© East County Sports.com
CHULA VISTA (12-31-06) -- Two of the San Diego CIF giants collided in Saturday's (Dec. 30) championship game of the Spartan Classic at Chula Vista High.

Perennial power Helix proved to upstart Crawford that the Highlanders are still kings of the hill. On this night, for sure the Scotties were the Top Dawgs.

Leading by as many as 22 points in the second half, Helix (11-1) tamed the Colts 77-64.

It was the first time in the lengthy career of coach JOHN SINGER that his Highlanders have won three straight tournament championships. Prior to collecting the Spartan Classic gold, Singer's crew picked up the hardware for first-place finishes in the Hilltop Invitational and the Red Bluff Christmas Tournament.

"I really never thought about that," said Singer, who always focuses on the immediate rather than the past. "I guess it's a pretty big deal. It's nice for these kids -- they're the ones doing it."

Although Singer would not come out and say it, he believes the Highlanders' performance against Crawford to be the best of the year.

"I was impressed by our team defense and how we weathered their (the Colts') storm. They're gonna have their scoring runs, but you just have to fight through the waves," said Singer.

LAWRENCE HURDLE scored a career-high 34 points, hitting 14 of 23 shots from the field and all three of his free throw attempts. Nine of his points came from 3-point distance.

"They had no answer for Hurdle," Singer said. "They couldn't keep him from going to the basket."

Senior DAVID JEFFERSON, Helix's most physical player at 6-5, 215 pounds, clicked on 8 of 11 shots from the field and 3 of 4 free throws for 19 points.

Equally as impressive were Jefferson's game-high 14 rebounds and 6 assists.

Another key to the Highlanders' conquest of Crawford (9-3) was limiting national scoring leader Tyrone Shelley below his season averages of 38.4 ppg and 10 rpg. It's not like Helix shut out the 6-7, 225 Shelley, as he finished with 32 points and 10 rebounds. But Singer was satisfied that his club did contain the Crawford scoring machine.

"We put BRANDON FOUNTAIN, who's about a foot shorter (actually he's 6 feet tall) on Shelley, and he did a great job," Singer said. "It's not like Fountain did it alone because every time Shelley got the ball, he would get good help."

"We played a back-up, man-to-man and didn't go out and get them," added Singer, whose teams are known for their aggressive defensive style.

"He got a little frustrated I think," Singer said of Shelley. "He's a great player, a tremendous offensive force, but I think what we have at Helix is a team and that makes the difference."

Shelley connected on 11 of 23 shots from the field, including three 3-pointers.

Hurdle was named the tournament's most valuable player. Jefferson was also named to the all-tournament team, as was Shelley.

Helix scoring: Lawrence Hurdle 34, David Jefferson 19, Jordan Payton 6, Brandon Fountain 5, Donnie McGowan 5, Kareem Abukar 4, Dorian Staton 4.

MOUNT MIGUEL 65, EL CENTRO-CENTRAL 52 -- You've got to give Mount Miguel's TRAVON CAPLES credit for knowing how to follow instructions.

"We don't have any set plays for him," said Matadors coach JAY ROWLETT. "He just gets it off the glass and puts it in."

Caples was at his best in Saturday's (Dec. 30) final round of the Granite Hills Holiday Classic at Granite Hills, with a hefty double-double of 26 points and 26 rebounds.

"Caples had a great game, he was heating up the glass today," said Rowlett. "He doesn't shoot any jumpers. I told him not to -- he's a putback man. He's like our Ben Wallace, just goes in and gets it off the glass."

The 6-foot-2 Caples also drew his share of fouls and converted 12 of 15 free throws.

COURTNEY WRATHER added 14 points and 4 assists for the Matadors, while DEVYN MOORE had 3 steals.

With 4 minutes left Mount Miguel (9-5) was up by 18 points. Central Union (4-9) cut it to 10 with 2 minutes remaining. The outcome was never in doubt, however.

"We'd get a lead and they'd crawl back into it," Rowlett said.

Mount Miguel scoring: Travon Caples 26, Courtney Wrather 14, OC Basey 9, A.J. Stanford 7, Laron Rush 4, Ahmaad Nunley 4, Matt Miles 2, Devyn Moore 1.

MONTE VISTA 52, EL MODENA 44 -- Playing their 13th straight road game in Saturday's (Dec. 30) final round of the Mt. Carmel Holiday Hoops Classic, the Monarchs showed the Vanguards of Orange County's El Modena that they know a little something about defense.

"The overall team perspective is this was our best defensive performance. We held them to 14 points in the first half," said Monte Vista coach KEVIN MAHADY.

That computed to a 13-point lead for Monte Vista at the break. A 3-pointer by MIKE WATKINS with 1 second left in the half emphasized that the Monarchs were in control.

Although ROSHUN WYNNE scored only 4 points, Mahady was pleased with the other aspects of the senior point guard's game. The fact that Wynne turned the ball over only once was at the top of the list.

"Wynne normally scores more but he had 8 rebounds and 8 assists and only one turnover," Mahady remarked. "We challenged him before the game and he did a great job of getting the ball to people."

One of those people was JAMAR RANSOME, who converted 8 of 14 shots from the field and 3 of 5 free throws for 19 points. Ransome also pounded the boards for 10 rebounds -- 6 coming at the offensive end.

The WATKINS brothers -- MIKE and TRENT -- also benefited from Wynne's courtsmanship, combining to hit 8 of 14 shots from the field.

Monte Vista will play their first home game of the season on Wednesday (Jan. 3) against West Hills at 6 p.m.

Monte Vista scoring: Jamar Ransome 19, Mike Watkins 14, Brandon Williams 9, Roshun Wynne 4, Trent Watkins 4, Ryan Houser 2.

STEELE CANYON 59, CHULA VISTA 57 -- With their two tallest players away on vacation, the mighty mites Cougars of Steele Canyon managed to knock off host Chula Vista in Saturday's (Dec. 30) 3rd Place game of the Spartan Classic.

Five-foot-9 junior guard ELIGE CARTER paved the way for the Cougars with 13 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists.

"Carter had a great floor game, probably his best in terms of the whole package," said Cougars coach BERNIE BALIKIAN.

JEBARI ROBINSON, a 5-9 sophomore guard, chipped in 12 points and 6 rebounds, while 6-0 junior RILEY BALIKIAN contributed 12 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists.

Carter, Robinson and Balikian each hit a trio of 3-pointers as Steele Canyon shot 35 percent from above the arc.

Balikian was named to the all-tournament team.

JOSIAH SMITH, a 6-3 sophomore, played the post with authority against Chula Vista . He scored 9 points and grabbed 6 rebounds.

"That was his best game of the year," coach Balikian said.

JAKE RANSOM provided the Cougars with their winning margin, as he drove baseline for a layup with 1:02 left to play.

It was the fourth win in the last five games for Steele Canyon (4-8).

Steele Canyon scoring: Elige Carter 13, Jebari Robinson 12, Riley Balikian 12, Josiah Smith 9, Jake Ransom 7, Nick Stathas 4, Arlin Taylor 2.

GROSSMONT 55, BONITA VISTA 46 -- The Grossmont Foothillers continue to prove that they are not a one-man band during Saturday's (Dec. 30) final round of the Spartan Classic at Chula Vista .

Four Foothillers reached double figures, led by the 15 points and 10 rebounds of 6-foot-6 junior forward IAN COCHRAN.

Five-foot-6 junior guard KHALID WATERS added 13 points, 5 steals, 2 assists and 2 rebounds for the Foothillers.

Junior MICHAEL GRAHAM, a 5-foot-7 guard, chipped in 11 points, 6 steals, 3 assists and 2 rebounds.

"We were pretty balanced today. (Bonita Vista) concentrated on Cochran in the second half and Waters and Graham scored 20 of our 34 points on them. Our pressure hurt them."

JUSTIN RUTHERFORD, a 6-foot-7 senior forward, canned 10 points and collected 5 rebounds for the Foothillers, who outscored the Barons 34-23 in the second half.

Grossmont scoring: Ian Cochran 15, Khalid Waters 13, Michael Graham 11, Justin Rutherford 10, Richard Ogunsalu 6.

GRANITE HILLS 79, ARCHBISHOP (Canada) 34 -- Granite Hills wrapped up its own Holiday Classic in runaway style, taking leads of 22-5, 42-16 and 66-27 over the Canadian team from Edmonton, Alberta.

BRIAN HUMPHRIES poured in 24 points -- half of them coming on baskets from above the 3-point line -- to lead the Eagles (10-3). The junior standout also had 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 5 steals.

Sophomore DEAN MILLER enjoyed another big scoring night with 21 points, giving him 56 in his last two starts.

"We played pretty well as a team. At this time of year it was important to get all of our players as much playing time as possible," said Granite Hills coach RANDY ANDERSON.

WAYNE MARTIN hit a trio of 3s on his way to an 11-point outing, while DERICK EDWARDS grabbed a team-best of 10 rebounds and 5 assists.

"I'm pleased with the way we played during this tournament," Anderson added. "I thought we put together several solid performances."

Granite Hills scoring: Brian Humphries 24, Dean Miller 21, Wayne Martin 11, Andrew Joslyn 6, Ian Birmingham 4, Casey Beatty 4, Derick Edwards 3, Nico Sanchez 2, John Montes 2, Kyle San Nicolas 2.

DOVER BAY (B.C., Canada) 69, FOOTHILLS CHRISTIAN 41 -- As emotionally high as Foothills Christian was following Friday's victory over El Paso Parkland, the Knights were at low ebb following Saturday's (Dec. 30) championship game of the Granite Hills Holiday Classic.

It was close for a quarter, as the Knight's (9-4) trailed only 21-19 after eight minutes.

Dover Bay of Vancouver, British Columbia, took charge in the second quarter to lead 36-23 by intermission.

"We were flat," Foothills coach BRAD LEAF said. "It was such an emotional game for our young kids the night before that we just didn't have much left. And besides that, Dover Bay was a better team than us."

Foothills, which starts three freshmen, came in averaging better than 74 points per game.

The Knights shot less than 24 percent (12 of 51) from the field and lost on the boards 40--16.

"Dover has a strong inside game and we didn't get many second chances," observed Foothills assistant coach JAMES McHUGH. "We only turned the ball over six times, so we were getting shots. But we only had four offensive rebounds."

In addition to its strong inside game, Dover Bay also hit three 3-pointers.

Freshman TROY LEAF led Foothills with 23 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocks. He was only 7 of 22 from the field but made 7 of 10 free throws.

"They were a very strong, more experienced team," added coach Leaf. "But hey, there's no shame in finishing second."

The four teams Foothills Christian faced in the Granite Hills event finished the tournament with a combined 13-3 record.

Foothills Christian scoring: Troy Leaf 23, Zach Kaul 8 (2 ast., 2 reb.), Kalob Hatcher 6 (5 ast., 3 reb., 3 stl.), Aaron Hale 3 (2 ast., 2 reb., 2 blk.), David Carter 1.

SAN PASQUAL 84, EL CAPITAN 41 -- Just when it appeared El Capitan was fortifying its offense, No. 2 scorer JERAMIE CARR re-injured his shoulder early in Saturday's (Dec. 30) Mt. Carmel Holiday Hoops Classic action at Mt. Carmel .

Carr's injury occurred before he could score a point. The 5-foot-10 senior guard is out indefinitely.

Meanwhile, reliable BARRETT BRAUN continued his torrid scoring pace with 29 points. Braun's totals included 6 for 6 shooting from the free throw line. The 6-foot-3 junior, who is averaging 24.2 points per game also had 14 rebounds.

MICHAEL OVERSON added 7 points and 2 assists for the Vaqueros (1-12).

El Capitan scoring: Barrett Braun 29, Michael Overson 7, Brian Deuel 2, Brooks Noble 2, Armon Worrell 1.

VALHALLA 51, EL CAJON VALLEY 37 -- TRAVIS FOELSCH turned in a solid double-double of 16 points and 17 rebounds to carry the Norsemen past El Cajon Valley in Saturday's (Dec. 30) consolation game of the Granite Hills Holiday Classic.

MIKE ESPINOZA pitched in a dozen points for the Norsemen (8-7), who jumped out to a 19-5 lead and never looked back

MICHAEL HOLDER scored 16 points -- including three 3s -- for the Braves (4-10).

Valhalla scoring: Travis Foelsch 16, Daniel Butcher 6, Mike Espinoza 12, Rod Fakhoury 6, Aahron Mims 4, Jorge Serna 4, Ruffy Bacong 3.

El Cajon Valley scoring: Michael Holder 16, Shivan Sulyman 6, A.J. Ussery 4, Ford 3, Dejon Joy 3, Dewayne Alexander 2, Andrew Johnson 2, Ian Woody 1.

© East County Sports.com
CHULA VISTA (12-30-06) -- An interesting showdown is on tap in the South Bay Saturday night (Dec. 30) where Helix (10-1) takes on Crawford (9-2) for the championship of the Spartan Classic at Chula Vista High. Tipoff is set for 8 o'clock.

This should be a match of contrasting styles -- defensive-minded Helix and the free-wheeling Colts led by 6-foot-7 Tyrone Shelley, the national scoring leader with a 38.4 average. Shelley also averages 12.9 rebounds per game.

No question Shelley will be tested by Helix. But he did a number on a strong Eastlake team in Friday's (Dec. 29) semifinals, scoring 31 points in a 75-63 Crawford victory.

In another championship encounter involving an East County team, Foothills Christian (9-3) takes on Dover Bay of Vancouver, British Columbia in Saturday's finals of the Granite Hills Holiday Classic. That one begins at 7 inside the Granite Hills High gym.

HELIX 63, CHULA VISTA 44 -- Sending the Highlanders to the free throw line was not a good idea as the host Chula Vista Spartans found out in Friday's (Dec. 29) semifinals of the Spartan Classic.

Helix, which led 46-25 after three quarters, nailed 18 of 21 free throws. DAVID JEFFERSON was 7-for-7 and LAWRENCE HURDLE hit 6 of 8 from the charity stripe. DONNIE McGOWAN was 3-for-3.

"I thought our free throw shooting was big," said Helix coach JOHN SINGER.

The Highlanders hit 42 percent of their 50 shots from the field.

Jefferson, a 6-foot-5, 210-pound senior, will no doubt get up close and personal with Crawford's Shelley. Despite being dogged with three early fouls, Jefferson put together a pretty good tune-up, finishing with 21 points and 12 rebounds. He also handed out 4 assists and 4 steals.

Hurdle added 19 points and 7 assists to the Helix bounty.

"There was a lot on Hurdle tonight because Jefferson had three fouls," Singer said. "I thought Hurdle played pretty well, did a good job running the show. At the time there were three non-starters with him and he had to take charge more."

Helix scoring: David Jefferson 21, Lawrence Hurdle 19, Donnie McGowan 10 (5 rebs), Dorian Staton 5, Brandon Fountain 4 (9 rebs), Alex Aguirre 4.

FOOTHILLS CHRISTIAN 70, EL PASO-PARKLAND 68 -- It was clearly the biggest victory in Foothills Christian's brief varsity existence.

