Wolf Pack, Vaqueros, Patriots, Knights win in MLK Day games

By Adam Paul
Updated: January 16, 2018

Foothills Christian warms up under the jumbotron at Orange Lutheran on Monday.

EAST COUNTY PREP BOYS BASKETBALL

By Adam Paul

EastCountySports.com

SAN DIEGO 72, STEELE CANYON 61

It was a special day for quite a few basketball teams in the County as many showcased their talents in the day-long MLK Showcase at Christian High School. Things got started as the Cavers took on the Cougars.

Early on in the contest, both teams went back and forth but towards the end of the first quarter in the final two minutes, the Cavers outscored the Cougars 11-4 to lead 21-13 after one period of play.

The Cougars bounced back in the early goings of the second quarter as they closed within 21-18 thanks to a 5-0 run and would eventually trail 26-23 with five minutes remaining in the half.

Steele Canyon finally got over the hump as they were able to tie and eventually take their first lead of the contest at the 4:20 mark 27-26. However, the Cavers hunkered down and blitzed their way to a 12-0 run to lead 40-30 at intermission. ‘

Things didn’t fare very well for the Cougars to start the second half as the Cavers would eventually push their run to 19-0 to stretch their lead 47-30.

Steele Canyon would eventually garner their first basket of the quarter with 5 minutes remaining on a three-pointer but it wasn’t enough as they trailed 58-44 heading into the final period.

San Diego in the final frame out-muscled the Cougars and would eventually, thanks to a 17-8 run, lead 70-61 with about minute to go in the contest.

Scoring wise for the Cougars, Kobe Sanders led with 13 points. For the Cavers, it was the big man Emanwel Henry who led all scorers with 28 points while Daniel Thomas chipped in with 14.

EL CAPITAN 60, CRAWFORD 54

In a contest that featured the old taking on the new in which the old referred to the Colts taking on their old head coach Jeff Bickford and his new squad the El Capitan Vaqueros. Bickford who had previously coached the Colts the last couple of years this year came back to the East County after taking the job at El Capitan.

That wrinkle definitely made the contest even more interesting as both squads really wanted to win.

Early on in the contest both teams really went back and forth and with about two minutes remaining in the first period would actually be tied 12-12. However, the Vaqueros would get the last bucket just before the quarter ended to lead 14-12.

Crawford in the second period would finally take their first lead of the contest with 4:20 remaining in the half as they led by a slim 19-16.

However, the Vaqueros woke up and used a 5-0 run to retake the lead 24-19 and eventually pushed that run upwards of 10-0 and 12-0 to lead 33-24 at the break.

Helping the Vaqueros cause in the second quarter, Jake Pfitzner who scored 8 points including a couple three-pointers.

The Vaqueros in the second half would eventually lead 42-29 but the Colts would pull within 43-38 thanks to an 8-1 run in the third quarter.

Leading the charge in the victory for the Vaqueros was Pfitzner who nailed 5 3-pointers on his way to scoring 19 points. Joining him in the double-digits points was Jaquori Harris who scored 14 points on the day.

WEST HILLS 63, SWEETWATER 54

Even when a team’s superstar has an off day do they find a way to grind out a victory. As was the case when the Wolf Pack took on the Red Devils as Cam Barry had an off day shooting wise.

The Red Devils in the first quarter jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead but the Wolf Pack regrouped and was able to get back in the contest. Sweetwater would lead 9-7 but West Hills behind a Barry layup with 3:40 to go tied the contest 9-9.

West Hills behind Barry and his 8 points and 4 rebounds in the first quarter would actually lead the Red Devils 13-11 after the first period.

The Wolf Pack started off the second quarter quickly as they jumped out to a 21-13 lead thanks to an 8-2 run. Sweetwater would change the momentum as they thwarted the Wolf Pack and pulled within 21-20.

West Hills in the final four minutes was able to outscore the Red Devils 10-6 to take a slim 23-20 lead into the break.

Barry for the Wolf Pack scored 15 points and grabbed 9 boards in the first half while Freshman Craig McMillan for Sweetwater scored 11 points and grabbed 4 rebounds.

