third to grab the victory.
The Condors erupted to leads of 10-0 and 20-6 in the first quarter as Keith Smith (17 points, 8 rebounds) and Shawn Carter (16 points) lit it up offensively, scoring 16 of the team’s first 18 points altogether.
Montclair came alive in the second and steadily chipped away before closing out the half’s last minute with a 6-0 spurt for a 30-28 Cavalier lead at the break.
Four Cavaliers closed the game in double figures. Tory Gilroy scored six of the team’s 16 steals and totaled 18 points. Pascual Valadez, Montclair’s man in the middle, notched a dozen; long range shooter Devyn Sampson (11) knocked down a 30 footer near the start of the fourth and Esteban Salazar chipped in 10.
M 12 18 17 12 4 – 63
CAL 22 6 14 17 7 – 66
M – Gilroy 18, Valadez 12, Sampson 11, Salazar 10, Jonathan Hoang 4, Brandon Thompson 2, Adam Castillo 2, Jay Cyrus 2, Khan 2
CAL – Ortiz 19, Smith 17, Carter 16, RJ Rodriguez 6, Jordan Saleapaga 4, Matt Arceo 2, Jonathan Castillo 2
Monrovia 45, West Covina 43 – 11th
Monrovia’s Nick Long had a critical steal at half court with 1.9 seconds left to thwart a West Covina rally in a 45-43 win over West Covina. A desperation 55 footer hit the edge of the backboard, and the Wildcats hung on for the victory.
Duncan Machi (15 points) carried M-Town on course with clutch shooting at the beginning of each half, and Jamale Bars added 14.
The second quarter was the Deion Steppes show as the 6-4 240 pound tossed it in from underneath on his first six touches and grabbed 10 rebounds – all in that period alone.
WC 14 15 7 7 – 43
MON 16 12 13 4 – 45
WC – Steppes 15, Michael Oniyah 9, Andrew Miranda 6, Brian Fortuna 4, Dylan Lopez 3, Kevin Martinez 2, Jared Valdivez 2, Stanley Tran 2
MON – Machi 15, Bars 14, Dominick Reyes 6, David Palomares 3, Amofah Bribbey 3, Long 2, Major Williams 2
South El Monte 49, Bosco Tech 48 – 15th
Bosco Tech, (2-7), behind 49-48, was given another lifeline with 3 seconds left as South El Monte missed a single bonus free throw. The ball fell into Jonathan Lat’s grasp and Tigers head coach Dominic Sermeno called timeout to stop the clock at 2.4. Jeff Miranda received the inbounds pass at half court, dribbled to the key and tossed it up as the buzzer sounded. It bounced off the rim allowing the Southmen (3-3) to survive the thriller.
Anthony Jimenez and Isaiah Alcantar (14 points, 8 rebounds) anchored the Eagles’ offense, scoring 14 points each, with a trio of treys between them. Christian Servin notched a block and ten rebounds and Jesus Morales knocked down 4 of 5 shots for 8 points.
Nick Sotelo scored 7 of the Tigers’ last 8 second quarter points to pull Bosco Tech ahead 24-21 at the break. Sotelo led the team in scoring with 17.
SEM 8 13 19 9 – 49
BT 6 18 14 10 – 48
SEM – Jimenez 14, Alcantar 14, Morales 8, Servin 4, Villacis 4, Gabriel Canada 2, Oscar Nava 2, Ray Natividad 1 (8 reb, 3 stl)
BT – Sotelo 17, Jason Marquez 8, Miranda 7, Jesus Ojeda 6, Jose Rios 4, Lat 4, Joshua Espinoza 2
Arroyo 48, Los Altos 41 – 13th
A fourth quarter outburst by Mark Roche finished Los Altos (1-3). He scored on all five attempts inside, the last bucket giving Arroyo (3-2) a 45-39 lead with 39.4 to play.
A free throw by Martin Tran, followed up with another pair from Efrain Carrillo (11 points, 7 rebounds) in the last 15 seconds helped seal a 48-41 win. The Knights overcame 28 turnovers to Los Altos’s 15.
Roche finished with 19 points and added 10 rebounds as well to complete a double-double. Roman Monsivaiz kept the Arroyo momentum going by rejecting a shot, yanking three steals, dishing out three assists, and pulling down six boards. Jeff Salazar scored another six on a perfect 3 for 3 from the floor.
The Conquerors tied it at 31-31 early in the fourth, as the last of three consecutive Alvin Tan layups fell, but missed free throws down the stretch (0 for 10 in second half) led to their undoing.
Tan finished with 24 points and is averaging over 20 points per game. Walter Lee contributed 11 caroms and five thefts.
LA 7 8 14 12 – 41
ARR 6 18 13 17 – 48
LA – Tan 24, Curtis Isozaki 8, Lee 6, Steve Flores 3
ARR – Roche 19, Carrillo 11, Salazar 6, Carlos Lupercio 4, Roman Monsivaiz 4, Jacob Meredith 2, Tran 2
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