Foothillers easily win Spartan tournament in mismatch

By Bill Dickens
Updated: December 31, 2015

2015-16 EAST COUNTY PREP BOYS BASKETBALL

By Bill Dickens
© East County Sports.com
CHULA VISTA (12-31-15) — Six-foot-10, 205-pound senior TOMMY RUTHERFORD, who is bound for UC Urvine, helped the Grossmont Foothillers destroy O’Farrell 63-17 in Wednesday’s (Dec. 30) Spartan Classic championship in Chula Vista.

Rutherford knocked down 15 shots from the field and 6 of 6 free throws.

He was a brute on the boards, snaring 23 rebounds and blocking 2 shots.

Some might criticize Grossmont coach FRANK FOGGIANO for leaving Rutherford in the game when his Foothillers used a 22-1 second quarter to turn the game into a blowout.

“Tommy works so hard that he deserves to play,” the veteran coach said. “So I let him go until I took him out in the fourth quarter.

Thirteen Foothillers participated in the victory march. Everybody contributed to the cause as the Foothillers improved to 12 -3.

Grossmont: Tommy Rutherford 36 (23 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl, 2 blk), Matt Murray 6 (2 reb), Ryan Shirley 6 (2 ast, 1 stl), Hunter Mulder 4 (2 reb), Hunter Gaines 3 (3 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Branik Brown 3 (4 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Jonah Hebel 3 (1 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Franklin Golojuch 2 (1 reb), Jeremiah Appleton (2 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl), Damageae Gant (3 reb), Marquise Purnell (2 reb, 1 stl), Jacob Niskey (2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Dayveion Crawford (1 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl).

CHRISTIAN 64, CHADWICK 61 – The Patriots split four games in the Las Vegas Invitational, including Wednesday’s (Dec. 30) 64-61 victory over the Palos Verdes Peninsula Chadwick Dolphins.

TRAVIS BALLARD was the driving force for Christian (9-5) as he drilled in 24 points, grabbed 8 rebounds, dished an assist and blocked a shot. He hit 11 of 19 shots from the shots from the field.

The guys won a close one today,” said Patriots assistant coach TIM BROWN. “They closed the game well, executed well at the end.”

KYLE STOWERS, who is known more for his baseball expertise, scored a season high 15 points.

Christian: Travis Ballard 24 (8 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk), Kyle Stowers 15 (2 reb, 5 ast, 1 stl), Dominic Bristol 7 (7 reb, 1 blk), Jacob Sandusky 7 (4 reb), Layne Larsen 5 (1 reb, 2 stl), David Todd Jeremiah 2 (5 reb, 1 ast), Grant Taylor 2 (1 ast, 1 stl), Garrett Nielsen 2 (1 stl), Dominic Safarta (4 reb, 1 ast).

MOUNT MIGUEL 59, MONTGOMERY 58 – One of the kings of double-double DARIAN NORWOOD turned the trick again with 26 points and 14 rebounds as the Matadors won the 7^th place game in Wednesday’s (Dec. 30) Montgomery Holiday Classic.
CHRIS THOMPSON scored 15 points to contribute to the Matadors’ totals.

The Matadors rallied from an 18-7 deficit.

“Montgomery sat in a 2-3 zone, just daring us to shoot,” said Matadors coach JAY ROWLETT. “We started off slow, in the first quarter we couldn’t hit anything. In the second quarter we picked it up – outscored them 20-6 and pretty much kept the lead.

“At the end they got off a halfcourt shot but thank goodness it didn’t go in.”

Mount Miguel: Darian Norwood 26 (14 reb, 2 ast, 4 stl), Chris Thompson 15 (3 ast, 1 stl), Taj Tucker 6 (5 ast, 2 stl), Trevon Allen 5 (7 reb), Justice Chima 4 (5 reb), Marquis Neal 3 (1 reb), Andre Cox (2 ast, 1 stl), Trannell Hudson (1 ast, 1 stl), Raymond Lucas (1 reb).

CAMARILLO 61, HELIX 59 (OT) – The visiting Helix Highlanders were stung by the Camarillo Scorpions in Tuesday’s (Dec. 30) Mt. Carmel Holiday Hoops Classic overtime championship in North County in more ways than one.

With the Highlanders nursing a 51-49 lead at the buzzer, the Highlanders thought they had won, but the men in stripes didn’t see it that way. They whistled a foul on Helix, sending the Scorpions to the free throw line.

The Camarillo shooter made both shots, sending the game into a 4 minute overtime at 51-all.

Helix tried to keep pace as JAMAR WYNN two 3s and DYLAN LEE made 2 free throws.