A 3-point play by freshman TROY LEAF with 19 seconds remaining proved to be the difference, lifting the Knights to the semifinal victory over the Matadors on Friday (Dec. 29) in the Granite Hills Holiday Classic at Granite Hills.

"This was the most exciting game I have ever been a part of," exclaimed Foothills Christian assistant coach JAMES McHUGH. "I sent a text message to about 115 people today to let them know about the game and quite a few of them showed up. It was incredible, the crowd was great and the team fed off of that."

It appeared a 22-11 third quarter surge would be enough to give Parkland the win as the Texans led 52-42.

However, sophomore ZACH KAUL connected on 3 of his 7 treys of the night to inspire a fourth-quarter comeback by Foothills Christian.

The Knights outscored the Matadors 28-16 in the fourth period.

"The place was so loud when Kaul tied it with a three with about 38 seconds, I wasn't sure this was our humble little school playing anymore," said McHugh.

Parkland came down and converted a three-point play to regain the lead.

"At that point the whole bench got quiet and we thought ‘dang,'" said senior DAVID CARTER. "But (Foothills Christian) coach (BRAD) LEAF didn't worry at all. He was already setting up the next play. And our crowd never let us down, they just kept cheering us on."

Even after Troy Leaf gave the Knights their game-winning margin, Parkland got three shots in an attempt to tie the game in the final seconds before Troy Leaf grabbed the rebound and passed it to KALOB HATCHER, who was fouled with 1.7 seconds to play.

However, the freshman guard was unable to convert either of his free throws and Parkland got the rebound. But the Matadors' desperation shot at the buzzer hit the top of the backboard, allowing Foothills to advance to the championship game.

Troy Leaf scored a game-high 29 points, which included 10-of-12 free throw shooting, 5 rebounds and 5 assists.

Kaul totaled 21 points and 5 rebounds, while junior AARON HALE made his season debut with 7 points, 8 rebounds, 3 blocks and 3 steals. Hatcher finished with 9 points, 10 assists and 4 steals.

Foothills Christian scoring: Troy Leaf 29, Zach Kaul 21, Kalob Hatcher 9, Aaron Hale 7, Brandon Hale 4.

STEELE CANYON 49, GROSSMONT 43 -- Despite turning the ball over 20 times, the Cougars won for the third time in four decisions as they knocked off Grossmont Conference rival Grossmont in Friday's (Dec. 29) Spartan Classic action at Chula Vista High.

The key statistic was Grossmont turnovers. The Foothillers (6-6) gave the ball up 31 times without taking a shot.

"It was a fierce fought game," said Steele Canyon coach BERNIE BALIKIAN. "It was every bit a conference-type game. Our teams know each other so there are no secrets between the two teams."

JEBARI ROBINSON was the ringleader of Steele Canyon's latest conquest, totaling 15 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds and 4 steals.

None the less, the Foothillers took command early with an 18-7 edge after one quarter. Steele Canyon (3-8) kept pecking away over the final three quarters to pick up the victory.

"We started out slow but our guys hung in there," Balikian said. "I was pleased with the raise in our energy level over the last three quarters."

Grossmont's IAN COCHRAN registered game highs of 21 points and 8 rebounds. KHALID WATERS added 10 points and JUSTIN RUTHERFORD chipped in 8 points and 6 boards.

Steele Canyon scoring: Jebari Robinson 15, Andrew Timm 7, Zane Keith 7, Jake Ransom 6, Riley Balikian 5 (5 rebs, 6 stls, 3 asts), Elige Carter 5, Arlin Taylor 2, Josiah Smith 2.

Grossmont scoring: Ian Cochran 21, Khalid Waters 10 (2 rebs, 2 stls), Justin Rutherford 8, Michael Graham 2, Alex Chiappone 2 (4 rebs).

MOUNT MIGUEL 57, VALHALLA 48 -- In a shootout between Grossmont South League rivals, the Matadors broke a 42-42 deadlock with a 15-6 scoring run over the final three minutes to win Friday's (Dec. 29) Granite Hills Holiday Classic game.

It was a game of scoring runs and Mount Miguel (8-5) got the bigger share in that department. The game was knotted 10-10 early in the second quarter and Mount Miguel went on a 9-2 scoring spree to help secure a 21-14 halftime lead.

Both coaches noted a sluggish start to the proceedings.

"It was a rough start," Valhalla's KEITH JACKSON said. "We missed some easy buckets early and then we settled down.

Said Mount Miguel coach JAY ROWLETT, "We had a slow start, got into foul trouble but overcame it."

Mount Miguel's COURTNEY WRATHER nailed a trio of 3-pointers on his way to a game-best 20 points. TRAVON CAPLES chimed in with 11 points and 8 rebounds, while LARON RUSH punched in 10 points and captured 6 boards. AHMAAD NUNLEY dished a game-high 10 assists.

Despite all those noteworthy numbers, Rowlett said: "I liked our defense tonight."

AAHRON MIMS broke out of a recent scoring slump to tally 17 points and grab 11 rebounds, while TRAVIS FOELSCH tacked on 13 points and snared 7 boards.

Mount Miguel scoring: Courtney Wrather 20, Travon Caples 11, Laron Rush 10, Ahmaad Nunley 8, OC Basey 4, Devyn Moore 4 (4 steals).

Valhalla scoring: Aahron Mims 17, Travis Foelsch 13, Daniel Butcher 4, Mike Espinoza 4, Ruffy Bacong 4, David Fakhoury 4 (3 asts), Garret Giles 2.

MONTE VISTA 81, SAN PASQUAL 66 -- All Monte Vista coach KEVIN MAHADY asked of his players in Friday's (Dec. 29) Mt. Carmel Holiday Hoops Classic action at Mt. Carmel was to be more aggressive.

It was a succinct and effective game plan. Monte Vista (5-7) scored 45 points in the second half to break open a six-point game.

Senior forward JAMAR RANSOME was fierce inside the paint, finishing with 30 points and 12 rebounds. He connected on 12 of 17 free throws and 9 of 19 floor shots.

"I told my kids that aggressive teams get to the free throw line," Mahady said of the Monarchs, who converted 25 of 41 charity shots. "Drawing fouls puts pressure on the defensive team. We were able to do that in this game."

BRANDON WILLIAMS hit 3 of 4 free throws on his way to a double-double of 13 points and 11 rebounds.

ROSHUN WYNNE pitched in 17 points, 9 steals, 6 assists and 6 rebounds as well as hitting 2 of 3 treys and 5 of 7 free throws.

Mahady had special praise for junior guard MIKE WATKINS, who contributed 12 points and 4 steals.

"He doesn't get enough credit for what he does for the team," said Mahady. "He dives for loose balls and hits the 3, and always plays great defense."

Jamar Ransome 30, Roshun Wynne 17, Brandon Williams 13, Mike Watkins 12, Anthony Bell 4, Ryan Houser 2, Eric Griffin 2, Brian Williams 1.

GRANITE HILLS 76, CENTRAL UNION 52 -- A few positive words from Granite Hills assistant coach DAN DUFFY seemed to light a fire under sophomore DEAN MILLER in Friday's (Dec. 29) Granite Hills Holiday Classic game.

Miller, a 6-foot-2 guard hit 12 of 22 shots from the field -- including 4 three-pointers -- and 7 of 8 free throws on his way to a career-high 35 points, as the Eagles smeared the Spartans of Central Union.

As if his offensive output wasn't enough, Miller completed his "career night" with 11 rebounds, 7 steals and 5 assists.

"I was really happy with Miller's play," said Granite Hills coach RANDY ANDERSON. "He played aggressive tonight. I want to give credit to my assistant coach Dan Duffy, who took Dean aside yesterday and stressed the need for him to become more aggressive offensively, and Dean did. And the rest of his teammates really got him the ball."

Granite Hills (9-3) jumped on top 21-4 after the first quarter and never looked back.

BRIAN HUMPHRIES added 15 points, most of it coming on a trio of 3-point bullseyes, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 blocks and 4 steals.

Granite Hills scoring: Dean Miller 35, Brian Humphries 15, Andrew Joslyn 8, Wayne Martin 8, Nico Sanchez 5, Derick Edwards 3, Casey Beatty 1, John Montes 1.

HILLTOP 56, WEST HILLS 41 -- After battling to a 22-22 halftime draw, the Wolf Pack faded in the final two quarters of Friday's (Dec. 29) third place game of the Montgomery Tournament.

The taller Lancers dominated inside in the second half to pull out the victory over the Wolf Pack (6-6). West Hills 13 of its 16 turnovers after intermission.

"(Hilltop's Gabriel) Alcala, 6-7, hurt us," West Hills coach JEFF ARMSTRONG said. "We had a hard time defending him. He got a lot of putbacks. And they have his brother (Mike, 6-5) as well. We fouled them a lot. And too, we didn't shoot the ball as well as we have the last couple of nights."

Even in defeat Armstrong, as always, found something positive to say.

"TIM NOWLIN had a couple of key offensive rebounds that came at the end of the first half to tie the game," the coach said of the 6-foot-5 junior, who totaled 6 points and 6 boards. "Tim is starting to get his game, we got some good minutes out of him."

"Blaine Hoffard played very well tonight, took care of the ball and had only one turnover," Armstrong added.

West Hills scoring: Peter Gilson 10 (7 rebs), Blaine Hoffard 9 (4 rebs), Chris Lifgren 7 (4 rebs, 2 asts), Tim Nowlin 6, Taylor Robbins 4, Lucas Armstrong 3, Tony Lynn 2.

EL MODENA 77, EL CAPITAN 49 -- It's become obvious that the Vaqueros need to include more actors in their game script.

One again, BARRETT BRAUN enjoyed a big scoring night with 30 points, which included 9-for-10 accuracy from the free throw line 3-for-5 shooting from beyond the arc in Friday's (Dec. 29) Mt. Carmel Holiday Hoops Classic at Mt. Carmel High.

JERAMIE CARR was El Capitan's co-star with 11 points. Both Carr and Braun landed 9 rebounds.

The Vanguards decided the issue in the first quarter, taking a 24-4 lead and breezing to the finish line.

El Capitan scoring: Barrett Braun 30, Jeramie Carr 11, Michael Overson 5, Brooks Noble 2, Michael Landis 1.

EL CAJON VALLEY def. CALEXICO -- Granite Hills Holiday Classic at Granite Hills; No game report was supplied.

© East County Sports.com
EL CAJON (12-29-06) -- The Foothills Christian Knights continue to turn heads following a second consecutive victory over a SDCIF Division II school. This time, the Knights raced to a surprisingly easy Granite Hills Holiday Classic win over the Mount Miguel 65-41 on Thursday (Dec. 28) after mounting a 23-4 lead through the opening quarter.

"We beat them in every aspect of the ballgame tonight," said Knights coach BRAD LEAF. "This was a huge win for us and says to the San Diego CIF (that) we want the No. 1 seed in the (Division V) playoffs."

KALOB HATCHER converted a triple-double in the best outing of his career to spark the Knights (8-3). The freshman guard collected game-highs of 23 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists, continually punching holes in the Matadors defense.

Foothills gained the early lead when Mount Miguel standout LARON RUSH sat out the opening 8 minutes for undisclosed reasons.

"Sure they didn't play Rush in the first quarter, but that was really a non-factor because we hit five shots from outside the arc and he plays down low," noted Foothills assistant coach JAMES McHUGH. "Even though we had as many turnovers as Mount Miguel, we hit the shots they didn't, and we neutralized the offense they wanted to run."

Sophomore guard ZACH KAUL registered 19 points and matched Hatcher with 10 boards, while freshman swingman TROY LEAF scored 12 points, grabbed 7 rebounds and collected 9 assists.

Foothills (8-3) next meets another team with a Matadors mascot in El Paso-Parkland at 8:40 p.m. on Friday (Dec. 29). Parkland is the alma mater of McHugh's father, Mike (Class of 1970).

Mount Miguel coach JAY ROWLETT was obviously unhappy with his team's performance -- even BEFORE the lopsided loss.

"One of our starters was late and another one forgot his shoes,"Rowlett explained. "Everybody had a bad day at the same time. Not to take anything away from Foothills, they just beat the (heck) out of us. I had to discipline some people and we don't have enough players to do that and win a game that way."

TRAVON CAPLES grabbed 8 rebounds to lead the Matadors, while COURTNEY WRATHER had 9 points, 3 assists and 3 steals.

Foothills Christian scoring: Kalob Hatcher 23, Zach Kaul 19, Troy Leaf 10, Ronnie Richards 6, Brandon Hale 5, Andrew Atia 2.

Mount Miguel scoring: Courtney Wrather 9, Laron Rush 8, A.J. Stanford 7, Matt Miles 6, Travon Caples 6, Ahmaad Nunley 3, OC Basey 2.

HELIX 62, BONITA VISTA 40 -- Senior guard LAWRENCE HURDLE busted out of a mild slump with 23 points, 4 assists and 3 steals to hoist the Highlanders past Bonita Vista in Thursday's (Dec. 28) Spartan Classic at Chula Vista.

Hurdle, who had scored only 6 points the night before, hit 8 of 16 shots from the field and 6 of 9 free throws.

The Highlanders (9-1) used a 24-10 third quarter scoring spree to turn the game in their favor.

"We didn't play very well in the first half, but we outscored Bonita Vista 40-17 in the second half,"said Helix coach JOHN SINGER.

BRANDON FOUNTAIN hit 6 of 12 shots from the field for 12 points, while DAVID JEFFERSON contributed 8 points and a team-leading 10 rebounds for the Highlanders.

All statistics aside, Singer was most pleased by Fountains' defense.

"Fountain did a great job on Mark Kiefer, their leading scorer who shoots pretty much whenever he wants to. Brandon held him to 8 points,"Singer said.

Jefferson's totals were a little below his norm as he was saddled with three early fouls that bought him a seat on the bench.

"Jefferson sat out the last quarter and a half,"Singer noted. "The other group was working well together so I left them in. It's good for our team when some of our better guys sit and the others come in and do well."

One of those guys was DEMOND "Red"NARCISSE. The junior guard contributed 9 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals. DONALD McGOWAN chipped in 8 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and a block, while TYONTE HOSLEY garnered 2 points and 3 rebounds in addition to playing solid defense in the final quarter.

"Red Narcisse did a very good job off the bench,"Singer said. "And McGowan had a good second half, made all 8 of his points in that half. Hosley played the entire fourth quarter."

Helix scoring: Lawrence Hurdle 23, Brandon Fountain 12, Demond Narcisse 9, David Jefferson 8, Donnie McGowan 8, Tyonte Hosley 2.

WEST HILLS 57, MONTGOMERY 45 -- The visiting Wolf Pack shot a season-best 63 percent (22 of 35) to upend the tournament host in Thursday's (Dec. 28)

Aztec Holiday Invitational.

"It was one of our better shooting games this year,"said West Hills JEFF ARMSTRONG said.

Senior PETER GILSON hit 9 of 11 shots from the field and one free throw for 19 points.

CHRIS LIFGREN was 6 for 8 from the field -- including one 3 -- and 6 of 7 from the charity stripe for 19 points.

TAYLOR ROBBINS tossed in 10 points, grabbed a team-high 7 rebounds, handed out 5 scoring passes and made one steal for West Hills (7-5).

