BOYS: Eagles beat Cougars at tourney

By Ramon Scott
Updated: December 22, 2019

2019 EAST COUNTY PREP BOYS BASKETBALL

EastCountySports.com staff report

GRANITE HILLS 67, STEELE CANYON 52 – Granite Hills’ McKay Roberts scored 21 points, six assists, seven steals, and six rebounds as the Eagles defeated the Cougars in a tournament contest on Saturday.

“We just started gelling as a team and it helps when anyone from the starting five can get you 20 points,” Roberts said. “It feels good also having a target on our backs come league because it just means we got to show out every night and compete.

“I’ve been injured on and off this season, too, so that doesn’t help but come league, we are ready to work and make a deep run in CIF.”

John Vrzich added 15 points and 10 rebounds and John Yakou finished with 12 points and six rebounds for the Eagles, who improved to 3-6 on the season.

“I think everyone on our squad is a key player and everyone does their jobs,” Vrzich said. “If we keep in doing what we are doing, we will be champions and get into CIF and maybe even get a ring.”

Granite Hills’ Trey Edmund had his best performance of the season with 11 points.

Caleb Erickson had a team-high 13 rebounds for Granite Hills.

Justus McComb had seven assists to lead the Eagles.

Steele Canyon fell to 1-9 overall.

EL CAPITAN 55, HEALTH SCIENCES 45 – Jake Pfitzner had 24 pts and 11 rebounds, while sophomore teammate Trevor Moklestad had a standout performance with 12 points for El Capitan at the Destined to be Stars Tournament at West Hills High on Saturday.

Pfitzner also had four assists and a blocked shot. He had four three-pointers in the first quarter but El Cap trailed, 14-12.

However, the Vaqueros outscored the Surgeons, 21-6, in the second quarter.

“Health Sciences gave us a fight for few quarters,” El Capitan head coach Elias Totah said. “Hats off to them for a battle. We played with a ton of energy in the second and fourth quarters.”

Sophomore Daisean Desinor added seven points for the Vaqueros, who improved to 7-5 overall. Junior Kalen Lavallais added six points and five rebounds for El Cap.

“Jake was playing with a rhythm on the offensive end,” Totah said. “But the bright spot today was forward Trevor Molklestad, who just looked comfortable. He’s a player that has a ton of IQ. He wants to be great and he pushes to do so. He’s going to be a great player and an even better young man.”

Moklestad also had a pair of blocked shots.

“I think that our program is going to surprise everybody this year,” Moklestad said. “We got some great senior leaders in Jaquori Harris, Jake Pfitzner, and Harrison Morton. I think the change that has been brought by the new coaching staff is very evident. The way they approach the players with respect makes us enjoy practices and being around one another much more. Just the great turn around the past few games is evident that we are only getting better. I can’t wait to see what the season has in store.”

MONTE VISTA 80, HIGH TECH CHULA VISTA 42 – At Olympian High, the Monarchs rolled to their ninth victory of the season by defeating the Bruins in a Grossmont Tournament game as Dyvarre Dawson had a big performance with 22 points to lead Monte Vista.

Dawson scored 14 points in the first half for the Monrchs, while teammate Ivan Maynard finished with 13 points in the contest, including three three-pointers.

“We haven’t been so lucky with injuries and sicknesses,” Maynard said. “But, we’re healing pretty well and should be ready by league. We’ve all been working hard and it paid off these last few games.

Sirr Young also knocked down a trio of trey en route to 11 points on the night, while teammate Cameron McKan also had 11 points for Monte Vista.

Lamonte Jenkins scored seven points for the Monarchs.

“We have good mindsets,” Maynard said. “We never quit and we play really hard. Like I’ve said before, our defense is what makes our offense stronger.”

Monte Vista will be back in action on Jan. 2 when it faces Hoover on the road at 5:30 p.m.

CHRISTIAN 70, LA JOLLA 54 – At the Grossmont Invitational, the Patriots defeated the host Vikings with a huge fourth quarter.

