Foothillers find foundation in fourth against Helix

2015-16 EAST COUNTY PREP BOYS BASKETBALL

 

By Ramon Scott

© East County Sports.com

LA MESA (1-23-16) —  The Helix Highlanders put a four-man clamp on Grossmont Foothillers’ star TOMMY RUTHERFORD whenever he got the ball down low in the first half.

It took the Hillers’ do-everything guard JEREMIAH APPLETON to help take the shackles off the Grossmont big man in the second half in time for the visitors to escape the Highlanders’ gym with a 49-43 Grossmont Hills League win Friday night.

Appleton kept Grossmont in the game with six points in the first half, as the Foothillers’ trailed 26-20 at intermission, then helped the visitors extend the floor with his play-making ball movement in the second half to get Rutherford free of the previously smothering Highlanders.

The UC Irvine-bound center scored 19 of his 23 points in the second half, including 15 of the Foothillers’ 17 points in the fourth period, as Grossmont extended its win streak to nine games, snapping Helix’s five-game win string.

HUNTER GAINES gave the Foothillers an early 5-2 lead in the first with a three-pointer, but Helix would tie the score, 10-10, late in the first on a three from JAYLEN ARNOLD.

In the second, Helix’s collapsing defense finally started to show some cracks when Rutherford broke free of the traffic for a dunk to tie the game, 16-16, nearly midway through.

Helix would surge to the lead before half when JUSTIN FLISHER created his shot, putting up a spectacular missive high off the glass while showing some hang time, giving Helix a 19-18 lead with 2:35 to go before intermission.

JAMAR WYNN, who led Helix with 16 points, hit a three-pointer with just over a minute to go before halftime, giving the Highlanders a 24-18 lead.

Grossmont wasted no time getting back into the game in the third, scoring the first six points and forcing a Helix timeout not even two minutes into the period.

The game remained a nip-and-tuck affair for much of the third, as the scored remained tied, 30-30, late in the third, then ALEX LILLIARD gave Grossmont a 32-30 lead which it would not relinquish.

Rutherford had 12 of his game-high 18 rebounds in the second half. His home-crowd silencing rebound and putback gave Grossmont a 45-38 edge with 1:38 left in the game.

Wynn hit a three to bring Helix to within 45-41 with :41 left. Flisher finished with eight points for Helix, while Gaines had six points for Grossmont.

It was Appleton, however, that continued to extend Helix’s offense with his quick steal attempts that turned into deflections. By that time, Rutherford was controlling the middle, leaving the Highlanders with less-than-optimum shot attempts.

The Foothillers won last season’s meetings 64-49 and 48-38. The teams meet again on Feb. 12 at the Hillers’ gym.

Grossmont:  Tommy Rutherford 23 (22 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl, 7 blk), Jeremiah Appleton 11 (2 reb, 4 ast, 4 stl), Matt Murray 4 (6 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Hunter Gaines 6 (2 reb, 2 ast, 4 stl), Branik Brown 3 (3 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Alex Lilliard 2 (2 reb).

 

Helix:  Jamar Wynn 19 (2 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Justin Flisher 8 (4 reb, 1 ast), Malik Tambwe (2 reb), Jaylen Arnold 6 (14 reb, 3 ast, 4 stl), Carson Baker 6 (5 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl), Amari Green 3 (4 ast, 1 stl), Dylan Lee 2 (2 reb), Isaiah Wooden (1 stl).

 

 

 

 

SANTANA 58, GRANITE HILLS 55 – Granite Hills turned in a powerful fourth quarter charge but it was not enough to send Santana to the sidelines in a Grossmont Valley League contest Friday night (Jan. 22) in Santee.

 

The Sultans (9-8, 1-1 GVL) planned to climb into a share for the Grossmont Valley League title, while Granite Hills came up short.

 

Two Sultans scored in double digits as MITCHELL MILLER with 19 points and DAULTON BARRY with 14 led the charge. Santana led the majority of the night but narrowly maintained the lead.

 

The Eagles trailed 26-21 at halftime.

 

It was a foul fest as Santana went to the free throw line 40 times, but made only 12. Granite Hills was 12-for-28 from the stripe.

 

In an effort to rebound the Eagles attempted to turn things around in the fourth quarter as they outscored Santana 23-14, but it wasn’t enough.

 

DAVID SETTERBERG finished with 15 points, DARIEN COSSIO with 10 and RYAN KELLY with 10 for Granite Hills.

 

Santana:  Mitchell Miller 19 (4 reb, 1 stl), Daulton Barry 14 (2 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl), Rivers 8 (9 reb, 1 ast), Trent Baugh 6 (7 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk), John Bobof 4 (4 reb, 1 ast), Anthony Romero 4 (1 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk), Sage Hicks 4 (3 reb, 2 ast).

 

Granite Hills:  David Setterberg 15 (3 reb, 2 ast, 4 stl, 1 blk), Darien Cossio 10 (2 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk), Ryan Kelly 10 (3 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl, 1 blk), Cameron Spitzer 9 (1 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Jorden Rogers 5 (2 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl), Erin Swinson 4 (2 reb, 1 stl), Wyatt Mason 2, Dylan Garcia (1 reb), Mario Mezo (1 reb).

 

 

EL CAJON VALLEY 64, EL CAPITAN 49 – RONNE READUS controlled the paint as he pumped in 18 points, grabbed 17 rebounds and blocked 8 shots for the Braves, who hammered El Capitan in a key Grossmont Valley League victory Friday night (Jan. 22)

 

While Readus controlled the inside, AHMAD SULYMAN controlled the outside with 16 points, while HASAN ALHASAN dropped in 10 points.

 

“We are off to a good start,” said Braves coach SCOTTY JAMES. “We didn’t finish the game too well. It’s the first time we have had a big lead.”