"Lifgren played an outstanding game tonight, and this was Robbins' best all-around game,"said Armstrong. "He doesn't realize how much he is helping us.

Gilson shot the ball very well. He's had five or six games that he has played well. We're getting some great mileage out of Peter."

Floor generals BLAINE HOFFARD and TONY LYNN were superb in setting up their teammates with scoring opportunities.

"Blaine and Tony take care of the ball very well,"said Armstrong. "Their contributions don't always get noticed in box scores, but they are our two floor leaders and provide us with the energy for our fast break. They do a solid job defensively."

West Hills scoring: Peter Gilson 19 (4 reb., 2 ast.), Chris Lifgren 19 (3 reb., 4 ast, 2 stl), Taylor Robbins 10, Tim Nowlin 4 (2 reb., 2 blk.), Tony Lynn 3 (5 ast.), Blaine Hoffard 2 (3 reb., 2 ast., 3 stl.).

EASTLAKE 66, GROSSMONT 55 -- The Foothillers kept the pressure on South Bay power Eastlake (8-1) most of the night, but scoring only two points in the second quarter led to their demise in Thursday's (Dec. 28) Spartan Classic at Chula Vista.

Eastlake hit 5 three-pointers in the opening half to take a 30-17 lead by intermission. The key to that stretch was the Titans' 11-2 scoring advantage in the second period.

"We extended our defense farther out and took away their 3-point shot in the second half,"said Grossmont coach FRANK FOGGIANO. "We played very well in the second half."

Steady IAN COCHRAN reeled off a double-double of 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Foothillers (6-5).

The surprising hero for Grossmont was 5-foot-7 junior guard MICHAEL GRAHAM, who scored a career-high 18 points. Graham also hustled up 4 steals, grabbed 3 rebounds and dished 2 assists.

"The two guards -- Graham and Waters -- played exceptional basketball for us today,"added Foggiano.

Grossmont scoring: Ian Cochran 20, Michael Graham 18, Justin Rutherford 6 (6 reb.), Khalid Waters 5 (4 ast., 2 reb., 2 stl.), Alex Chiappone 4 (5 reb.), Richard Ogunsalu 2.

CRAWFORD 97, STEELE CANYON 65 -- Despite producing their second highest point total of the season, the Cougars of Steele Canyon were all but out of contention by halftime in Thursday's (Dec. 28) Spartan Classic at Chula Vista.

National scoring leader Tyrone Shelley hit 7 three-pointers on his way to a 48-point scoring burst to pace Crawford (8-2).

"They should be playing better teams,"said Steele Canyon coach BERNIE BALIKIAN. "I felt like if we could keep the game close we could compete with these guys. But if they ever got a big lead, they would play above themselves. And that's what happened. They started raining 3s on us."

Crawford made good on 10 of 20 shots from 3-point range.

Steele Canyon junior guard RILEY BALIKIAN turned in his second straight strong game with 12 points to go along with 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals.

Six-foot-6 senior ANDREW TIMM, playing in only his second game of the season, added 12 points and 3 rebounds, while senior guard ARLIN TAYLOR pitched in 9 points and 5 rebounds.

JEBARI ROBINSON contributed 7 points and 7 assists for the Cougars (7-8).

"Crawford only had eight players tonight -- all their good players were there,"added Balikian. "They pressed us the whole game."

Shelley did most of his damage in the second and fourth quarters.

"We kept the turnovers down, for the most part. The first and third quarters were good quarters for us,"said Balikian, who's Cougars were out-pointed only 37-34 in those two periods. "We'll focus on those."

Steele Canyon scoring: Riley Balikian 12, Andrew Timm 12, Arlin Taylor 9, Jebari Robinson 7, Elige Carter 7, Josiah Smith 6, Jake Ransom 4, Zane Keith 2, Cameron Moss 2, Casey Gayton 2, Tim Orange 2.

DOVER BAY (B.C., Canada) 47, GRANITE HILLS 44 -- It's hard to imagine that a team could go scoreless over a full eight minute quarter and still come out a winner. But that's what the Canadians from Vancouver managed to do as they upended the host team in Thursday's (Dec. 28) Granite Hills Holiday Classic.

A strong first quarter in which Dover Bay took a 21-8 lead over the Eagles (8-3) held up for a 7-point halftime lead, as Granite Hills was unable to get its offense started.

"It was a pretty good, physical defensive game,"said Granite Hills coach RANDY ANDERSON. "We played lousy defense in the first quarter, then made our mind up to play some defense and shut them out in the second quarter.

In spite of their inconsistent play, the Eagles had victory in their talons, leading 44-43 with 40 seconds remaining. But a couple of key missed shots -- and a failure to score a single point from the free throw line in the whole game -- tagged Granite Hills with the loss.

"If we would have made a couple of free throws it would have been a much better situation for us,"Anderson said.

A perennial long-ball shooting team, Granite Hills hit 6 three-pointers, including 4 by WAYNE MARTIN, who topped the Eagles with 20 points.

ANDREW JOSLYN added 8 points and 6 rebounds, while BRIAN HUMPHRIES had 9 points, 4 steals and 3 assists.

NICO SANCHEZ didn't score, but chipped in 3 assists and 3 steals.

"( Dover Bay ) was an all-seniors team. I was pretty happy with our play for three quarters, but we can't dig ourselves in a hole against a good team."

Granite Hills scoring: Wayne Martin 20, Brian Humphries 9, Andrew Joslyn 8, Dean Miller 7.

EL PASO-PARKLAND 50, VALHALLA 29 -- Senior TRAVIS FOELSCH turned in a powerful double-double of 15 points and 13 rebounds for the Norsemen, but it was not nearly enough as Parkland of El Paso, Texas, registered an easy Granite Hills Holiday Classic victory on Thursday (Dec. 28).

Perhaps the most glaring stat in the game was turnovers. The Norsemen gave it away 19 times, while Parkland surrendered the ball only 5 times without taking a shot.

Parkland led 28-11 at halftime and then coasted to the victory.

"Defensively we played fairly tough but we gave up a lot of turnovers,"commented Valhalla coach KEITH JACKSON. "They turned a lot of turnovers into points. We had a tough time shooting in the first quarter. The third quarter was our best quarter (11-10) and then we just kinda ran out of gas. They went on an 11-4 run to end the game."

AAHRON MIMS grabbed 12 rebounds and blocked 2 shots for the Norsemen (7-6) who saw their four game win streak snapped.

"I think my kids are doing a good job but we need to take care of the ball better,"Jackson said. "We didn't have a good shooting night against Parkland's zone.. We had the looks, just didn't hit them."

Valhalla scoring: Travis Foelsch 15, Aahron Mims 4, Garret Giles 3, Jorge Serna 3, Ruffy Bacong 2, Daniel Butcher 2.

VISTA MURRIETA 79, MONTE VISTA 49 -- Poor shooting -- both from the field and the free throw line -- resulted in the Monarchs' most resounding loss of the season in Thursday (Dec. 28) Mt. Carmel Holiday Hoops Classic action.

The Monarchs (4-7) hit only 18 of 59 shots from the field (30.5 percent), and just half of their 22 free throws.

"That says everything,"said Monte Vista coach KEVIN MAHADY of the Monarchs' sad sack shooting. "We missed 12 to 15 layups."

ROSHUN WYNNE rolled out 10 points, 6 steals and 4 rebounds for the Monarchs, who have lost three of their last four.

MIKE WATKINS tallied a team-best 12 points, half of which came from above the arc.

JAMAR RANSOME added 11 points and BRANDON WILLIAMS pulled down 7 rebounds.

Monte Vista scoring: Mike Watkins 12, Jamar Ransome 11, Roshun Wynne 10, Brandon Williams 8, Ryan Houser 2, Fred Webb 2, Brian Williams 2, Eric Griffin 1, Cameron Mason 1.

BURBANK 86, EL CAPITAN 41 -- The one-two scoring punch of BARRETT BRAUN and JERAMIE CARR wasn't enough to hold off the tenacious Burbank Bulldogs who rolled to the lopsided victory in Thursday's (Dec. 28) Mt. Carmel Holiday Hoops Classic at Mt. Carmel High.

Braun nailed a pair of 3-pointers and 9 of 13 free throws en route to a game-high 23 points.

Carr chipped in 11 points.

Burbank, which had three players with 17 points or more, led 71-33 after three quarters, which turned on a running clock for the final eight minutes.

El Capitan scoring: Barrett Braun 23, Jeramie Carr 11, Robert Vicaldo 6, Michael Landis 1.

CLAIREMONT def. EL CAJON VALLEY -- Granite Hills Holiday Classic at Granite Hills; No details reported.

© East County Sports.com
EL CAJON (12-28-06) -- In only its second year of varsity basketball competition, Foothills Christian is already making waves. The Knights scored perhaps their most impressive win to date as they defeated Patrick Henry 83-75 in Wednesday's (Dec. 27) Granite Hills Holiday Classic at Granite Hills High.

Freshman KALOB HATCHER equaled a career-high with 16 assists and scored 19 points, helping the Knights to their seventh win in 10 starts.

The biggest benefactor of Hatcher's passes was freshman TROY LEAF, who poured in 31 points.

Leaf added 5 assists as Foothills totaled 25 scoring passes as a team.

Also reaching double-figures for Foothills were ZACH KAUL with 12 points and BRANDON HALE with 10. All of Kaul's points came from above the arc.

"Our three freshmen had good games again," said Foothills Christian coach BRAD LEAF. "Troy Leaf, Kalob Hatcher and RONNIE RICHARDS all played well. Richards did a really good job defensively, fronting Henry's 6-6 guy."

The Knights opened an early 10-point lead, but Henry (8-5) closed to within 38-36 by the half. Foothills again pushed the advantage to double figures late in the third quarter, before both sides combined for 51 points in a wild scoring spree in the fourth period. However, every Patriots run was countered in the 26-25 quarter.

Following Thursday's (Dec. 28) game against Mount Miguel, the Knights will welcome back 6-foot-4 junior AARON HALE, one of their top scorers and rebounders of a year ago.

Foothills Christian scoring: Troy Leaf 31, Kalob Hatcher 19, Zach Kaul 12, Brandon Hale 10, Ronnie Richards 7, David Carter 2, Ryan Smith 2.

STEELE CANYON 61, MAR VISTA 54 -- Don't look now, but the Steele Canyon Cougars are on a winning streak.

After dropping 7 straight to some of the top teams in the San Diego CIF, the Cougars have come on to post back-to-back wins, including Wednesday's (Dec. 27) Spartan Classic opener at Chula Vista.

Credit this win to Cougar guards JEBARI ROBINSON and RILEY BALIKIAN, each of whom scored 15 points. The backcourt tandem was a composite 10 for 20 shooting from the floor.

Balikian hit 3 of 6 from above the arc, and Robinson nailed 2 of 4 from the same space.

"Riley has been playing well," said Steele Canyon coach BERNIE BALIKIAN. "It was nice to seem him break out tonight."

The 5-foot-9 Robinson led the Cougars with 8 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 steals.

"Robinson played a good all-around game -- it was his best game of the year," said coach Balikian.

ELIGE CARTER, a 5-foot-9 junior guard, hauled down 7 rebounds to go with 6 points.

Six-foot-6 ANDREW TIMM returned to the floor after suffering a broken foot early in fall workouts. He hit 3 of 4 shots from the floor and made his only free throw.

"When we get all the pieces together we'll be OK for league," said coach Balikian. "I'm not too worried about these early games."

Steele Canyon scoring: Riley Balikian 15, Jebari Robinson 15, Andrew Timm 7, Elige Carter 6, Arlin Taylor 4, Jake Ransom 4, Zane Keith 4, Cameron Moss 4, Josiah Smith 2.

HELIX 70, POINT LOMA 44 -- Despite not playing for 10 days, the Highlanders looked pretty sharp in Wednesday's (Dec. 27) opening round of the Spartan Classic at Chula Vista.

The Highlanders led 22-10 after one quarter, and 40-18 by intermission.

Providing the spark for Helix (8-1) was junior DONNIE McGOWAN with 17 points. A first-year player, McGowan connected on 7 of 10 shots (one 3) and 2 of 3 free throws while securing 4 rebounds.

"McGowan shot very well tonight," said Helix coach JOHN SINGER. "He's a very gifted young man, very gifted offensively. He needs to understand the value of practice and to get his intensity up. He's never played organized basketball before."

DAVID JEFFERSON added 13 points and 4 steals, while BRANDON FOUNTAIN knocked down 12 points and grabbed a team-best 9 rebounds.

All the news was not good for Helix, however, as junior starting guard KAREEM ABUKAR turned an ankle in the first quarter and is likely done for the tournament.

DEMOND "Red" NARCISSE filled in for Abukar and grabbed 8 rebounds.

"Fountain had his typical good game for us, and Narcisse played pretty well. He played a lot after Abukar got hurt and LAWRENCE HURDLE had three fouls," said Singer.

Helix scoring: Donnie McGowan 17, David Jefferson 13, Brandon Fountain 12, Dorian Staton 8, Lawrence Hurdle 6 (5 ast.), Alex Aguirre 4, Andray Jackson 4, Red Narcisse 2, Tyonte Hosley 2, Bryant Johnson 2.

GRANITE HILLS 65, CALEXICO 31 -- Calexico's Bulldogs are probably getting tired of running into the Granite Hills Eagles. These teams have met in three different tournaments, and every time the Eagles have come out on top, including Wednesday's (Dec. 27) opening round of the Granite Hills Holiday Classic.

At the outset of the most recent meeting, the Eagles staggered to a 14-12 first quarter lead.

"We had beaten Calexico before and we came out pretty lackadaisical in the first quarter," said Granite Hills coach RANDY ANDERSON. "We played with a lot more fire as a team overall after that."

It was a different team in the middle two quarters, as the Eagles claimed a 39-5 scoring advantage.

BRIAN HUMPHRIES scored 15 of his game-high 18 points in the third quarter. He nailed all 3 of his 3-point attempts, and was 6-6 overall on the floor during that eight minute stanza. Humphries also captured 7 rebounds, handed out 4 assists, blocked 2 shots and recorded 2 steals during the game.

WAYNE MARTIN canned 4 three-pointers on his way to a 17 point finish.

KYLE SNYDER chipped in 10 points, and ANDREW JOSLYN had a game-high 9 rebounds. DEAN MILLER dished out 8 scoring passes.

As a team Granite Hills shot 51 percent from the field, including 10 of 21 from above the arc.

Although he didn't rank with the top scorers, senior DERICK EDWARDS led the Eagles with 4 steals and pulled down 4 rebounds.

"Edwards did a good job defensively," Anderson said.

Granite Hills scoring: Brian Humphries 18, Wayne Martin 17, Kyle Snyder 10, Dean Miller 5, Derick Edwards 4, Andrew Joslyn 4, Ian Birmingham 4.

WEST HILLS 50, ORANGE GLEN 34 -- After a less-than-inspiring performance in the opening round of the Aztec Holiday Invitational at Montgomery, West Hills was a different team in Wednesday's (Dec. 27) second round action.

