Kelly, Cossio lift Eagles to road win, first in Valley

By Bill Dickens
Updated: February 6, 2016

2015-16 EAST COUNTY PREP BOYS BASKETBALL

By Bill Dickens

© East County Sports.com

SPRING VALLEY (2-6-16) — In a battle of Grossmont Valley League leaders, visiting Granite Hills came away the winner on a clutch 3-point bucket by DARIEN COSSIO with 4.1 seconds remaining in Friday’s (Feb. 5) showdown.

It was Cossio’s fourth 3-pointer of the evening, which propelled the Eagles into sole possession of the GVL lead via a 59-55 nod over the Monarchs.

Monte Vista and Granite Hills compete Friday night in Spring Valley.

“It was easily the biggest shot of my career,” Cossio said of his game winner that was capped by JORDEN ROGERS’ free throw with one second left.

In discussing his game-winning launch from the right wing, Cossio talked about the simplicity of his victory bucket.

“I just let it fly,” he said. “It was kinda surreal because I just kind of blocked out the crowd and focused on my shot. When I let it go I was pretty sure it was gonna fall. It felt good off the release, and I followed it all the way, knowing it was going to go through.”

Cossio finished with 13 points.

RYAN KELLY set a Granite Hills record as he nailed 10 of 11 free throws on his way to a game high 23 points. He completed a double-double with 13 rebounds.

More than that for Kelly, this was a monumental outing. He made 8 straight free throws in this game, which stretched his Granite Hills season record to 28 in a row before he missed the mark early in the fourth quarter at Monte Vista.

“It was easy to attack the Monte Vista offense,” Kelly said. “They were in a zone which was weak at the bottom so we were able to use lob passes to get the ball inside.”

Granite Hills and Monte Vista battle for control.

DAVID SETTERBERG added 12 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals for Granite Hills.

The Eagles took an early 27-16 advantage over the Monarchs, but that lead didn’t hold up until late in the third quarter. After Cossio buried a trey to stretch the Eagles’ lead to 48-44, then Monte Vista’s TERRY BONE answered with a triple of his own to cut the Eagles lead to 48-47.

After that it was chip shots back and forth.

Following a pair of free throws by Kelly which put Granite Hills ahead at 55-53, DEONDRE McHAYLE countered with a tying bucket for the Monarchs to make it 55-all.

Then it was a chance for Cossio to be a hero and he came through with the game-winning long ranger.

SHAI STEVENSON paced the Monarchs with 19 points, while TRE OWENS contributed 10 markers. McHayle finished with 9 points and 9 rebounds.

“I was proud of the way our guys kept their composure,” said Eagles coach RANDY ANDERSON.

Granite Hills: Ryan Kelly 23 (13 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Darien Cossio 13 (3 reb), David Setterberg 12 (8 reb, 4 ast, 3 stl), Cameron Spitzer 9 (2 reb), Dylan Garcia (3 reb), Jorden Rogers 1, Jacob Burton (7 reb, 1 stl).

Monte Vista: Shai Stevenson 19 (3 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl, 2 blk), Tre Owens 10 (4 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Deondre McHayle 9 (9 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl), Bo Rankins 9 (2 reb, 1 blk), Terry Bone 8 (2 reb, 1 ast).

WEST HILLS 58, STEELE CANYON 47 – There are bigger players in the Grossmont Conference than BRYCE PARSONS, but few players his size are as dominating.

The 6-foot-2 scrappy senior scored a game high 24 points, grabbed 9 rebounds and notched 3 steals in Friday’s (Feb. 5) Grossmont Hills League activity against visiting Steele Canyon.

Parsons pounded the paint and paved the perimeter, hitting 8 of 14 shots from the floor.

In a previous game, Grossmont’s 6-foot-10 center TOMMY RUTHERFORD praised Parsons, saying, “If this guy were 6-foot-7 he’d be a D-I player for sure.”

No question Parsons was the main cog in the Wolf Pack’s latest conquest.

“We were down by one point with 2 minutes to go,” said Cougars coach DEREK STEPHENS. “Then we give West Hills a wide open 3-point shot and (KYLE) RUIZ connected. Suddenly we’re playing chase.”

JAVON NUTTER led the Cougars with 16 points.

Nobody else reached double scoring digits.

“We missed most of our layups and that really hurt,” Stephens added.

West Hills: Bryce Parsons 24 (9 reb, 1 ast, 3 stl, 1 blk), Kyle Ruiz 9 (6 reb, 1 ast, 3 stl), Spencer Moyer 6 (3 reb, 1 stl), Chris Moyer 6 (7 reb, 1 stl, 1 blk), Marco Ovies 5 (1 reb, 8 ast), Scott Wheeler 3 (1 reb), D’Ante Hill 3 (3 reb, 1 stl), Marquell Cool 2 (1 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Cameron Barry (1 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk), Miguel Nava (1 reb, 1 stl, 1 blk), Nathan Ball (1 reb).

Steele Canyon: Javon Nutter 16, Marcus White 9, Nick Hodge 6, Jalen Sayles 5, Thomas Fishburne 5, Gage Sanders 3, Amir Harris 2, Kyree Woods 1.

— Bill Dickens, © East County Sports.com

SANTANA 72, EL CAJON VALLEY 40 – The Santana Sultans traveled to El Cajon Valley to take on the Braves, Friday (Feb.5) in a Grossmont Valley league clash and were able to come away with the convincing 72-40 victory.