 

El Capitan suffered a major injury when leading scorer KADE KYGAR went down with an apparent broken thumb. He was taken to the hospital for further examination.

 

El Cajon Valley:  Ronne Readus 18 (17 reb, 8 blk), Ahmad Sulyman 16 (3 reb, 2 ast), Hasan Alhasan 10, Dmir Witherspoon 9 (4 reb), Hussein Al-anezi 8, Ali Alsawafi 3 (1 ast), Greg Jones 3 (1 reb), Jeremiah Davis (4 reb), Daniel Stokes (1 reb).

 

El Capitan:  No report.

— Bill Dickens

 

MONTE VISTA 73, MOUNT MIGUEL 45 – The old saying about rivalry games such as Monte Vista against Mount Miguel is “You can throw the records out the window.”  Going into the game Mount Miguel was two games above .500, while Monte Vista was eight games below that mark.

 

Yeah, well give the Monarchs (6-13, 1-0 GVL) a decisive victory 73-45 at The Matadome in the first of two Battles of Spring Valley on Friday (Jan. 22).

 

The game was tight in the first half before the Monarchs pulled away.

 

Monte Vista and SHAI STEVENSON took control in the first quarter.  Stevenson went crazy in the opening quarter as he scored four points and pulled down five rebounds, stole the ball once, gave out a pair of dimes on a basket and blocked three shots.  That set him up for a near triple-double on the night as he finished with 20 points, 10 rebounds, seven steals, six assists and four blocked shots.

 

For the game, Stevenson, TRE OWENS (14), DEONDRE McHAYLE and TERRY BONE (both with 13) were all in double-figures for the game.

 

The second quarter was a thing of Maroon and Gold beauty.  Stevenson poured in seven points, BO RANKINS chipped in five points to help lead the Monarchs to a 21-18 quarter and a 33-28 lead at the break.

 

DARIAN NORWOOD put in seven points for the Matadors to try and get the Red and Black back into the game.  But with another four rebounds, three steals and seven more points Stevenson was having none of a Matador comeback.

 

Owens did the heavy lifting in the final quarter for the Monarchs as he had half of his 14 points in the last eight minutes.  He also collected a pair of rebounds, steals and blocks in the quarter.

 

The Monarchs will host El Cajon Valley next Friday, while the Matadors will travel to Sweetwater today at Noon.

 

Monte Vista: Shai Stevenson 20 (10 reb, 7 stl, 6 ast, 4 blk), Tre Owens 14 (9 reb, 5 stl, 3 ast, 2 blk), Terry Bone 13 (2 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk), Deondre McHayle 13 (6 reb, 1 ast, 2 blk), Bo Rankins 7 (9 reb, 4 blk), Adrian Bass 4 (3 reb, 1 ast), Kelton Vun 2 (2 reb, 1 stl, 1 ast), Tre Koita 0 (2 reb), Dylan Ayers 0 (1 reb), Donnie Gooden 0.

 

Mount Miguel: Darian Norwood 15 (7 reb, 2 stl, 1 blk), Trevon Allen 10 (4 reb, 3 stl, 1 ast), Devon Brow 9 (11 reb, 1 blk), Andres Cox 4 (2 reb), Taj Tucker 3 (2 reb, 2 stl), Tranell Hudson 2, Marquis Neal 2, Chris Thompson 0.

— Chris Davis

 

CHRISTIAN 64, CRAWFORD 50 – It wasn’t the prettiest of wins for the Christian High Patriots Friday night (Jan. 22), but as they say, a win is a win. The Patriots led wire to wire in a 63-50 Central League victory over visiting Crawford.

 

KYLE STOWERS found himself in early foul trouble for the Patriots, paving the way for freshman guard DOMINIC SAFARTA to get some significant time on the hardwood. Safarta wasn’t leading the starting corps for long though. After the Patriots built a 22-8 first quarter lead, cutting through Crawford defenders over and over again, coach BRAD BRISTOL used the rest of the night to rotate through a bulk of the Christian High roster.

 

TRAVIS BALLARD turned in an impressive double-double of 20 points on 7-10 shooting to go along with 13-rebounds in limited minutes. Sharpshooter LAYNE LARSEN connected on 3-5 shots from beyond the arc and DAVID TODD JEREMIAH added nine points to the Patriots cause.

 

Daniel Davis had a breakout game for the Colts, pouring home 21-points while grabbing 10-rebounds and five steals. Davis had little help offensively though as Ajak John was the only other Colt in double figures. John and Davis accounted for 31 of 50 Crawford points.

 

In total 11 different Patriots scored on the night in a game that was never as close as the final score indicates. A whopping 21 Patriot turnovers could be indicative of the number of players who saw playing time Friday night. The on-floor experience could be valuable for the Pats down the road, especially come playoff time when any minutes off the bench become extremely valuable for clubs that have expended energy over 25 or 30 games to that point.

 

With the win the Patriots move to 13-6 overall and 4-1 in Central League play. Christian heads to Madison next Tuesday (Jan. 26) to take on the Madison Warhawks whom, like the Patriots, suffered their only league loss to date at the hands of the Kearny Komets.

 

Christian:  Travis Ballard 20 (13 reb, 2 ast, 2 blk), Layne Larson 9 (3 reb), David Todd Jeremiah 9 (4 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Dominic Safarta 6 (4 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Dominic Bristol 4 (4 reb), Kyle Stowers 4 (5 reb, 1 ast), Jacob Sandusky 2 (2 reb, 1 stl), Garrett Nielsen 2 (2 reb), Joe Vrzich 2 (3 stl, 2 reb), Daniel Guerrero  1 (4 reb), Daniel Welch (5 reb).

— James McHugh

 

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