The Wolf Pack (6-5) got a lift from its bench in sophomore guard LUCAS ARMSTRONG and junior forward TIM NOWLIN. Armstrong dished a career-high 7 assists, blocked a shot, grabbed 2 rebounds and hit both of his free throw attempts in a relief role. Nowlin scored 12 points.

"There was no real rhyme or reason to it, but we had a couple of kids -- Lucas Armstrong and Tim Nowlin -- who came off the bench and gave us great minutes, so we left them in the game, said coach Armstrong. "In his first varsity year Lucas had his best game to date. He got a lot of quality minutes tonight, played the entire fourth quarter."

The majority of Armstrong's scoring passes went inside to West Hills leading scorers PETER GILSON and CHRIS LIFGREN.

"It was good to get contributions from the bench," said Armstrong.

Gilson turned in another strong all-around performance of 16 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists. Lifgren pitched in 13 points, notched 3 steals, grabbed 3 boards and dished 2 scoring passes.

West Hills scoring: Peter Gilson 16, Chris Lifgren 13, Tim Nowlin 12, Blaine Hoffard 3, Garrett Cabral 2, Lucas Armstrong 2, Troy Nowlin 2.

GROSSMONT 75, CASTLE PARK 43 -- It wasn't a perfect game, but it was one that veteran Grossmont coach FRANK FOGGIANO found much to his satisfaction.

The Foothillers (6-4) stormed to an 18-2 first quarter lead and never looked back as they toppled the Trojans (3-5) in Wednesday's (Dec. 27) first round game of the Spartan Classic at Chula Vista.

Hot-handed IAN COCHRAN set the scoring pace for the Foothillers with 23 points, despite not playing in the final quarter.

RICHARD OGUNSALU chipped in a personal-high 18 points, while JUSTIN RUTHERFORD tacked on another 13.

"We pulled away in the beginning and we were able to maintain our edge throughout the game," said Grossmont coach FRANK FOGGIANO. "We did a good job defensively in the first quarter, and that set the pace for the game. We had good balance, especially from Cochran, Rutherford and Ogunsalu."

Grossmont scoring: Ian Cochran 23, Richard Ogunsalu 18, Justin Rutherford 13, Khalid Waters 7, Alex Leon 6, Robert Sullivan 5, Michael Graham 2, Colter Rios 1.

VALHALLA 47, KEARNY 44 -- The Norsemen received a powerful inside game from AAHRON MIMS and TRAVIS FOESLCH to knock off Kearny in Wednesday's (Dec. 27) opening round of the Granite Hills Holiday Classic at Granite Hills.

Although Mims scored only 3 points, he grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds and blocked 3 shots.

Foelsch had a pair of 10s -- as in points and rebounds -- for the Norsemen, who won their fourth in a row.

Junior RUFFY BACONG scored 7 of his team-best 13 points in the crucial fourth quarter as the Norsemen (7-5) held off the Komets (5-4). More than half of Bacong's points came from above the arc as he hit a trio of 3s.

ROD FAKHOURY pitched in 10 points for Valhalla, including hitting all 3 of his free throws.

"We handled the ball real well and out-rebounded Kearny in the second half," said Valhalla coach KEITH JACKSON. "Mims really controlled the boards. He was a force for us inside defensively."

Valhalla scoring: Ruffy Bacong 13, Rod Fakhoury 10, Travis Foelsch 10, Mike Espinoza 9, Aahron Mims 3, Daniel Butcher 2.

MOUNT MIGUEL 66, MADISON 47 -- AHMAAD NUNLEY hit 7 of his 12 points in the first quarter, and hit two 3s for the game as Mount Miguel mowed down Madison (2-9) in Wednesday's (Dec. 27) opening round of the Granite Hills Holiday Classic at Granite Hills.

The Matadors (7-4) were sitting on a 21-8 advantage after the first period and closed out the contest with a 21-15 scoring spree in the final period.

Steady TRAVON CAPLES turned in a powerful double-double of 16 points and 11 rebounds.

COURTNEY WRATHER chipped in 13 points, 3 assists and 2 steals, while OC BASEY popped in 9 points and cleared 8 boards.

LARON RUSH contributed 7 points and 7 rebounds.

Mount Miguel has won 6 of its last 7 games.

"Caples gave us a lot of energy on the boards and defensively," said Mount Miguel coach JAY ROWLETT. "Nunley got us off to a strong start and Wrather had a steady game."

Mount Miguel scoring: Travon Caples 16, Courtney Wrather 13, Ahmaad Nunley 12, OC Basey 9, Laron Rush 7, A.J. Stanford 4, Matt Miles 3, Devyn Moore 2.

TRABUCO HILLS 55, MONTE VISTA 41 -- The Monarchs appeared to be suffering from the post-Christmas blues as they gave a sluggish performance in Wednesday's (Dec. 27) first round of the Mt. Carmel Holiday Hoops Classic at Mt. Carmel High.

The Mustangs (9-2) out of Mission Viejo kicked up their heels to build a 32-24 halftime lead for Trabuco Hills. A 13-6 scoring run in the final quarter dashed any comeback hopes Monte Vista (4-6) might have entertained.

JAMAR RANSOME was solid in defeat, hitting 8 of 12 shots from the floor and one free throw for 17 points. He also led the Monarchs in rebounding with 9.

ROSHUN WYNNE added 12 points, 4 assists and 3 steals.

Trabuco Hills was 13 for 23 on free throws. Monte Vista was 7 of 18 from the charity stripe, and 16 of 43 (37 percent) from the floor.

"We came out kinda flat today, and they were big and well coached," said Monte Vista coach KEVIN MAHADY. "Our free throw shooting hurt us. We just missed a lot of shots."

Monte Vista scoring: Jamar Ransome 17, Roshun Wynne 12, Brandon Williams 6, Trent Watkins 2, Ryan Houser 2, Mike Watkins 2.

VALLEY CENTER 50, EL CAPITAN 35 -- For one of the few times, El Capitan had a double-barreled offensive attack, as BARRETT BRAUN and JERAMIE CARR scored 15 points apiece against Valley Center in Wednesday's (Dec. 27) Mt. Carmel Holiday Hoops Classic at Mt. Carmel High.

It's common for Braun, who averages 23.5 points per game, to be on his own as the Vaqueros high-point man. Braun also had 10 rebounds before fouling out.

For Carr, it was his highest scoring output of the season. Nine of Carr's points came on 3 of 5 three-point shooting. He also had 7 rebounds and 3 steals, one less than freshman BROOKS NOBLE, who had 4 thefts.

The Vaqueros (1-9) trailed only 19-17 at halftime, and 32-26 after three quarters.

The Jaguars (3-9) saw Weston Titus score 7 of his game-high 16 points in Valley Center's 18-9 fourth quarter scoring rush.

El Capitan scoring: Barrett Braun 15, Jeramie Carr 15, Brooks Noble 4, Michael Overson 1.

HUNTINGTON PARK 51, EL CAJON VALLEY 9 -- Granite Hills Holiday Classic at Granite Hills; No details reported.

© East County Sports.com
SAN DIEGO (12-27-06) -- West Hills High head coach JEFF ARMSTRONG must have wondered whether the majority of his Wolf Pack basketball team was still enjoying the Christmas holidays instead of focusing on Tuesday's (Dec. 26) opening round game of the Aztec Holiday Invitational.

In a rematch of a game the Pack won only three days earlier in the desert, West Hills succumbed to El Centro Southwest 58-52 inside the Montgomery High gym. The Pack sacked the Eagles 50-42 in a Desert Shootout game Dec. 23.

"We didn't play the same game we did the first time we met them," Armstrong said. "We had 17 turnovers, which is about double what we had the first time. And we missed eight chippers (shots inside 2 feet).

"We were lethargic, looked like we just pushed ourselves away from the Christmas dinner table."

Despite the loss, West Hills did receive some notable efforts from PETER GILSON (16 points, 11 rebounds, 2 steals) and CHRIS LIFGREN (16 points, 3 steals and 3 assists). Between them, they hit 12 of 26 shots from the field and 4 of 6 free throws.

West Hills (5-5) took a brief lead and then went into catch-up mode. "We cut it down to two points three times, but never caught them," Armstrong said.

West Hills scoring: Chris Lifgren 16, Peter Gilson 16, Lucas Armstrong 6, Tim Nowlin 4, Tony Lynn 3, Blaine Hoffard 3, Taylor Robbins 2, Troy Nowlin 2.

© East County Sports.com
EL CENTRO (12-24-06) -- Fortified by the return of senior Lithuanians ANDRIUS MIKUTIS and VIKTOR ASACIOVAS, the Christian High Patriots reeled off three straight wins to reach the Saturday (Dec. 23) night finals of the Desert Christmas Holiday Shootout at Central Union High.

The Patriots parade hit a brick wall in the championship game against undefeated Francis Parker, as the Lancers clobbered Christian 61-34.

"We were in it early, forcing them to beat us from the outside," Christian assistant coach ADAM COPP said.

Maybe so, but Parker (8-0) hardly stumbled, taking a 30-18 first half lead. The Lancers locked up the victory with an 18-3 scoring spread in the third quarter.

"Some questionable calls against Asaciovas, an off shooting night by DANIEL HAZLETT, and our inability to get Mikutis enough touches let them run away from us in the third quarter," Copp said. "They executed perfectly and were certainly the better team tonight."

Mikutis managed only 12 shots from the field, but clicked on 8 of 9 free throws to lead the Patriots with 19 points. Asaciovas added 12 points.

DANNY MITCHELL, Asaciovas and Mikutis had 7 rebounds apiece to help Christian claim a 39-30 edge on the boards.

Senior standout Tyler Bernardini scored a game-high 24 points for Parker, which also received an additional 20 points from Shawn Lasalita.

The Lancers outscored the Patriots by 26 points from the field. The Patriots also turned the ball over 24 times compared to 6 for Parker. That computes to 18 more scoring chances for Parker.

Christian scoring: Andrius Mikutis 19, Viktor Asaciovas 12, Taylor Eichhorst 3.

WEST HILLS 66, COACHELLA VALLEY 57 -- The Wolf Pack overcame a one point deficit in the final four minutes to deny Coachella Valley an upset victory in Saturday's (Dec. 23) final round of the Desert Christmas Holiday Shootout at Central Union .

PETER GILSON, who was named to the all-tournament team, scored 10 of his game-high 25 points in the waning moments to help the Wolf Pack (6-5) send the Arabs packing.

TONY LYNN hit a key 3 and TROY NOWLIN controlled the inside as the Pack outscored Coachella Valley 20-14 in the final quarter.

Gilson finished the game with 12 rebounds -- 5 on the offensive end -- and blocked 2 shots. The 6-foot-2 senior made 11 of 16 shots from the field.

CHRIS LIFGREN nailed a pair of 3's and finished with 14 points for the Pack, which also got 13 rebounds (8 offensive) and 10 points from Troy Nowlin.

"This was one of Troy's better performances," said West Hills coach JEFF ARMSTRONG. "He had something to prove."

Gilson scored 76 points in the four games, much of it coming from his 32 for 58 shooting from the field (55.2 percent). He also had 33 rebounds, 15 assists, a handful of steals and a couple of blocks.

"I have to give credit to (West Hills assistant coach) CHRIS GRAZIER for deciding it would be best to move Gilson inside," Armstrong said. "He's a pretty good shooter from the perimeter, but you can see that he prefers playing with his back to the basket. He was a monster down low for us. He's so quick inside."

Lynn finished with 5 points and 5 assists, giving him 27 scoring passes in the four games for West Hill.

TAYLOR ROBBINS added 6 assists and 4 rebounds to go with 4 points.

West Hills scoring: Peter Gilson 25, Chris Lifgren 14, Troy Nowlin 10, Tony Lynn 5, Taylor Robbins 4, Lucas Armstrong 3, Blaine Hoffard 3, Tim Nowlin 2.

WEST HILLS 50, El CENTRO SOUTHWEST 42 -- West Hills coach JEFF ARMSTRONG decided to go with a smaller, quicker lineup against the Eagles of El Centro Southwest in Saturday's (Dec. 23) first game of a double-header in the Desert Christmas Holiday Shootout.

One of the major changes was inserting senior guard TAYLOR ROBBINS into the starting lineup.

"Robbins was a benefit to the up-tempo offense, scoring 7 points, clearing 7 rebounds and recording 4 steals," Armstrong said. "We are really looking for Taylor to be a big part of what we want to do this year."

Steady PETER GILSON hit 7 of 12 shots from the field for a team-best 14 points. He also had 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals.

CHRIS LIFGREN was 4 for 4 from the free throw line on his way to a 10 point outing.

TONY LYNN hit a pair of 3-pointers and dished 5 assists for the Pack.

West Hills scoring: Peter Gilson 14, Chris Lifgren 10, Taylor Robbins 7, Blaine Hoffard 6, Tony Lynn 6, Tim Nowlin 4, Garrett Cabral 3.

CHRISTIAN 50, MORSE 42 -- Junior KURT METCALFE scored only 4 points in the Patriots’ semifinal victory over Morse in Saturday's (Dec. 23) Desert Christmas Holiday Shootout at El Centro Southwest.

But Metcalfe's major contribution did not come on offense. The 5-foot-8, 160-pound guard blanketed Morse point guard Remil Landrum. The scorebook will show Landrum with 22 points, but the Tigers hot-shot made only 29 percent of 34 attempts from the field.

"Metcalfe did an outstanding job defensively on Landrum," said Christian assistant coach ADAM COPP. "He forced him into very difficult shots. Kurt was probably the player of the game for us."

The Tigers (6-2), who live on their quickness and ability to connect from the 3-point line, made only 2 of 16 shots from above the arc. Even more stunning, was Morse was a shocking 0-for-1 from the free throw line.

ANDRIUS MIKUTIS paced the Patriots with 17 points and 13 rebounds, while VIKTOR ASACIOVAS added 13 points and 13 boards for Christian.

DANIEL HAZLETT pitched in 11 points, including 4 for 4 shooting from the free throw line.

"Morse was a very difficult team. They were small and quick," said Copp. "We had early success pounding the ball inside but they adjusted. We won the game on the boards and with solid games again from our big three scorers."

Christian claimed a 44-33 edge on the glass.

Christian scoring: Andrius Mikutis 17, Viktor Asaciovas 13, Daniel Hazlett 11, Danny Mitchell 5, Kurt Metcalfe 4.

© East County Sports.com
EL CENTRO (12-23-06) -- What was good news for Christian turned out to be bad news for West Hills in Friday's (Dec. 22) opening game of the Desert Christmas Holiday Shootout at El Centro's Southwest High.

Christian athletic director/basketball coach KEN BAILEY was informed by an email from the San Diego Section administrators on Thursday (Dec. 21) that Lithuanian students ANDRIUS MIKUTIS and VIKTOR ASACIOVAS were cleared to play.

Mikutis was razor-sharp, hitting 12-of-18 shots from the field, including two 3's, and 7-of-8 free throws for a grand total of 33 points to go along with 16 rebounds as the Patriots edged the Wolf Pack 68-57 in overtime.

Asociovas hit 5-of-10 shots from the field and added 7 free throws for 17 points and also gathered 11 rebounds before fouling out.

Steady point guard DANIEL HAZLETT netted 11 of 14 free throws on his way to a 16-point effort.