It was a pretty even game the entire first half as the Braves, despite being outmanned, were able to keep things close as they trailed 16-10 after the first period and 29-21 at the break.

For the Sultans it was SAGE HICKS who paced them with 16 points. He had help as FRANKIE GUTIERREZ and MITCHELL MILLER also poured in double digits with 11 and 10 points respectively.

Keeping the mighty Braves in the game was the trio of GREG JONES who canned 12, AHMAD SULYMAN who scored 11 and HUSSEIN AL-ANEZI scoring 10. Unfortunately it wasn’t enough as they ran out of gas in the second half as they were outscored 43-16.

DANIEL STOKES was a beast on the boards for the Braves, yanking down 19 rebounds.

On another note, the Sultans found out they would be awarded a forfeit victory from when they played Vincent Memorial early in the season.

Santana: Sage Hicks 16 (8 reb, 3 stl, 2 ast, 1 blk), Frankie Gutierrez 11 (5 reb, 3 stl, 7 ast), Mitchell Miller 10 (5 reb, 7 stl, 4 ast), Trent Baugh 8 (5 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl), Anthony Romero 7 (4 reb, 1 ast), Noah Nunez 6 (3 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), John Bobof 6 (6 reb, 1 stl), Taylor Rivers 6 (2 reb), Cooper Mendoza 2 (1 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk), Trent Forster 2, Dylan Brown 1.

El Cajon Valley: Greg Jones 12 (6 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk), Ahmad Sulyman 11 (5 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Hussein Al-Anezi 10 (2 reb), Hasan Alhasan 5 (3 reb, 5 ast), Daniel Stokes 2 (19 reb, 1 ast), Ali Asawafi (3 reb, 2 ast)

— Adam Paul, © East County Sports.com

El Capitan goes up with a shot against Mount Miguel on Friday night.

EL CAPITAN 64, MOUNT MIGUEL 54 – The El Capitan Vaqueros presented coach FRANK QUINONES with a special birthday present in Friday’s (Feb. 5) Grossmont Valley League action that produced a victory.

“It was a nice win for the team and a nice win for me,” Quinones said. “Collectively it was probably the best game we’ve played all year.”

One of the unsung standouts was DEVIN DULAY, who finished with 10 points, took 5 charges, grabbed 4 rebounds and dished 5 assists for the Vaqueros.

“Dulay is a warrior,” Quinones noted. “If I asked him to run through a wall, he’d probably ask ‘How big do you want the hole?’”

DONALD IRVIN paced the Vaqueros with 15 points, the majority coming on 3 triples.

KADE KYGAR, wh has been playing with a dislocated thumb, also pitched in 15 points, the majority coming on 3 treys. He also grabbed 6 rebounds.

DOMINIC IUDICIANI rolled a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds, and dished 6 assists.

TAJ TUCKER nailed 5 treys on his way to a 19 point contribution for Mount Miguel, while TREVON ALLEN and DEVON BROWN each posted 10 markers.

A nagging back injury kept DARIAN NORWOOD on the shelf, which took a giant bite out of the Mount Miguel offense.

El Capitan: Kade Kygar 15 (6 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl), Donald Irvin 15 (2 reb, 2 stl), Dominic Iudiciani 13 (10 reb, 6 ast, 2 stl), Devin Dulay 10 (4 reb, 5 ast, 5 charges), Brendon Head 5 (3 reb), Danny Estrada 4 (4 reb, 2 ast), Ren Neuhoff 2 (2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Carson Tabor (1 stl), Jacob Lopez (1 ast), Colton Sandoval (1 ast).

Mount Miguel: Taj Tucker 19 (3 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Trevon Allen 10 (6 reb, 1 stl), Devon Brown10 (7 reb), James Allen 9 (5 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Justice Chima 3 (4 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl), Marquis Neal 3.

El Capitan: Kade Kygar 15 (6 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl), Donald Irvin 15 (2 reb, 2 stl), Dominic Iudiciani 13 (10 reb, 6 ast, 2 stl), Devin Dulay 10 (4 reb, 5 ast, 5 stl), Brendon Head 5 (3 reb), Danny Estrada 4 (4 reb, 2 ast), Ren Jeuhoff 2 (2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Carson Tabor (1 stl), Jacob Lopez (1 ast), Colton Sandoval (1 ast).

KEARNY 67, CHRISTIAN 54 – Three weeks ago, the Christian Patriots lost to Kearny by 22 points. On Friday (Feb. 5), the Patriots closed the gap, but could not get any closer than six points en route to a 67-54 loss in Central league play at the Ryan Athletic Center.

Three Patriots (16-8, 6-3 Central) got into double figures led by KYLE STOWERS with 16 points. JACKSON LARSON and TRAVIS BALLARD had 15 and 10 respectfully.

The Patriots will try to get back on the winning tracks when they host Coronado on Tuesday at the Ryan Athletic Center at 6:30 p.m.

Christian: Kyle Stowers 16 (5 reb, 6 ast), Jackson Larson 15 (4 stl, 2 ast), Travis Ballard 10 (5 reb, 1 stl), Domanic Safarta 5 (1 reb), Joe Vrzich 3 (1 reb), Grant Taylor 2 (2 reb, 2 stl), David Jeremiah 2 (1 reb), Daniel Welch 1 (1 reb), Dominic Bristol 0 (4 reb), Jacob Sandusky 0 (2 reb).