But the die was cast and Camarillo took a 10-8 lead in the extra session to squeeze out their 13^th win in 16 decisions.

MALIK TAMBWE and JUSTIN FLISHER were named to the all tournament team.

Lee finished with 20 points for Helix and JAYLEN ARNOLD rolled a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds, while ISAIAH WOODEN pitched in 10 points.

Helix: Dylan Lee 20 (8 reb, 5 ast, 2 stl), Jaylen Arnold 11 (11 reb, 1 ast, 3 stl), Isaiah Wooden 10 (3 reb, 4 ast, 3 stl), Jamar Wynn 8 (2 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl), Malik Tambwe 6 (3 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 2 blk), Justin Flisher 4 (4 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk), Brandyn Parker 3 (1 reb, 1 ast), Amari Green 1 (2 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl).

MONTE VISTA 81, EC-SOUTHWEST 63 – After a paltry 2-10 start the Monte Vista Monarchs posted their second straight win in Wednesday’s (Dec. 30) Montgomery Holiday Classic.

SHAI STEVENSON carried the torch for the Monarchs with 22 points, 13 rebounds, 4 steals and 2 assists. In the last three games Stevenson has scored 61 points, cleared 41 rebounds, dished 12 assists and pirated 9 steals.

DEONDRE McHAYLE, who is nursing leg injuries, continues to overcome the maladies with 18 points and 14 rebounds for the Monarchs (4-10).

BO RANKINS contributed a double-double of his own, pouring in 17 points and scraping off 12 rebounds.

Monte Vista outscored the Eagles 50-19 in the middle two quarters, turning the game into a rout.

“Our kids played hard, which is something we haven’t done on a regular basis,” said Monarchs coach MIKE TULLY.

Monte Vista finished with a season high 81 points in the victory.

Monte Vista: Shai Stevenson 22 (13 reb, 2 ast, 4 stl), Deondre McHayle 18 (14 reb, 3 ast, 3 stl), Bo Rankins 17 (12 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl), Tre Owens 9 (2 reb, 5 ast, 2 stl), Adrian Bass 6 (5 reb, 2 stl), Dylan Ayers 5 (3 reb), Kelton Vun 4 (2 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl), Tre Koita (5 reb).

WALDON CREEK 66, GRANITE HILLS 55 – Fouls took a bite out of Granite Hills chances against Waldon Creek in Wednesday’s (Dec. 30) Las Vegas Invitational consolation championship.

Despite trying to dodge the referees’ whistles the Eagles were limited poor shooting and so-so rebounding.

On the surface JACOB BURTON had 15 rebounds to go with 9 points, and DAVID SETTERBERG added 13 points and 6 rebounds.

ERIN SWINSON had his best game of the season with 11 points and 3 rebounds.

“We were leading at halftime (31-26), but we had a lot of fouls called in the second half,” said Eagles assistant coach DAN DUFFY. “All three of our big men were in foul trouble. Two of them fouled out and one had four fouls.”

Granite Hills: David Setterberg 13 (6 reb, 2 stl, 1 blk), Erin Swinson 11 (3 reb), Jacob Burton 9 (15 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk), Cameron Spitzer 9 (2 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl), Dylan Garcia 6 (4 reb), Ryan Kelly 4 (4 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Darien Cossio 3 (3 reb, 1 ast, 2 blk), Jorden Rogers (1 reb).

PERRIS 75, STEELE CANYON 66 – Steele Canyon put together the scoring 1-2 punch of GAGE SANDERS and MARCUS WHITE but the Cougars couldn’t keep pace in the high scoring affair against Perris in Wednesday’s (Dec. 30) Mt. Carmel Holiday Hoops Classic.

Sanders nailed 6 three-pointers to finish with 23, and White put together one of his best games with 20 points.

TYLER SMITH added 17 points to the scoring parade.

“We had pretty good offense,” said Cougars coach DEREK STEPHENS, “but didn’t play hard on the defensive end. Basically we were too soft. We fouled across the board and that’s hard to overcome when you’re giving away free points.”

Steele Canyon: Gage Sanders 23, Marcus White 20, Tyler Smith 17, Kyree Woods 4, Nick Barns 2.

FOOTHILLS CHRISTIAN 69, ARMY-NAVY 52 – T.J. Leaf had 16 points, 5 assists and four steals, while Luis Salgado added 14 points and 10 rebounds in the 3^rd place game of the Under Armour Holiday Classic at Torrey Pines.

VISTA 63, VALHALLA 44 – Vista outscored the Norsemen, 15-3, in the fourth period of the Montgomery Holiday Classic game.

EASTLAKE 66, EL CAPITAN 49 – No report received for this Montgomery Holiday Classic contest.