Despite those explosive offensive numbers, the Patriots were scrambling at the end.

West Hills, in fact, led by one point with 5 seconds to play. Hazlett got the ball and drove hard down court and was fouled with 2 seconds left. The senior sharpshooter missed the first free throw, but made the second, sending the game into overtime.

The four-minute overtime belonged exclusively to Christian. Mikutis accounted for 8 points, and Hazlett added 7 as the Patriots outscored the Pack 17-6 in overtime.

"We were in foul trouble all game long," said Christian assistant coach ADAM COPP. "West Hills did an excellent job of keeping us in the half court game and playing their style of ball. But once we got into overtime Andrius dominated, attacking the rim 1 on 5."

One of the oddities during this game was Christian scored more points in the overtime than it did in any of the regulation quarters.

"In the overtime we went cold and they got hot," West Hills coach JEFF ARMSTRONG said. "We had the lead late in the game and just couldn't hold onto it. We couldn't handle their big kid Mikutis. We just didn't have an answer to him. He's a very good player."

Armstrong was upset that the game ever made it to overtime.

"We were up by one point and BLAINE HOFFARD was called for a very questionable foul," Armstrong said. "Hazlett went to the line and missed the first shot and hit the second to tie it at 51-51. That was not a foul -- we watched it on tape 15 times. If anything, Hazlett pushed off on Hoffard. That won the game for them. It's nice to let the kids decide the game and not the officials."

Another irritant to Armstrong, Christian outscored the Wolf Pack from the free throw line by 15 points.

Lifgren paced the Wolf Pack with 12 points and GARRETT CABRAL added 10.

"Garrett played very well -- this was his best varsity performance to date." Armstrong said.

Christian scoring: Andrius Mikutis 33, Viktor Asaciovas 17, Daniel Hazlett 16, Brad Johnson 2.

West Hills scoring: Chris Lifgren 12, Garrett Cabral 10, Peter Gilson 9, Tony Lynn 8, Troy Nowlin 7, Blaine Hoffard 5, Lucas Armstrong 3, Taylor Robbins 2, Tim Nowlin 1.

CHRISTIAN 60, EC-SOUTHWEST 45 -- ANDRIUS MIKUTIS continued his hot shooting, hitting 12 of 20 shots from the field and 6 of 8 free throws for a 30-point burst, directing Christian to a Desert Christmas Holiday Shootout victory at El Centro-Southwest on Friday (Dec. 22).

The Patriots led only 25-24 after one half before leaving their zone in favor of a man-to-man strategy in the final two quarters. The difference was obvious, as indicated by the final score.

Guard DANIEL HAZLETT added 15 points, while VIKTOR ASACIOVAS pounded in 11 points and collected a game-high 14 rebounds.

The Patriots need a victory over Morse Saturday (Dec. 23) at 11 a.m. to qualify for the championship game Saturday night at 7:30.

Christian scoring: Andrius Mikutis 30, Daniel Hazlett 15, Viktor Asaciovas 11, Danny Mitchell 2, Brad Johnston 2.

MORSE 76, WEST HILLS 69 -- Giving up 31 points in a quarter usually spells doom to the defensive team. That was the case for West Hills in Friday (Dec. 22) night's Desert Christmas Holiday Shootout at El Centro-Southwest.

The Wolf Pack fell behind the Tigers 31-14 after one quarter and then embarked on the comeback trail.

"We went down 20-plus points in the first half," said West Hills coach JEFF ARMSTRONG.

Morse's Remil Landrum, 5-9 senior guard, scored 13 of his 34 points in the first quarter. Landrum clearly established himself as a premier scorer, having scored 42 points in a Tigers victory over EC Southwest earlier in the day.

"Morse's Landrum and (backcourt mate) Derek Webb (a 6-0 junior) are very quick," said Armstrong.

PETER GILSON led the West Hills comeback bid with a season-high 28 points. CHRIS LIFGREN hit 8 of 9 shots from the field, including one 3, to add 18 points to the Wolf Pack account.

"Lifgren had a fine game before he fouled out in the fourth quarter," Armstrong said. "That kinda hurt us a little -- took the wind out of our sail."

Although senior guard TONY LYNN did not score for the Wolf Pack, he had a lot to do with West Hills' offensive effort, dealing 11 assists.

"Tony did very well, setting up Gilson and Lifgren with his passing," Armstrong said.

West Hills scoring: Peter Gilson 28, Chris Lifgren 18, Tim Nowlin 8, Blaine Hoffard 6, Troy Nowlin 4, Lucas Armstrong 3, Taylor Robbins 2.

© East County Sports.com
NATIONAL CITY (12-21-06) -- A third-quarter breakdown cost the underdog Mount Miguel Matadors a chance to be champions of the Sweetwater Holiday Prep Classic in Thursday's (Dec. 21) final against North County power Carlsbad (7-2).

Trailing 35-29 at intermission, the Matadors often stalled while the Lancers went on an 18-4 run to take a 17-point advantage with less than a minute left in the third quarter.

"We got in foul trouble in the third quarter and they took advantage," said Mount Miguel coach JAY ROWLETT, who saw his team's five game winning streak come to an end.

TRAVON CAPLES had three fouls early in the second quarter and had to sit for awhile, then picked up his fourth foul in the second possession of the third quarter.

"That really hurt us," said Rowlett.

The closest the Matadors got to taking the lead was late in the first half when AHMAAD NUNLEY executed a 3-point play to chop Carlsbad 's advantage to 31-29.

"We never caught 'em, but it was closer than a 20-point game," Rowlett said.

All-tournament pick COURTNEY WRATHER paced the Matadors with 18 points, 3 assists and 3 steals. Despite his abbreviated playing time, Caples rolled a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds. LARON RUSH added 11 points and 7 boards.

Despite the lost, Rowlett was not disheartened.

"We are progressing faster than I thought we would," the coach said. "The guys are buying into the team concept. It doesn't matter which player has the most points. It matters whether we win the game."

Mount Miguel scoring: Courtney Wrather 18, Laron Rush 11, Travon Caples 10, Ahmaad Nunley 9, Devyn Moore 2 (4 stl).

VALHALLA 48, GOMPERS 25 -- Injury-riddled Valhalla finally found some firm footing in National City on Thursday (Dec. 21) in the Sweetwater Holiday Prep Classic. The Norsemen began what was to be a doubleheader sweep to extend their modest winning streak to three by defeating Gompers in an early afternoon game.

TRAVIS FOELSCH scored 19 points to lead the Valhalla surge. AAHRON MIMS added 11 points.

This game was over by halftime, as the Norsemen had built 35-13 lead.

"We did a good job of picking up our defensive pressure, and our rebounding was outstanding," said Valhalla coach KEITH JACKSON. "We were up by 30 in the third quarter and it was a good opportunity to give some other players some floor time."

Valhalla scoring: Travis Foelsch 19, Aahron Mims 11, Ruffy Bacong 5, Jorge Serna 4, Mike Espinoza 3, Daniel Butcher 2, Rod Fakhoury 2, Garret Giles 2.

VALHALLA 37, PREUSS 34 -- In their second Sweetwater Holiday Prep Classic game of the day, the Norsemen managed to produce just enough points to escape with a victory over Preuss in a game between two teams that were obviously fatigued.

TRAVIS FOELSCH scored 14 points to again show the Norsemen the way. Valhalla moved above the .500 mark for the second time this season at 6-5. Only two teams in the Grossmont South have more wins than the Norsemen.

"We had a short turnaround time and it was tough to get up for this game," said Valhalla coach KEITH JACKSON. "Our defense and rebounding were outstanding again. We really had a lot of trouble hitting our outside shots."

Valhalla scoring: Travis Foelsch 14, Aahron Mims 7, Mike Espinoza 6, Jorge Serna 6, Rod Fakhoury 4.

MARIAN CATHOLIC 50, EL CAPITAN 36 -- Heading into the final quarter of Thursday's (Dec. 21) Sweetwater Holiday Prep Classic consolation contest at Sweetwater, the victory-hungry Vaqueros (1-8) were trailing Marian Catholic by only six points.

El Capitan was unable to mount any kind of comeback as the Crusaders (4-5) claimed a 19-11 scoring advantage to pick up the win.

BARRETT BRAUN turned in another steady performance of 20 points and 8 rebounds. The 6-foot-3 junior was especially effective at the free throw line where he made 7 of 8.

ROBERT VICALDO grabbed a team-high 12 rebounds and dished 3 assists in addition to scoring 6 points for the Vaqueros.

JERAMIE CARR added 6 points, 5 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 assists for El Capitan .

El Capitan scoring: Barrett Braun 20, Jeramie Carr 6, Robert Vicaldo 6, Michael Overson 4 (4 reb.).

© East County Sports.com
OTAY MESA (12-21-06) -- Foul problems plagued Granite Hills in Wednesday's (Dec. 20) championship game of the Otay Ranch Holiday Tournament. And Mission Bay was able to capitalize and take a come from behind 54-49 victory.

The Buccaneers (6-2) converted 24 of 37 free throws, while Granite Hills (7-2) was just 4 of 10 from the charity stripe.

"The free throws killed us," said Granite Hills coach RANDY ANDERSON. "We had 'em and lost at the end."

Mission Bay gained an 18-8 scoring advantage over the final eight minutes to eke out the win.

Three starters -- BRIAN HUMPHRIES, ANDREW JOSLYN, and NICO SANCHEZ -- fouled out.

"Humphries' fifth foul was questionable and hurt us bad," said Anderson .

WAYNE MARTIN sank 5 threes tonight, giving him 15 threes for the three games of the tournament. He was named to the all-tournament team. Martin finished with a team-high 19 points against Mission Bay .

Humphries added 10 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists, while DEAN MILLER pitched in 8 points and Joslyn gobbled up 8 rebounds. Sanchez matched Humphries' assist totals.

Mount Miguel guard Devyn Moore scores on this driving layin to help the Matadors paste Castle Park at the Sweetwater Tournament. (Photo by Chris Edwards)

Granite Hills scoring: Wayne Martin 19, Brian Humphries 10, Dean Miller 8, Kyle Snyder 5, Nico Sanchez 4, Derick Edwards 1.

MOUNT MIGUEL 56, CASTLE PARK 36 -- LARON RUSH flexed his physical prowess and took charge of Wednesday's (Dec. 20) semifinal game of the Sweetwater Holiday Prep Classic game in National City .

The 6-foot-4 senior football player rustled up 16 points and 11 rebounds to help the Matadors (6-3) capture their fifth straight victory and a berth in Thursday (Dec. 21) night's tournament championship game against Carlsbad (6-2) at 8:30.

COURTNEY WRATHER added 14 points for Mount Miguel, while TRAVON CAPLES muscled in 8 points and collected 8 rebounds.

Perhaps the key to the Matadors' latest win was the work of junior guard DEVYN MOORE, who pitched in 6 points, 2 assists and 2 steals.

"Our defense was good tonight," said Mount Miguel coach JAY ROWLETT. "We are working on being unselfish. Devyn Moore played some great on-ball defense. He's our best defensive player, triggered our defense. He doesn't care about scoring, he does the dirty work for us."

Mount Miguel used a 21-6 third quarter rush to topple the Trojans, who were unable to handle the Matadors' superior speed.

Mount Miguel scoring: Laron Rush 16, Courtney Wrather 14, Travon Caples 8, Devyn Moore 6, A.J. Stanford 6 (3 reb., 3 stl.), OC Basey 4, Ahmaad Nunley 2.

PALMDALE 89, MONTE VISTA 83 (OT) -- Even though the Monarchs came up a little short in Wednesday's (Dec. 20) Grossmont Winter Classic consolation against the Palmdale Falcons, Monte Vista first-year coach KEVIN MAHADY was pleased by his new team's performance.

"It was our best performance of the year, a great game," Mahady said of the Monarchs (4-5). "I'm very proud of our kids."

You couldn't blame Mahady if he had mixed emotion, as he was head coach at Palmdale a year ago.

"It was a little weird coaching against my former team," acknowledged Mahady.

As it was, 6-foot-2 senior JAMAR RANSOME hit 10-of-17 shots from the floor on his way to a 25-point finish. The Monarchs' top inside threat also grabbed 10 rebounds.

"Ransome really played a great game tonight," said Mahady.

Make that two solid games in a row for Ransome, who has compiled 54 and 21 rebounds in back-to-back starts.

MIKE WATKINS isn't doing too bad either for the Monarchs. The 5-9 junior guard scored a career-high 21 points, most of it coming on 5 of 7 free point shooting.

ROSHUN WYNNE added 18 points, 4 assists and 4 steals for the Monarchs, who also received 15 points, 6 assists and 4 steals from BRANDON WILLIAMS.

In a fierce battle from end to end, the Monarchs scored 27 points in the final quarter of regulation to force overtime. But after that, Palmdale (8-2) took the lead in the four minute overtime and never let go.

"We played well enough to win, just didn't pull it off," said Mahady.

Monte Vista scoring: Jamar Ransome 25, Mike Watkins 21, Roshun Wynne 18, Brandon Williams 15, Ryan Houser 4.

VALHALLA 58, WEBBER ACADEMY (Calgary, Alberta) 38 -- The Norsemen snapped a four-game losing streak in an early morning wake-up call against the Webber Academy Wildcats of Calgary, Alberta, in Wednesday's (Dec. 20) consolation action in the Sweetwater Holiday Prep Classic in National City.

TRVIS FOELSCH scored a Valhalla season-high 25 to carry the torch for the Norsemen (4-5). Had Foelsch done a little bit better at the free throw line, where he was 7 of 15, he would have added even more to his personal career best.

AAHRON MIMS, providing a solid supporting cast, tallied 17 points and grabbed 15 rebounds.

Senior MIKE ESPINOZA, who left Tuesday's game with a thumb injury, returned on Wednesday to score 9 points.

"We went inside a lot today, went right at their 6-8 player," said Valhalla coach KEITH JACKSON. "Foelsch and Mims played really big for us today. They helped us control the paint."

Valhalla outscored the Wildcats, 32-14, in the middle quarters to secure the victory.

Valhalla scoring: Travis Foelsch 25, Aahron Mims 17, Mike Espinoza 9, Daniel Butcher 4, Ruffy Bacong 3.

GROSSMONT 47, RAMONA 42 -- A strong fourth quarter rush enabled the host Grossmont Foothillers to knock off the Ramona Bulldogs in Wednesday's (Dec. 20) Grossmont Winter Classic game.

It was the second time the Foothillers (5-4) have beaten the Bulldogs. They opened the season with a 65-51 verdict in Ramona.

IAN COCHRAN stepped into center stage for the Foothillers again, scoring 31 points and hauling in 14 rebounds. The 6-foot-6 junior forward has accounted for 68 points and 29 rebounds in the last two games.

KHALID WATERS added 5 assists and 3 steals for the Foothillers, who also got 9 rebounds from JUSTIN RUTHERFORD.

Grossmont scoring: Ian Cochran 31, Khalid Waters 4, Michael Graham 4, Justin Rutherford 3, Richard Ogunsalu 3, Alex Chiappone 2.

BONITA VISTA 59, CHRISTIAN 48 -- Seems there is no stopping Christian High guard DANIEL HAZLETT these days. In each of his five starts, Hazlett has scored 21 points or more.

