Cougars have early energy in morning tourney win

By Bill Dickens
Updated: December 27, 2015

2015-16 EAST COUNTY PREP BOYS BASKETBALL

By Bill Dickens
© East County Sports.com
SAN DIEGO (12-27-15) — Although Steele Canyon was assigned a 9:30 a.m. tipoff against San Pasqual in Saturday’s (Dec. 26) first round of the Mt. Carmel Holiday Hoops Classic, the Cougars (7-4) came out firing as they registered a season high for scoring in burying the Golden Eagles 82-39.

Sophomore quartertback THOMAS FISHBURNE spearheaded a balanced attack with 13 points as 10 Steele Canyon players contributed to the record scoring total.

MARCUS WHITE dribbled his way to a 12 point effort, while KYREE WOODS added 11 points and TYLER SMITH chipped in with 10.

Steele Canyon took a 21-9 lead and used a 29-7 third quarter advantage to break the game open.

Steele Canyon: Thomas Fishburne 13, Marcus White 12, Kyree Woods 11, Tyler Smith 10, Eric Villegas 9, Gage Sanders 9, Jalen Sayles 8, Nick Barns 7, Nick Hodge 2, Drew Martin 1.

HELIX 69, DEL NORTE 56 – After a sluggish start with the Highlanders losing their first four games, Helix (5-6) rolled past Del Norte on Saturday (Dec. 26) in the Mt. Carmel Holiday Hoops Classic.

MALIK TAMBWE rolled a double-double of 21 points and 11 rebounds to spark the Highlanders. He nailed 10 of 15 shots from the floor.

JAMAR WYNN knocked down 5 of 10 shots from the field a pair of treys and 2 free throws for a total of 14 to lead the Highlanders’ supporting case.

The double-double parade continued with JAYLEN ARNOLD dropped in 10 points and snagged 10 rebounds. He also blocked 4 shots, dished 3 assists and blocked 4 shots.

Helix barged out of the gate with a 23-6 scoring advantage and that all but decided the issue.

AMARI GREEN pitched in with 12 points including a pair of treys, while JUSTIN FLISHER scraped 12 rebounds off the glass.

Helix: Malik Tambwe 21 (11 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk), Jamar Wynn 14 (3 ast, 3 stl), Amari Green 12 (3 reb, 3 ast, 3 stl), Jaylen Arnold 10 (10 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl, 4 blk), Justin Flisher 7 (12 reb, 3 ast, 4 stl), Isaiah Wooden 3 (2 ast, 2 stl), Dylan Lee 2 (1 reb, 1 stl), Brandyn Parker (1 ast).

G1: CHRISTIAN 63, Las Vegas RIVER VALLEY 52 – Sure-handed TRAVIS BALLARD, a 6-foot-4 senior, hit 12 of 20 shots from the field and 6 of 7 free throws for 30 points in Saturday’s (Dec. 26) Las Vegas Invitational. Ballard also banged the boards for 14 rebounds and blocked a shot.

“Ballard is obviously our best weapon,” said Christian assistant coach TIM BROWN. “People think he scores inside the paint, but he’s also dangerous from 15 feet on in.”

DOMINIC SAFARTA hit a trio of 3-pointers for 9 points to go along with 4 assists.

DAVID TODD JEREMIAH chipped in with 8 points, 9 rebounds and 3 steals.

Christian took a 15-8 lead over the Las Vegas locals and extended their advantage to 50-33 after three quarters.

Christian: Travis Ballard 30 (14 reb, 1 blk), Dominic Safarta 9 (4 ast), Layne Larsen 8 (3 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl), David Todd Jeremiah 8 (9 reb, 3 stl), Garrett Nielsen 4 (2 reb), Kyle Stowers 2 (5 reb, 4 ast), Jacob Sandusky 2 (6 reb, 1 ast), Grant Taylor (2 reb).

G2:Pico Rivera EL RANCHO 71, CHRISTIAN 41 – The Patriots showed the wear of being on the road for six hours and playing earlier in the day in the Las Vegas Invitational.

Once again it was TRAVIS BALLARD at the offensive helm with 21 points. He hit 7 of 16 from the field and 6 of 7 free throws. He was also a bigtime bandit on the boards with 11 rebounds, including 8 offensive ricochets off the glass.

“El Rancho had too much energy, tempo and intensity for us to keep pace with,” assistant coach TIM BROWN said. “Our guys could never get into any flow or rhythm.”

Christian: Travis Ballard 21 (11 reb, 1 ast), Layne Larsen 8 (2 reb, 2 ast), Kyle Stowers 4 (4 reb, 4 ast), David Todd Jeremiah 3 (5 reb), Jacob Sandusky 2 (1 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk), Jackson Larsen 2 (1 stl), Grant Taylor 2 (2 reb, 1 blk), Dominic Safarta (1 reb, 1 ast), Garrett Nielsen (2 reb).

GROSSMONT 63, MONSIGNOR McCOY (Canada) 32 – The Grossmont Foothillers (8-3) clobbered the Canadians 29-6 in the first quarter and then basically emptied the bench thereafter in Saturday’s (Dec. 26) opening round of the Spartan Classic in Chula Vista.

