BOYS: Sultans stun Vaqueros in opener

By Ramon Scott
Updated: January 11, 2020

West Hills and Mount Miguel at center court on Friday.

2019 EAST COUNTY PREP BOYS BASKETBALL

EastCountySports.com staff report

EL CAJON – The No. 1-ranked St. Augustine Saints showed why they are the county’s top-ranked team by knocking off the host eighth-ranked Christian Patriots, 63-52, in the Western League opener at Ryan Athletic Center on Friday night.

Luke Haupt scored 19 points and Texas Tech-bound teammate Chibuzo Agbo added 14 points as the Saints led 15-10 at the end of the first period and never trailed the rest of the way.

Kobe Sanders had nine points in the first half for Christian High.

The Patriots were led in scoring by Vincent Warren, who finished with 11 points.

Vinny Signorelli had a three-pointer in the fourth quarter.

Tyson McWilliams added 11 points for the Saints.

WEST HILLS 56, MOUNT MIGUEL 43 – The Wolf Pack got 25 points and 16 rebounds from Kyle Dobyns in the Grossmont Hills League victory at Mount Miguel on Friday night.

I’m so proud that all 12 Wolf Pack Boys contributed in a big way,” West Hills head coach Tim Barry said. “Moun Miguel played so hard and competed to the third quarter but ultimately Kyle Dobyns was too much.”

Jayden Moreno had 13 points for West Hills, which had a big third quarter to turn a halftime deficit into a 46-37 lead.

Brendan Greene hit a pair of three-pointers in the fourth quarter for the Wolf Pack.

Cash Creighton had a three-pointer in the third quarter for West Hills.

Ashton Avestro and Eugene Vouaux both had five points for the Wolf Pack.

Mount Miguel had a pair of three-point field goals in the first quarter as the Matadors led 14-10.

Mount Miguel retained the lead at halftime, 30-28, as they had three three-pointers in the quarter.

Mount Miguel had another three-pointer in the third quarter, then a final trey in the fourth.

GRANITE HILLS 71, EL CAJON VALLEY 48 – The Eagles’ John Yakou scored 20 points, grabbed six rebounds, made three steals, had four assists and blocked two shots as Granite Hills won the Grossmont Valley League opener.

Senior McKay Roberts scored 17 points and handed out four assists for Granite Hills.

Deon Spear scored 15 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and had three assists for the Eagles.

Eric Hogan had nine rebounds for the Eagles.

Rebounding the ball was my turning point. Get every rebound whatever it takes.

“I take pleasure in playing defense and rebounding and have developed a strong work ethic and that pushes me to do what I can for the team,” Hogan said. “(El Cajon Valley) was playing a press up court leaving two-to-three players playing defense, so we ran up the court as fast as we could to score.”

Caleb Erickson had seven rebounds for the Eagles.

John Vrzich had seven points and six rebounds for Granite Hills.

“John Yakou had a great second half shooting,” Granite Hills head coach Dan Duffy said. “Eric Hogan had a great game on the boards and provided a great spark.”

HELIX 64, VALHALLA 43 – The Highlanders, who have something to prove with an all-road league schedule for the second straight season, won at Valhalla in the Grossmont Hills League opener.

Maurice Holmes led the Highlanders with 18 points.

“The Road Dogs are coming for a perfect 2020, no losses,” said Holmes.

Sammy Stewart added 13 points for the Highlanders.

Xavier Otis contributed nine points for Helix

Keishon Trice finished with eight points for the Highlanders.

“Tonight was a great team win,” Holmes said. “The keys to tonight’s victory were turning up our defense as the game played out. Really proud of Sammy, he played great on both ends tonight.

Valhalla made three three-pointers in the first quarter to trail just 14-11 at the end of the period.

Valhalla made nine three-pointers in the contest led by senior Justin Razooky’s three treys.

Joe Avalos and Altos Hanish both had a pair of triples.

Avalos finished with 12 points, while Hanish ended with eight points.

Santana’s Alden Rasmussen goes up with a shot against El Capitan. / photo by Ken Todd

Santana’s Carson Burton goes up against El Capitan. / photo by Ken Todd

SANTANA 63, EL CAPITAN 50 – The Sultans stunned the Vaqueros in the Grossmont Valley League opener.

Santana opened with a 9-0 run and never looked back.

“We started out the game flat,” El Capitan head coach Elias Totah said. “We couldn’t get over the hump and get into our flow. We started to play better into the third quarter and we cut the deficit to nine at one point. But offensive rebounding for Santana torched us and we had 22 turnovers.”

Jake Pfitzner scored 26 points for El Capitan.

Daisean Desinor added 10 points for the Vaqueros, who fell to 8-8 on the season.

“Santana was ready for us tonight,” Totah said. “They played their best basketball of the season. They were the exact opposite of the tape I watched.

“We were just uncharacteristic with the basketball but you have those moments. I anticipate our players bouncing back Tuesday night against Mount Miguel.”

Next up for the Vaqueros will be a game with the Matadors on Tuesday night.

Santana improved to 5-13 on the year. The Sultans will play at Monte Vista next Friday.

El Capitan and Santana tip off in Santee. / photo by Ken Todd

GROSSMONT 47, STEELE CANYON 31 – The Foothillers controlled this one, leading 26-12 by halftime of their Grossmont Hills League opener at the Cougars’ gym.

The Foothillers improved to 8-6 overall, while Steele Canyon fell to 2-10 overall.

Grossmont hit a three-pointer in the first quarter to take an 8-6 lead.

Another three-pointer from the Foothillers in the second quarter extended the rush to 15-6, then Grossmont knocked down another trey to make it 18-8.

In the third quarter, Grossmont had a three-pointer that made the lead 37-17.

The Hillers added a final trey in the fourth to make it 46-22.

Steele Canyon got three-point field goals from Fred Murry and Angel Raposa.

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