Hazlett scored 27 in Wednesday's (Dec. 20) Grossmont Winter Classic against Bonita Vista at Grossmont High, but once again, limited support from his teammates left the Patriots short against a decent Bonita Vista squad.

Included in his totals was 4 for 8 shooting from above the arc and 3 for 3 accuracy from the free throw line. The fact that Hazlett is averaging 26.4 points per game -- and everybody on the other teams are aware of that -- makes his achievements pretty impressive.

Christian continues to play without two of its top returning players, who are held in limbo pending San Diego Section CIF eligibility investigation. Christian is not the only school where the CIF continues to drag its feet to render a decision. It seems funny that the two Christian players were eligible a year ago without a problem.

"We hung around okay today. If we would have been able to rebound, we would have had a shot at this game," said Christian assistant coach ADAM COPP. "Their Stephen Shields just killed us on the glass."

Shields led the Barons with 19 points and 12 rebounds.

Christian scoring: Daniel Hazlett 27, Jordan Graves 6, Kurt Metcalfe 4, Taylor Eichhorst 4, Brad Johnston 3, Danny Mitchell 2, Chris Camp 2.

CANYON CREST 71, SANTANA 42 -- Playing their 15th game of the season, almost twice as many as any other East County boys basketball team, the Santana Sultans appeared to be a little bit weary over the final three quarter of Wednesday's (Dec. 20) Grossmont Winter Classic game at Grossmont.

With 2½ minutes left in the first half, Santana was up 30-29, and Canyon Crest went on an 8-0 run.

The Ravens outscored the Sultans 27-11 in the third quarter, gaining two-thirds of those points on 6 three-pointers, and then flew away with their fourth win in nine decisions.

CHRIS SODERGREN delivered a double-double of 14 rebounds and 10 points for Santana (5-10). Freshman guard JESSE VARGAS hit a trio of 3's on his way to an 11-point outing, while TYLER BLACKLEDGE scored 13 points, collected 7 rebounds and dished 3 assists.

Santana scoring: Tyler Blackledge 13, Jesse Vargas 11, Chris Sodergren 10, Kevin Engelke 9, John Vasquez 5, Brett Romero 2, Blake Harper 2.

KEARNY 66, EL CAPITAN 36 -- The BARRETT BRAUN scoring show continued, as the 6-foot-3 junior poured in another 26 points in Wednesday's (Dec. 20) Sweetwater Holiday Prep Classic consolation loss to Kearny (5-3) at Sweetwater.

The Komets controlled a 22-7 first quarter lead and never looked back as they handed the Vaqueros their seventh loss in eight decisions.

El Capitan scoring: Barrett Braun 26, Jeramie Carr 4, Michael Overson 2, Brooks Noble 2, Robert Vicaldo 2.

OTAY RANCH 84, EL CAJON VALLEY 31 -- Otay Ranch Holiday Tournament; No details reported.

El Cajon Valley scoring: Michael Holder 9, Chris Franco 6, Andrew Johnson 6, Lucas Stafford 5, Dejon Joy 5.

© East County Sports.com
NATIONAL CITY (12-20-06) -- El Capitan coach ROSS FURROW has been coaching basketball for more years than he can count. As a rule his teams have always found a way to compete for championships.

This year -- by his own admission -- he's starting from scratch.

"I have three freshmen in my starting lineup," Furrow noted. "This is no knock on the kids we have, but it's kind of like starting over. A lot of the players I thought we might have decided to play other sports."

One player, 6-foot-3 junior BARRETT BRAUN, has devoted his high school career to basketball. Braun was at his best in Tuesday's (Dec. 19) Sweetwater Holiday Classic.

Braun scored a career-high 38 points, hitting 13 of 20 shots from the field and 9 of 10 free throws to carry the Vaqueros to a 51-48 victory over High Tech High.

"He can score from anywhere," Furrow said of Braun. "He's a skillful player who has a nice stroke and can really shoot it. And he's only going to get better."

This is a refreshing change for El Capitan (1-6), which lost its first six games by an average margin of 32 points.

Braun's latest outing included hitting 3 of 5 from 3-point range and collecting a team-high 11 rebounds.

"If Barrett keeps working on his game, he should be a pretty darn good player by the time he's a senior."

The Vaqueros, who have several key players injured, welcomed the return of senior guard JERAMIE CARR, who suffered a separated shoulder a couple weeks back.

"Carr definitely helps us with our ball handling," Furrow said.

Another key player Furrow hopes to add to his lineup soon is 6-foot-3 sophomore JOHN MOLZEN. Molzen is recovering from a football injury.

El Capitan scoring: Barrett Braun 38, Jeramie Carr 6, Brooks Noble 3, Jake Zawlacki 2, Robert Vicaldo 2.

GRANITE HILLS 75, CALEXICO 37 -- The Eagles hit of 10 of 20 three-point shots on their way to smoking Calexico in Tuesday's (Dec. 19) Otay Ranch Holiday Tournament at Otay Ranch High. It was the second time Granite Hills has beaten the Bulldogs, having won earlier this season by a score of 69-33.

The so-called rematch would have been even more lopsided had the fourth quarter not been played with a running clock.

Granite Hills will face Mission Bay for the tournament championship Wednesday (Dec. 20) night at 7:30 at Otay Ranch.

Granite Hills led 73-33 after three regulation quarters.

Three Eagles reached the 20 point scoring barrier. WAYNE MARTIN tallied 21 points -- all from 3-point range. DEAN MILLER was 8 for 8 from the free throw line on his way to a 21 point night, while BRIAN HUMPHRIES hit a pair of 3's and finished with 20 points.

Granite Hills dominated on the boards, with Miller and Humphries each collecting 12 caroms. As a team the Eagles claimed 22 offensive boards.

"We really crashed the boards hard," said Eagles coach RANDY ANDERSON. "And I thought we had real good team balance throughout our lineup."

Anderson also praised the work of Miller, who had a team-best 5 assists to go with his double-double.

"It was Dean's best all-around game," said Anderson .

Martin launched the offensive assault by hitting 4 treys in the first quarter as the Eagles assumed a 22-12 lead.

Granite Hills scoring: Dean Miller 21, Wayne Martin 21, Brian Humphries 20, Nico Sanchez 7, Andrew Joslyn 4, Derick Edwards 2.

MONTE VISTA 70, CHRISTIAN 53 -- Jumping out to a rare fast start of 17-2 in the opening quarter, the Monarchs rolled past the short-handed Christian High Patriots in Tuesday's (Dec. 19) Grossmont Winter Classic at Grossmont.

JAMAR RANSOME, who was a pillar of strength for Monte Vista with 29 points and 11 rebounds, tallied 13 markers in the pivotal first quarter.

ROSHUN WYNNE and MIKE WATKINS each hit 3-point shots, helping the Monarchs jump on top 23-11.

"We haven't played well in the first quarter very often this year," said Monte Vista coach KEVIN MAHADY of his 4-4 Monarchs. "This is easily the best start we've had."

Ransome was deadly inside, as he connected on 10 of 14 shots and topped that off by netting 9 of 15 free throws.

"Ransome played big for us, just took over the game," Mahady said. Watkins was right behind with 13 points.

The Monarchs shot 55 percent from the field as a team. Wynne hit 4 of 8 for 9 points in addition to dealing 5 assists and recording 4 steals. BRANDON WILLIAMS missed only one of his 5 shots, for 8 points.

Mahady leads his Monarchs against Palmdale Wednesday (Dec. 20) morning at 10:30 in a consolation game.

"It should be fun," said Mahady, who coached at Palmdale last season.

DANIEL HAZLETT had another big game for Christian (2-3) with a career-high 31 points to lead them. Hazlett has scored 84 points in his last three games. He also had 5 steals and 5 rebounds against the Monarchs.

Monte Vista scoring: Jamar Ransome 29, Mike Watkins 13, Roshun Wynne 9, Brandon Williams 8, Alex Robinson 4, Trent Watkins 3, Eric Griffin 2, Ryan Houser 2.

Christian scoring: Daniel Hazlett 31, Brad Johnston 7, Jordan Graves 6, Danny Mitchell 4, Chris Camp 2, Kurt Metcalfe 2, Taylor Eichhorst 1.

MOUNT MIGUEL 74, OCEANSIDE 68 -- Although Granite Hills coach JAY ROWLETT was not sounding a trumpet, he has to be pleased that his Matadors are riding a four game winning streak into Wednesday (Dec. 20) night's Sweetwater Holiday Classic semifinal game.

COURTNEY WRATHER scored a season-high 25 points, plucked 4 rebounds, dished 3 assists and made 3 steals to lead the Matadors past the Pirates (6-2) in a run-and-gun affair.

"These teams are carbon copies of each other," said Rowlett, noting the up and down, wide-open offensive show. "The main thing for us is we played together.

Junior TRAVON CAPLES and senior LARON RUSH led Mount Miguel's supporting cast with 14 points apiece. Caples copped a team-best 10 rebounds.

Led by DEVYN MOORE's 4 for 4 at the line, Mount Miguel hit 14 of 16 free throws. Moore also chipped in 4 steals and 4 assists.

Wrather scored 17 of his points in the second half to help Mount Miguel gain a 43-35 offensive edge.

"Everybody had a hand in this thing," said Rowlett. "This is the best team we've beaten and the best win we've had so far."

Mount Miguel scoring: Courtney Wrather 25, Travon Caples 14, Laron Rush 14, Ahmaad Nunley 7, A.J. Stanford 6, OC Basey 4, Devyn Moore 4.

EL CAJON VALLEY 57, H-TOWN 40 -- DEJON JOY produced a critical double-double of 20 points, 10 rebounds and 7 steals as El Cajon Valley rallied from an 11-0 first-quarter deficit to hang H-Town in Tuesday's (Dec. 19) Otay Ranch Holiday Tournament at Otay Ranch High.

A major reason for the Braves' slow start was that none of their starters arrived at Otay Ranch prior to the opening tip.

"They said they couldn't find a ride," said a dismayed Braves coach NATE REED, who was forced to begin the game with five reserves.

Once the starters arrived and were filtered into the game, the Braves (3-5) began their comeback. But it took a 27-4 fourth quarter run before the Braves could overtake the T-Wolves.

MICHAEL HOLDER chipped in 12 points, 4 assists and 3 steals for the Braves, who also got 8 points, 10 rebounds and 8 steals from senior ANDREW JOHNSON. LUCAS STAFFORD tossed in 9 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists.

"It was a good contribution from everybody tonight," said Reed. "I'm not happy with this game at all, but a win is a win."

El Cajon Valley scoring: Dejon Joy 20, Michael Holder 12, Lucas Stafford 9, Andrew Johnson 8, A.J. Ussery 5, Sivan Sulyman 3.

GROSSMONT 66, CANYON CREST 49 -- Six-foot-six junior IAN COCHRAN tossed in 37 points and grabbed 15 rebounds to lead the host Foothillers past the Ravens (3-5) of Canyon Crest in Tuesday's (Dec. 19) Grossmont Winter Classic.

Included in Cochran's totals were six 3-point buckets and 5 for 5 from the free throw line.

Grossmont decided the issue in the second half by out-scoring the Ravens 38-23.

Connor Wilcox put on an amazing shooting exhibition for Canyon Crest by hitting nine 3-pointers.

Grossmont scoring: Ian Cochran 37, Justin Rutherford 13, Richard Ogunsalu 8, Khalid Waters 4, Alex Leon 2, Alex Chiappone 2.

RAMONA 54, SANTANA 49 -- The Sultans saw a 41-35 lead dissipate in the final quarter of Tuesday's (Dec. 19) Grossmont Winter Classic at Grossmont High as Santana fell to the Bulldogs (5-9).

"The fourth quarter turned the game around," said Santana coach TIM BARRY. "It's the third game we've lead in the fourth quarter and we've lost all three."

Santana lead by 10 points with 6 minutes left to play but couldn't maintain the advantage.

"We just fell apart," Barry said. "This is another sign of a young team. In the end we were trying to not lose instead of trying to win."

Sophomore KEVIN ENGELKE scored 15 points to top the Sultans, while senior JOHN VASQUEZ added a dozen markers. TYLER BLACKLEDGE pitched in 7 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists, and freshman point guard JESSE VARGAS added 6 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and made 3 steals.

Santana scoring: Kevin Engelke 15, John Vasquez 12, Tyler Blackledge 7, Jesse Vargas 6, Chris Sodergren 5, Kyle Salzman 4.

UNIVERSITY CITY 56, VALHALLA 20 -- The Norsemen's injury list swelled while its losing streak increased to four during Tuesday's (Dec. 19) Sweetwater Holiday Classic at Sweetwater High.

Already obligated without injured starters KEVIN KRIEBEL and AUSTIN SUHAY due to ankle injuries, coach KEITH JACKSON must have been horrified when he saw RUFFY BACONG go down with an ankle injury and MIKE ESPINOZA hurt his thumb. Bacong and Espinoza are the guys who replaced Kriebel and Suhay in the first place.

To make matters even more aggravating, the Norsemen (3-5) drew the early morning call in Wednesday's (Dec. 20) tournament action against Weber , Alberta , Canada at 8:30 a.m. at Sweetwater.

Jackson is hopeful that both Bacong and Espinoza will play in this game as Valhalla's offense has almost come to a standstill.

The Norsemen were never in the game against University City , trailing 34-6 at halftime.

"We got out-rebounded. We worked for the shots we wanted, we just didn't finish them," said Valhalla coach KEITH JACKSON. "We didn't have a good game today. We had a hard time taking care of the ball."

Brooks Dougherty hit 5 three-pointers on his way to a 23 point finish for U.C.

Valhalla scoring: Mike Espinoza 6, Rod Fakhoury 4, Travis Foelsch 5, Aahron Mims 2, Ruffy Bacong 2, Jorge Serna 1.

© East County Sports.com
OTAY MESA (12-19-06) -- Junior BRIAN HUMPHRIES turned in his finest performance of the season for Granite Hills, leading the Eagles to an impressive 63-49 victory over the host Mustangs on Monday's (Dec. 18) first round of the Otay Ranch Holiday Tournament at Otay Ranch.

The 6-foot-4 Humphries scored 34 points, bagged 10 rebounds, blocked 3 shots and made 3 steals to carry the Eagles to their sixth win in seven starts. Humphries was an offensive model of balance. He scored 9 points in the first quarter, 10 in the second, 7 in the third and 8 in the fourth.

Humphries hit 10 of 13 shots from the field and all 3 attempts from beyond the arc. He capped his big night by making 11 of 14 free throws.

"He was dominating inside and posted up really well against their 6-6 and 6-5 guys," said Granite Hills coach RANDY ANDERSON.

Anderson agreed it was Humphries' best all-around game of the season.

"Well, the main thing about Brian is he's been steady every game," Anderson said.

Granite Hills jumped out to an 11-2 lead and was never seriously threatened thereafter.

"We were making a point to run our offense well," Anderson said. "We used every second of the shot clock and then managed to take a good shot."

Granite Hills made 8 of 14 shots from beyond the arc, and made 48 percent of 42 shots overall.