The score was tied 43-all entering the final period.

La Jolla jumped out to an 8-2 lead early.

Jake Tawhiao had a three-pointer in the second quarter but La Jolla still clung to a 32-29 lead at intermission.

Tawhiao had 12 points in the second half, while teammate Kobe Sanders added nine points after halftime to help the Patriot effort in the second half.

Sanders’ leadership was put on display late in the game yet again, knocking down huge crunch-time shots and igniting the defense, finishing with 18 points and 10 rebounds.

Tawhiao led the team with 21 points and five steals, his third straight game with 20-plus points and five-plus steals.

Vince Warren and Kobe Price both had three-pointers in the second half, as well, for the Patriots.

Price’s three got things started in the big fourth, then Warren added a two-pointer for a quick five-point advantage.

Sanders’ three-pointer with just over five minutes to play in the game extended the lead to 51-43.

Daesean Lynch, who finished seven points in the second half, made a basket for a 10-point Patriot edge.

Christian won despite a bad shooting night going 4-for-17 from behind the arc.

The 13th-ranked Patriots are now 7-2 overall.

Christian will face Mira Costa High on Thursday at 1:10 p.m. at the Holiday Classic at Cathedral Catholic High.

Tied at 43 going into the 4th, Christian tightened up their defense behind Desean Lynch and Jake Tawahio, outscoring La Jolla 27-11 in the 4Q to win 70-54.

Desean Lynch also finished in double figures with 10 points.

GROSSMONT 70, MADISON 67 – The Foothillers won at the Grossmont Holiday event by downing the Warhawks after trailing 35-29 at halftime.

Madison jumped out to a 10-4 lead early, then extended the advantage to 31-19 in the second quarter.

The Warhawks still led by double digits in the third quarter, taking a 45-31 lead but that’s when the Foothillers started to turn it around quickly.

Grossmont eventually took the lead 48-47 after three.

CORONADO 64, WEST HILLS 57 – After a near-flawless three quarters for the Wolf Pack, West Hills couldn’t hang against the Coronado Islanders in a Winter Classic matchup.

Imploring a box-and-one the whole night, the Pack kept one of San Diego’s top guards, Wayne McKinney, in check but he exploded for 16 fourth-quarter points for Coronado.

West Hills led 51-42 with 4 1/2 minutes to go but the Pack missed two front ends of 1-and-1s and both free throws on a two-shot foul in consecutive possessions.

Coronado went on a 7-0 run to end the game in the final minute.

“We slowly watched the game slip away,” West Hills head coach Tim Barry said.

Kyle Dobyns led West Hills with 26 points and 13 rebounds.

“The boys really battled during this tournament and played against some good teams,” Barry said. “We showed ourselves the ability to compete against some of the top teams within our division but have to grow before the playoffs and learn how to finish.

“I’m really happy with the boys’ efforts and progress. it’s going to be a nice week off then back to work in the Santana Tournament.”

The tournament runs from Jan. 1-4. West Hills will meet Victory Christian Academy on New Year’s Day at 4 p.m.

LINCOLN 75, HELIX 61 – The Hornets defeated the Highlanders in a game played at Sweetwater High as part of the Sweetwater Tournament.

Lincoln led 52-41 with one minute left in third quarter.

Reggie Evans led Lincoln with 33 points.

Helix, which fell to 7-6, will next play Mira Mesa on Thursday in the Mt. Carmel Holiday Hoops event.

CALEXICO 47, GROSSMONT 44 – The Bulldogs downed the Foothillers to improve to 11-2 overall on the season.

Grossmont fell to 4-6.

No other information was reported.

VISTA 62, SANTANA 52 – At the Titan Challenge at Poway High, the Panthers defeated the Sultans.

Santana fell to 1-11 overall but no other information was reported.

FOOTHILLS CHRISTIAN vs. PATRICK HENRY – The third-ranked Knights led big at halftime but no final score was reported