After the intermission, both teams came out for the second half but it was the Red Devils who took advantage of their opportunities early on as they rushed out to a 9-2 run to take the lead 29-25.

But that didn’t stop the Pack as Barry nailed a three-pointer to pull within 29-28. West Hills would retake the lead as they push a 4-0 run to lead 32-29 but Sweetwater would eventually knot the score 32-32 with 2:30 remaining in the third quarter.

In the third quarter for the Pack, Matthew McDonald really stepped up as he scored 6 crucial points as West Hills led 39-37 heading into the final period.

West Hills in the fourth quarter would receive more help as freshman Kyle Dobyns canned 6 points as the offense of the Pack took advantage of opportunities.

The Wolf Pack on the offensive end would push what should have been a small run all the way to a 14-4 run with 3:00 remaining in the contest.

Despite only shooting 1 of 9 3-pointers, Barry led all scorers with 28 points and in fact had a double-double as he hauled in 18 boards. In the second half. he only made one field goal but was clutch from the charity stripe as he went a perfect 10-10.

Also coming up huge for the Wolf Pack was the trio of Dobyns who scored 8 points and also grabbed 6 rebounds, Chris Schroeder and Michael Totah who each had 6 points as did Adam Dillon and McDonald.

OTAY RANCH 81, SANTANA 69

Things in the first quarter for the Sultans were going their way as would lead 11-8 using a 4-0 run and would extend that lead to 18-12 on a 7-2 run.

The Mustangs turned the tables a little as they pushed back into the contest 18-17 with about a minute as they used a 5-0 run but the Sultans would get the last run of 6-0 to lead 24-17 after the first period.

The Mustangs came out in the second period on fire and made adjustments on the defensive end to rush out to a 33-29 lead as they outscored the Sultans 16-5. They eventually stretched that lead to 35-29 and take a 44-36 lead into the intermission.

Over the final couple of minutes of the second quarter, the Mustangs were able to outscore the Sultans 27-12.

Things didn’t get any better for Santana in the second half as the Mustangs kept the pressure and also the Sultans couldn’t find the basket.

Otay Ranch in the third quarter would outscore the Sultans 23-11 to lead 67-53 heading into the fourth quarter.

Despite four Sultans scoring double-digits, they couldn’t overcome their shooting woes as they only shot 18-57 from the field and also 8-25 from behind the arc. However, from the charity stripe, they went 23-34 on the night.

Leading the Sultans in scoring was Desmond Williams who tallied 22 points, Andrew Hitchcock who scored 15 points, TC Simmons who had 12 points and Nick Berhalter who scored 11 points.

Elsewhere…

CHRISTIAN 73, ARMY-NAVY 53 – In the late contest at the MLK event at Ryan Center, the host Patriots hot streak continued with the win over Army-Navy.

The score was tied 17-all at the end of one, but the Patriots surged to a 32-26 lead at intermission.

Christian (9-7) extended the lead to nine at the end of the third quarter, 46-37.

The Patriots (2-1 Eastern) will face Mira Mesa (8-11, 2-2) in a league contest on Tuesday at 5 p.m.

FOOTHILLS CHRISTIAN 84, LYNWOOD 42 – It was a battle of the Knights, as the San Diego County third-ranked FCHS Knights doubled up Lynwood High at the Adidas Hoopfest at Orange Lutheran High.

TAESHON CHERRY rocked his way to 35 points and 10 rebounds as Foothills Christian overwhelmed Lynwood.

Cherry had a steal and a buzzer-beating dunk to put Foothills Christian up 20-10 at the end of one period.

The Knights looked crisp as a team with passing, cutting and playmaking.

DERRICK CARTER-HOLLINGER had 16 points and 11 rebounds for FCHS in a strong performance.

YASSINE GHARRAM knocked down 14 points.

JAREN NAFARETTE added 13 points for Foothills. He and Cherry combined for 15 first-quarter points.

Foothills Christian has a home league game versus Bishop’s on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Cuyamaca College.