DEAN MILLER added 12 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists for the Eagles, who also got 10 points from WAYNE MARTIN and 7 rebounds from DERICK EDWARDS.

Granite Hills scoring: Brian Humphries 34, Dean Miller 12, Wayne Martin 10, Andrew Joslyn 7.

BURROUGHS (Ridgecrest) 55, MONTE VISTA 48 -- It took the Monarchs until the second half to get their offense in stride against the visiting Burroughs of Ridgecrest in Monday's (Dec. 18) Grossmont Winter Classic at Grossmont High.

Monte Vista (3-4) gained a 31-26 second half scoring advantage, but it was not enough to overcome a 12 points first half deficit.

"We got down early and had to scrap our way back. It's been a problem for us," said Monte Vista coach KEVIN MAHADY. "We got back into it but couldn't get over the hump."

Senior guard ROSHUN WYNNE was a shining light for the Monarchs, with 16 points and a trio of 3's. He also dished 5 assists and made 3 steals.

"Wynne is having a really strong tournament," said Mahady. "He's strong on both ends."

JAMAR RANSOME did not have a stellar shooting night but contributed 12 points, 11 rebounds, 2 blocks and 2 assists for Monte Vista.

Monte Vista's MIKE WATKINS landed a pair of 3-point shots and totaled 12 points for the game.

Monte Vista scoring: Roshun Wynne 16, Mike Watkins 12, Jamar Ransome 12, Brandon Williams 8.

SAN DIEGUITO ACADEMY 69, SANTANA 62 -- In an up-tempo game the Sultans and Mustangs were deadlocked at 32-all after the first quarter of Monday's (Dec. 18) Grossmont Winter Classic at Grossmont.

Scoring was not a problem for the Sultans (5-8), who recorded their second-highest offensive output of the season.

Stopping San Dieguito's Tolan Shaw was another problem, as the Mustangs' high-flying guard tallied 33 points -- 14 in the fourth quarter. What had to burn the Sultans even more was that Shaw scored 6 of his points from the free throw line in the final period.

"I thought we had a good effort in the first half," said Santana coach TIM BARRY. "We played well in the third quarter but we played halfcourt defense in the fourth quarter. We need to get some time in the gym and get some practice in."

Freshman guard JESSE VARGAS was Santana's top gun with 15 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals. The majority of Vargas' points came on his trio of 3-pointers. He also converted 6 of 8 free throws.

Sophomore KEVIN ENGELKE also had a 15 point scoring night, while sophomore CHRIS SODERGREN coined a double-double of 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Not to be overlooked was TYLER BLACKLEDGE, who pitched in 9 points, 5 rebounds and 3 steals.

Santana scoring: Jesse Vargas 15, Kevin Engelke 15, Chris Sodergren 10, Tyler Blackledge 9, Kyle Salzman 7, Ryan Garlin 2, Blake Harper 2, Anthony DeBarrows 2.

MOUNT MIGUEL 59, PREUSS 33 -- Both teams trudged out of the starting gate in Monday's (Dec. 18) Sweetwater Holiday Classic, with the Matadors gaining a 7-2 lead after the first eight minutes.

Mount Miguel turned up the heat in the second quarter with an 18-9 rush, but was unable to seal the victory before outscoring the Tritons 19-3 in the final period.

"We should get a better test tonight when we play Oceanside ," said Mount Miguel coach JAY ROWLETT, whose Matadors face the Pirates Tuesday (Dec. 19) at 8:30 at Sweetwater.

Sophomore AHMAAD NUNLEY hit a pair of 3-pointers on his way to sharing high-point honors with the Matadors TRAVON CAPLES at 14 apiece.

Mount Miguel scoring: Ahmaad Nunley 14, Travon Caples 14, Laron Rush 10, Courtney Wrather 10, A.J. Stanford 6, Matt Miles 3, J.J. Norton 2.

MOUNT MIGUEL 69, GOMPERS 34 -- Even though the Matadors could use a victory, this was hardly a challenge as Mount Miguel marched to a 35-12 over Gompers in a non-league game at Sweetwater.

On the positive side for the Matadors (4-3) was they achieved balanced scoring, as six players scored 6 points or more.

Freshman A.J. STANFORD set the pace with 14 points, including 4 for 4 shooting from the free throw line.

Mount Miguel scoring: A.J. Stanford 14, Travon Caples 13, Courtney Wrather 12, Laron Rush 8, OC Basey 8, Arthur Hobbs 7, Ahmaad Nunley 4, J.J. Norton 3.

MT. CARMEL 51, VALHALLA 43 -- The short-handed Norsemen (3-4) suffered their third straight loss in Monday's (Dec. 18) Sweetwater Holiday Classic at Sweetwater.

Despite playing without two starters, the Norsemen managed to make a game of it. What they could not do was overcome an 18-10 first quarter deficit. That eight-minute stanza proved to be the difference in the game.

" Mt. Carmel (6-1) was so much bigger than us," Valhalla coach KEITH JACKSON said. "They had us down 18-7 in the final seconds of the first quarter until sophomore ROD FAKHOURY hit a halfcourt 3-point shot at the buzzer. After that we played them even."

TRAVIS FOELSCH rolled a double-double for Valhalla of 11 points and 11 rebounds. AAHRON MIMS grabbed a team-leading 12 rebounds.

Senior MIKE ESPINOZA -- filling in for injured starters KEVIN KRIEBEL and AUSTIN SUHAY, both sidelined with ankle sprains -- popped in 11 points, including a pair of threes. Junior RUFFY BACONG, also pressed into starting duty, came up with 9 points and a pair of threes.

"We had match-up problems all night," Jackson said. "But our kids played hard the whole way through."

Valhalla scoring: Travis Foelsch 11, Mike Espinoza 11, Ruffy Bacong 9, Aahron Mims 5, Rod Fakhoury 5, Jorge Serna 2.

CLAIREMONT 51, GROSSMONT 44 -- The Foothillers and visiting Chieftains were knotted at 32-all after three quarters of Monday's (Dec. 18) Grossmont Winter Classic contest.

But it was Clairemont that finished strong at the wire.

"They played better than we did and made their shots down the stretch," said Grossmont coach FRANK FOGGIANO. "Clairemont made 8 of 10 free throws in the fourth quarter."

IAN COCHRAN paced the Hillers (3-4) with 16 points. JUSTIN RUTHERFORD added 13 points and RICHARD OGUNSALU popped in 10.

"It was a tightly played struggle throughout the first three quarters, then they opened it up in the fourth quarter and we did not respond very well," Foggiano said.

Grossmont scoring: Ian Cochran 16, Justin Rutherford 13, Richard Ogunsalu 10, Khalid Waters 5.

FRANCIS PARKER 74, CHRISTIAN 15 -- A depleted band of Patriots were no match in Monday's (Dec. 18) Grossmont Winter Classic contest against the Lancers at Grossmont High.

With two players held in limbo pending a decision by the San Diego CIF hierarchy, and an in-season injury to long-range shooter DANIEL HAZLETT, the Patriots were left all but defenseless against powerful Parker.

Parker led 40-10 at halftime and it only got worse from there.

DANNY MITCHELL, quarterback of Christian's Division V section champions, paced the Patriots (2-2) with 8 points and 4 rebounds.

Christian scoring: Danny Mitchell 8, Kurt Metcalfe 3, Michael Stowers 2, Taylor Eichhorst 1, Brad Johnston 1.

CASTLE PARK 72, EL CAPITAN 40 -- It was more of the same for the Vaqueros -- BARRETT BRAUN against the world -- in Monday's (Dec. 18) Sweetwater Holiday Classic action at National City's Sweetwater High.

Braun cashed in 11 of 14 free throws on his way to a team-leading 24 points for the Vaqueros (0-6).

The Trojans jumped on the Vaqueros early on to take a 22-9 first-quarter lead. A 24-9 scoring burst in the third quarter put the game on ice for Castle Park .

El Capitan scoring: Barrett Braun 24, Jake Zawlacki 7, Robert Vicaldo 4, Brooks Noble 3, Brian Deuel 2.

MAR VISTA 80, EL CAJON VALLEY 58 -- The Braves slumped to 2-5 as they fell to Mar Vista in Monday’s (Dec. 18) opening round of the Otay Ranch Holiday Tournament in South Bay . No other details were reported.

El Cajon Valley scoring: Dejon Joy 21, Lucas Stafford 9, Michael Holder 6, Shivan Sulyman 6, Chris Chambers 6, Chris Franco 5, A.J. Ussery 5.

© East County Sports.com
RED BLUFF (12-16-06) -- For eight years the Helix Highlanders have dribbled their way through the Red Bluff Christmas Tournament in this small Northern California mountain community.

This year was a little more special than the previous seven, as the Highlanders (7-1) brought home a championship after executing a three-game sweep that ended with Saturday night's (Dec. 16) double-overtime 66-62 victory over Pleasant Valley.

"We are still trying to put our game together, and to come up here and win this thing against quality competition is a real plus," said Helix assistant coach ANDY MERIDETH.

Claiming the gold did not come easy. The Highlanders trailed by five with 30 seconds left in regulation.

That's where senior guard LAWRENCE HURDLE stepped in. Hurdle hit a three-pointer and nailed a pair of free throws with one second left to send the game into overtime.

Hurdle, who was named to the all-tournament team along with senior center DAVID JEFFERSON, was Mr. Clutch throughout the two four-minute overtime periods as well.

A pair of Hurdle free throws with six seconds left in the first extra stanza left the game tied at 59-all.

Hurdle then scored the final four points of the evening when he broke a 62-62 tie with a free throw with 20 seconds left and then executed a three-point-play with three seconds remaining.

"This was a great bounce back game for Lawrence," Merideth said. "Every time we needed a big play he was there for us."

Hurdle finished with 17 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals.

Jefferson, who was matched up against a 7-footer, scored a team-high 18 points, grabbed 11 rebounds, dished 2 assists and made 2 steals.

Senior guard BRANDON FOUNTAIN, also worthy of all-tourney recognition, turned in a solid game of 13 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists.

Helix was deadly from the free throw line, hitting 21 of 30 attempts, Jefferson connected on 10 of 12 chances and Fountain made 5 of 7. Hurdle was 3 for 4.

Helix scoring: David Jefferson 18, Lawrence Hurdle 17, Brandon Fountain 13, Donnie McGowan 9, Kareem Abukar 8, Tyonte Hosley 1.

CHRISTIAN 46, SANTANA 43 -- One thing about games played at 9 o'clock in the morning. Nobody seems to want to be there. Including the officials.

These two teams were asked to open Saturday's (Dec. 16) Grossmont Winter Classic at 9 a.m. and managed to put on an interesting show.

The two teams combined for 14 three-points and there were only 9 fouls called in the game that wasn't decided until the final seconds.

"We made a nice comeback and held on at the end to win it," said Christian coach KEN BAILEY.

DANIEL HAZLETT led the Patriots (1-2) with 27 points. The Patriots guard -- who has scored 53 points in his last two games -- hit 5 of 7 from above the arc against Santana.

"Hazlett is our go-to guy since the Lithuanian boys aren't yet certified to play, said Bailey. "These other kids are stepping up and doing a good job for us. We are very pleased with DANNY MITCHELL, coming off the success of the football team. He hit the opening 3-pointer of the game, and that's the one that made the difference."

Christian was up 46-41 in the last minute of the game. Santana stole the ball and scored to bring it to 46-43. Santana's defense forced Hazlett to take an off-balance shot that bounced off.

Santana grabbed the rebound and got the ball downcourt to JESSE VARGAS who missed on a 3-point effort. CHRIS SODERGREN got the rebound and passed the ball out to JOHN VASQUEZ whose last second 3 bounced off the rim at the buzzer.

TYLER BLACKLEDGE led Santana with 17 points and 10 rebounds. He hit a pair of threes, as did Vargas. Vasquez led the Sultans with a trio of threes. Sodergren had 8 rebounds for the Sultans.

"It was quite a battle, a very physical game," said Santana coach TIM BARRY. "We came out and traded baskets back and forth. "Christian is a fine team, the game was like an old-fashioned 3-point shoot-out."

Christian scoring: Daniel Hazlett 27, Danny Mitchell 5, Taylor Eichhorst 4, Brad Johnston 4, Gabe Cecena 2, Kurt Metcalfe 2, Jordan Graves 2.

Santana scoring: Tyler Blackledge 17, John Vasquez 9, Jesse Vargas 8, Anthony DeBarrows 5, Brett Romero 2, Kevin Engelke 2.

MONTE VISTA 75, MORSE 67 -- Watch for these Monte Vista Monarchs.

While hardly headline news, Monte Vista has quietly put together three wins in its last four starts, including a free-wheeling scoring fest against Morse Saturday (Dec. 16) in the Grossmont Winter Classic opener at Grossmont High.

It was a come-from-behind effort by the Monarchs (3-3), who trailed 21-10 early in the second quarter.

"It took us a while, but we finally got our transition game going in the second quarter," Monte Vista KEVIN MAHADY said.

Monte Vista's three-prong scoring machine was pumping at full speed after the sluggish start. JAMAR RANSOME showed the way with 25 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists and a pair of steals.

BRANDON WILLIAMS added 20 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 steals for the Monarchs, who also received 16 points, 8 assists, 6 steals and 6 rebounds from ROSHUN WYNNE.

"When those three guys are clicking we are a pretty good team," Mahady said.

Together that trio shot 50 percent from the field.

Monte Vista scoring: Jamar Ransome 25, Brandon Williams 20, Roshun Wynne 16, Mike Watkins 7, Geoff Hartman 5, Ryan Houser 3.

FOOTHILLS CHRISTIAN 92, LUTHERAN 47 -- Those expecting to stop Foothills Christian freshman TROY LEAF with a specialized defense had better think again.

Lutheran played a box-and-one in an attempt to stop Leaf. They got the job half done as Leaf finished with 19 points, which is below his season average.

Still, the Knights (6-3) erupted for 64 points in the first half and continued to a lopsided win that included a running clock in the fourth quarter of the

Citrus South League opener at Granite Hills.

While Lutheran's focus was on Leaf, BRANDON HALE went wild. The 6-foot-3 sophomore tallied 40 points, which included hitting 8 three-pointers. Hale scored 27 points in the first half onslaught.

"We started incredibly slow, the score was 9-8 and (coach) BRAD (LEAF) called a timeout," said Foothills assistant coach JAMES McHUGH. "He really reamed them, and after that Brandon really got the team going.

" Brandon was open all day. They tried to take away one of our weapons and he wasn't the one who was shooting."

KALOB HATCHER, a freshman point guard, dished out a school-record 16 assists, while recording 7 steals and pitching in 22 points. Leaf added 7 assists, 7 steals and collected 6 rebounds.

Foothills Christian scoring: Brandon Hale 40, Kalob Hatcher 22, Troy Leaf 19, David Carter 6, Ronnie Richards 2, Andrew Atia 2, Nick Duenez 1.

STEELE CANYON 76, BORREGO SPRINGS 41 -- The drought is over for the Steele Canyon Cougars, who finally broke into the win column after seven straight losses in Saturday's (Dec. 16) Kiwanis Tournament at Mission Bay.

Twelve Cougars contributed to scoring in the win, which was decided by halftime as Steele Canyon was cruising 48-23.