Senior nugget TOMMY RUTHERFORD played little more than 11 minutes in the contest, producing 12 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 block.

HUNTER GAINES hit a pair of 3s on his way to a 10 point finish for the Foothillers.

Grossmont: Tommy Rutherford 12 (8 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk), Hunter Gaines 10 (3 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Marquise Purnell 8 (3 reb), Branik Brown 8 (2 reb), Jeremiah Appleton 7 (2 ast, 1 stl), Hunter Mulder 6 (4 reb), Jonah Hebel 4 (4 reb, 1 ast), Dayveion Crawford 3, Matt Murray 2 (2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Jacob Niskey 2 (1 reb), Damageae Gant 1.

VALHALLA 66, CASTLE PARK 39 – The Norsemen dribbled into the lead, taking a 40-20 halftime edge over Castle Park in Saturday’s (Dec. 26) first round of the Montgomery Holiday Classic at Montgomery.

COLE HENDERSON shoveled the way with 20 points, including hitting 3 of 5 from 3-point land. He also hit 5 of 6 free throws and ripped off 8 rebounds.

JOHN MURAD snaked in 11 points, snagged 6 rebounds, dished 4 assists and made 2 steals.

MATTHEW SAKO rolled a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds, while MALIQUE SHAW collected 8 caroms and CHRIS ATTIQ grabbed 10 rebounds and 5 assists.

Valhalla has a deep roster as they maintained their pace despite have three players involved in the Friday Night Lights All-Stars football game.

Valhalla: Cole Henderson 20 (8 reb, 2 ast, 2 blk), John Murad 11 (6 reb, 4 ast, 2 stl), Matthew Sako 10 (10 reb, 2 stl), Nathan Yousif 9 (5 reb, 6 ast, 3 stl), Kai Komaki 7 (6 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl, 1 blk), Malique Shaw 6 (8 reb, 4 blk), Chris Attiq 2 (10 reb, 5 ast, 2 stl, 1 blk), Ivan Habib 1 (2 reb), Christian White (4 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl).

MOUNT MIGUEL 61, CLAIREMONT 47 – In almost a routine outing for DARIAN NORWOOD, the 6-foot-4 junior generated a double-double of 20 points and 16 rebounds in Saturday’s (Dec. 26) opening round of the Montgomery Holiday Classic at Montgomery.

The Matadors used a 21-7 second quarter to turn the game into a blowout.

TREVON ALLEN pitched in 13 points, while MARQUIS NEAL added 10 more for the Matadors.

MOUNT MIGUEL: Darian Norwood 20 (16 reb, 2 ast, 4 stl), Trevon Allen 13 (4 reb, 3 stl), Marquis Neal 10 (4 reb), Trannell Hudson 8 (1 reb, 2 stl), Taj Tucker 6 (6 ast, 2 stl), Chris Thompson 4 (1 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Raymond Lucas (2 reb), Justice Chima (1 ast, 1 stl).

MONTGOMERY 52, EL CAPITAN 48 – KADE KYGAR poured in 19 points and DONALD IRVIN dropped in 16 more, but it still wasn’t enough as the Vaqueros could not keep Montgomery off the offensive glass in Saturday’s (Dec. 26) opening round of the Montgomery Holiday Classic at Montgomery.

Irvin launched four 3-pointers and Kygar hit three. Kygar was also 6 for 9 from the free throw line.

With 38 seconds left and the Aztecs leading 50-48, El Capitan missed the game tying shot and Pedro Kalib landed a pair of free throws with 8 seconds remaining to seal the deal.

El Capitan: Kade Kygar 19 (4 reb, 4 ast, 1 stl), Donald Irvin 16 (5 reb, 1 ast, 3 stl), Dominic Iudiciani 8 (6 reb, 4 ast, 2 stl), Devin Dulay 2 (3 reb, 1 ast), Brendon Head 2 (1 reb), Danny Estrada 1 (r reb, 1 ast), Colton Sandoval (3 reb), Ren Neuhoff (1 reb).

VISTA 76, MONTE VISTA 60 – The Vista Panthers landed 13 three-pointers and 15 of 15 free throws to send the Monte Vista Monarchs reeling in Saturday’s (Dec. 26) Montgomery Holiday Classic.

“It seems like they didn’t miss a shot all night,” said Monarchs coach MIKE TULLY. “They’re the best shooting team we’ve faced.

“We got it down to 38-33 late in the second quarter and then Cameron Henry (who hit 7 treys in the game) hit back-to-back 3-pointers which were about 4 feet behind the line.”

Henry finished with 7 three-pointers.

For Monte Vista BO RANKINS led the way with 23 points and DEONDRE McHAYLE came off the injury list to contribute 12 points, including a pair of treys and 4 of 5 free throws.

“McHayle had a calf injury and a knee ligament strain,” said Tully, noting that McHayle played a knee brace.

“We’re going to bring him along slowly and hope he

TERRY BONE pitched in 10 points for the Monarchs.

Monte Vista: Bo Rankins 23, Deondre McHayle 12, Terry Bone 10, Shai Stevenson 6, Tre Owens 5, Kelton Vun 3, Adrian Bass 2.