Sophomore ZANE KEITH came off the SC bench to bury four 3-pointers to pace the Cougars with 12 points. Senior TONY MINNIFIELD added 11 points and 8 rebounds playing only in the first half.

JEBARI ROBINSON did most of his court time in the first half, totaling 8 points and 6 assists for his trouble. CAMERON MOSS, another sophomore, played most of the second half and powered in 6 points while corralling 8 rebounds.

"This was a much needed win," Steele Canyon coach BERNIE BALIKIAN said. "We picked up our shooting over what we'd done in past games."

The Cougars canned 10 of 26 shots from three-point range.

Steele Canyon scoring: Zane Keith 12, Tony Minnifield 11, Jake Ransom 9, Elige Carter 8, Jebari Robinson 8, Arlin Taylor 6, Riley Balikian 6, Cameron Moss 6, Tim Orange 4, Josiah Smith 3, Casey Gayton 2, Charles Dye 1.

FAIRVIEW (COLO) 53, GROSSMONT 32 -- It was a long night for the Grossmont Foothillers in Saturday's (Dec. 16) opening round of the Grossmont Winter Classic.

Visiting Fairview High of Boulder, Colo., streaked to a 16-7 first-quarter lead and never looked back. The Knights (5-0) led 43-22 after three quarters.

Grossmont scoring: Ian Cochran 11, Richard Ogunsalu 10, Justin Rutherford 8, Michael Graham 3.

© East County Sports.com
RED BLUFF (12-16-06) -- Helix High senior BRANDON FOUNTAIN is known for his defensive expertise. The 6-foot guard is like an octopus when he takes on an opposing team's top scorer.

Fountain's defensive game was flowing freely in Friday night's (Dec. 15) semifinals of the Red Bluff Christmas Classic. But it was Fountain's offensive game that gave the Highlanders a 44-42 victory over tournament host Red Bluff.

Senior guard LAWRENCE HURDLE made his third steal of the game for Helix and drove downcourt with the game tied 42-all. When Hurdle shot and missed, Fountain came down with the offensive rebound. Fountain was fouled as he attempted to score the game-winner off a put-back with one second remaining.

With the capacity crowd raining hysteria, Fountain quieted the din as he hit two free throws to give the Highlanders' their sixth win in seven starts.

"The crowd was going nuts, it was deafening in there," said Helix assistant coach ANDY MERIDETH. "But Brandon showed poise and concentration and gave us the win."

Fountain also led the Highlanders with a personal season-high of 13 points to go with 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals.

DAVID JEFFERSON, the Highlanders' 6-foot-5 senior warrior in the middle, turned in a double-double of 10 points and 13 rebounds while blocking 2 shots and dishing 2 assists.

Hurdle finished with 10 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals.

Helix led 27-20 at halftime.

"We just couldn't put it in fourth gear and pull away," Merideth said. "We are finding ways to win, but this was another grind it out game."

The Highlanders face Pleasant Valley Saturday (Dec. 16) night at 7:30 for the championship.

Helix scoring: Brandon Fountain 13, Lawrence Hurdle 10, David Jefferson 10, Kereem Abukar 5, Alex Aguirre 4, Donnie McGowan 2.

EL CAJON VALLEY 52, SWEETWATER 47 -- After spotting visiting Sweetwater an early 15-9 lead in Friday's (Dec. 15) non-league game, the Braves scored 37 points in the middle two quarters to foil the Red Devils' victory bid.

DEJON JOY had a big night for the Braves (2-4). The 6-foot-1 senior guard scored 14 points, hauled down 17 rebounds, handed out 5 assists and made 5 steals.

"We chalked up a win, and we needed it," said elated El Cajon Valley coach NATE REED. "We really moved the ball well and distributed it nicely. We finally played a complete, four quarters game. We played as a team."

LUCAS STAFFORD led the Braves' supporting cast with 13 points and 9 rebounds.

A 21-13 second quarter gave the Braves a 30-28 halftime edge. El Cajon Valley stretched that margin to six points by the end of three quarters.

El Cajon Valley scoring: Dejon Joy 14, Lucas Stafford 13, Michael Holder 9 (2 asts, 2 stls) , Shivan Sulyman 4 (3 rebs, 2 asts), Andrew Johnson 4 (2 rebs), Chris Chambers 4 (3 rebs), A.J. Ussery 2 (2 asts, 2 stls), Chris Franco 2.

BRAWLEY 52, STEELE CANYON 45 -- Despite a career-high scoring effort of 17 points by ELIGE CARTER in Friday's (Dec. 15) Kiwanis Tournament at Mission Bay , the Steele Canyon Cougars remained winless after seven starts.

While Carter, a junior guard, was connecting on 7 of 10 shots from the field -- including a trio of threes -- the Cougars shot a measly 31 percent from the field. They were 8 of 31 from three-point distance.

"That's been our problem all year," Steele Canyon coach BERNIE BALIKIAN said. "We are a small team, so if we don't shoot the ball well, we're going to be in trouble. They played us zone, like most teams do, and gave us wide open shots outside. We just didn't make them."

Steele Canyon also committed 27 turnovers, one less than Brawley. The Wildcats did a better job shooting, hitting 44 percent of 52 chances.

JEBARI ROBINSON added 11 points -- most coming on a trio of threes -- 3 assists and 3 steals for the Cougars.

Steele Canyon trailed only 37-36 heading into the final quarter only to see its offense fizzle.

Steele Canyon scoring: Elige Carter 17 (2 asts), Jebari Robinson 11, Nick Stathas 5, Jake Ransom 5, Tony Minnifield 4 (7 rebs), Josiah Smith 3 (6 rebs).

© East County Sports.com
RED BLUFF (12-15-06) -- Given that many members of the Helix High basketball team have never flown on an airplane caused a certain kind of buzz among the Highlanders as they winged their way to Northern California for a weekend engagement in the annual Red Bluff Daily News Christmas Classic.

The Highlanders (5-1) staggered out of the gate in Thursday's (Dec. 14) opening round game against Redding-Enterprise, but eventually picked up the pace to claim a 50-44 victory.

"There are a lot of distractions up here," Helix assistant coach ANDY MERIDETH said. "It took our kids the first half to get settled in."

It wasn't until the final quarter that the Highlanders broke a 31-31 tie with a 19-point flurry.

DAVID JEFFERSON led Helix with 16 points, 10 rebounds and 2 blocks. DONALD McGOWEN added 10 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists.

The key to the Helix victory was defense. No surprise there.

The Highlanders held a pair of Enterprise 20-point scorers to a total of 16 points between them.

Jefferson did the job on 6-8 Enterprise pivot Shane Zink, holding him to 6 points. BRANDON FOUNTAIN was the man to muzzle high-scoring guard Ty Houghton, holding him to 10.

Helix scoring: David Jefferson 16, Donald McGowen 10, Lawrence Hurdle 8 (5 Reb., 4 Ast.), Kareem Abukar 8 (3 Ast.), Dorian Staton 6 (3 Reb., 3 Ast.), Brandon Fountain 2.

MISSION HILLS 66, STEELE CANYON 49 -- It was another day of frustration for the Steele Canyons Cougars in Thursday's (Dec. 14) Kiwanis Tournament against Mission Hills at Mira Mesa.

The major difference in this one came on the glass where Mission Hills (6-2) claimed a 44-20 rebounding advantage.

"They got 17 offensive rebounds, just destroyed us on the boards," Steele Canyon coach BERNIE BALIKIAN said. "They are a big team and they used their size to their advantage."

Six-foot-8 Taylor Darby paced the Grizzlies with 28 points and 17 rebounds. Six-foot-6 Jorge Vasquez added 13 points and 13 rebounds.

Despite getting into early foul trouble, Steele Canyon's TONY MINNIFIELD notched 16 points, 5 rebounds and 3 steals for the Cougars (0-6). The 6-foot-3 senior was on target with 8 of his 15 shots.

NICK STATHAS rallied the Cougars by hitting 4 of 5 three-point shots in the second half as he finished with a season-best 12 points.

"We faced another quality team that took advantage of every weakness, every lapse that we had," Balikian said. "Good teams do that. And we've seen nothing but teams that either are or are worthy of being in the Top 15."

Steele Canyon stats: Tony Minnifield 16, Nick Stathas 12, Josiah Smith 8, Jebari Robinson 5 (4 stls), Jake Ransom 4, Elige Carter 2 (4 asts), Arlin Taylor 2, Riley Balikian (5 rebs, 3 stls).

© East County Sports.com
SANTEE (12-14-06) -- ” It wasn't the shoot-out at the OK Corral Wednesday (Dec. 13) night, but it was a Grossmont Conference duel between a pair of teams seeking identity.

Santana (5-6) rode a 20-12 fourth quarter surge to edge the visiting Norsemen 59-54.

The first half belonged to the Norsemen (3-3), who muscled their way to a 30-21 advantage by the break.

"We had a good first half, but then we didn't play well in the second half," said Valhalla coach KEITH JACKSON. "Give Santana credit for that. They turned up the volume in the last half. We're a very young team that is still learning how to play together."

Freshman point guard JESSE VARGAS steered the Santana comeback with 12 points, 3 assists and 4 steals.

KEVIN ENGELKE pitched in 10 points and TYLER BLACKLEDGE added 9 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds, while CHRIS SODERGREN contributed 9 points and 5 rebounds for Santana.

Blackledge was deadly from the free throw line, where he missed only 1 of 8 chances.

"This was a game of two halves," said Santana coach TIM BARRY. "They outplayed us in the first half and we regrouped at halftime. My team played as hard as any team I've ever had play for me. I feel good about tonight's game. Tonight's game was crucial as far as down the line goes. It's important for the playoffs because we're both Division III teams."

Senior TRAVIS FOELSCH turned in a powerful double-double of 19 points and 11 rebounds for Valhalla .

AAHRON MIMS dropped in 16 points, while KEVIN KRIEBEL tossed in another dozen for the Norsemen.

Santana scoring: Jesse Vargas 12, Kevin Engelke 10, Chris Sodergren 9, Tyler Blackledge 9, Anthony DeBarrows 7, Brett Romero 4, Blake Harper 3, John Vasquez 3, Kyle Salzman 2.

Valhalla scoring: Travis Foelsch 19, Aahron Mims 16, Kevin Kriebel 12, Austin Suhay 3, Jorge Serna 2, Daniel Butcher 2.

MIRA MESA 62, STEELE CANYON 54 -- The Cougars did almost everything right in Wednesday's (Dec. 13) opening round of the 60th annual Kiwanis Tournament at Mira Mesa. Except make baskets with any regularity.

Steele Canyon shot 35 percent overall but made only 6 of 30 chances from above the arc, as they dropped their fifth game in as many decisions.

"We were open all night, just couldn't put the ball in," lamented Steele Canyon coach BERNIE BALIKIAN. "They zoned us so we had plenty of chances. On top of that we also had 18 offensive rebounds."

While Balikian was disappointed by the outcome, he was pleased by the fact that the Cougars turned the ball over a season-low 11 times.

Senior TONY MINNIFIELD hit 7 of 13 shots from the floor on his way to a Steele Canyon-best 17 points. The 6-foot-4 forward also led the Cougars with 11 rebounds.

JEBARI ROBINSON added 9 points and 4 assists, while RILEY BALIKIAN contributed 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals.

The game was decided in the third quarter when Mira Mesa (3-3) made a 21-11 scoring run.

"We got soft in the third quarter," said Balikian, who noted that the Marauders netted 52 percent of their shots. "We made a good rush at them in the fourth quarter but it was too late. I felt pretty good about our effort because, even though our record doesn't show it, we are making improvement."

Steele Canyon scoring: Tony Minnifield 17, Jebari Robinson 9, Josiah Smith 9, Arlin Taylor 6, Elige Carter 4, Riley Balikian 3, Nick Stathas 3, Zane Keith 3.

HOLTVILLE 48, CHRISTIAN 46 -- Playing without two of their top players, the Patriots suffered a heart-breaking, last second loss to visiting Holtville in Wednesday's (Dec. 13) non-league home opener at the Ryan Athletic Center.

Trailing by a single point with 6 seconds remaining, Christian missed 2 free throws. Holtville got the rebound and the Patriots had to foul.

The Vikings tacked on one free throw to secure the 2-point victory.

Talk about frustrating: Christian is waiting for the San Diego CIF administration to grant clearance for returning Lithuanian players VIKTOR ASACIOVAS and ANDRIUS MIKUTIS, who were allowed to play all last season without question.

In the absence of the Lithuanians, DANIEL HAZLETT attempted to pick up the slack by scoring 26 points, including a trio of 3-point buckets and 7 of 8 free throws.

Christian scoring: Daniel Hazlett 26, Kurt Metcalfe 9, Brad Johnston 7, Gabe Cecena 3, Danny Mitchell 1.

© East County Sports.com
CLAIREMONT MESA (12-13-06) -- After a sluggish first half in which visiting Granite Hills shot less than 22 percent from the field Tuesday (Dec. 12) night, the Eagles turned up the heat in the third quarter and continued on for a come-from-behind 51-40 non-league victory over the host Madison Warhawks.

Granite Hills (5-1) outscored the Warhawks 36-20 after intermission, including 22-10 in the third quarter.

"There was no magic to it," said Granite Hills coach RANDY ANDERSON. "It was just a lot better execution."

The Eagles hardly scorched the nets in the final 16 minutes, but did make 12 of 27 shots from the field (44 percent).

"In the first half we were just coming down and taking a quick first shot," Anderson said. "And look what we got -- 5 of 23."

BRIAN HUMPHRIES led the Eagles with 16 points, including 6 of 6 free throw shooting. The 6-foot-4 junior also grabbed 8 rebounds, one less than team leader ANDREW JOSLYN, a 6-5 senior.

Guard WAYNE MARTIN added 15 points and 5 rebounds for Granite Hills, which also got 9 points and 3 blocks from sophomore DEAN MILLER.

Martin and Humphries sparked the Eagles' third quarter turn-around with 14 points between them.

Granite Hills scoring: Brian Humphries 16, Wayne Martin 15, Dean Miller 9, Andrew Joslyn 8, Nico Sanchez 3.

HOOVER 95, EL CAJON VALLEY 39 -- On Monday, Hoover High standout JayDee Luster was so ill, he was unable to play in the Eagle-Vaquero Tournament championship game against El Camino. And the Cardinals were upended, 61-60.

Making sure an upset would not occur on consecutive nights, Luster flashed some of his brilliance which makes him among the county's most recruited players. The guard scored 21 of his season-high 38 points in the first half, lifting No. 5 Hoover past El Cajon Valley, 95-39, Tuesday (Dec. 12) at the Braves' gym.

"We've got lots of talent, but this can be a really good team only when JayDee's out there," said Doxey, who will play football at free safety for Oregon next fall. "We won CIF (Division II) last year because of him."

In the first period, Doxey did most of his damage by passing, collecting five of his assists. The second quarter featured Doxey's defense with four steals all leading to transition points. And in the third stanza, Doxey and Luster combined to score 18 of Hoover 's 29 points to push the contest into running clock mode.

The Cardinals' press humbled El Cajon Valley (1-5) from the onset, leading to a 27-4 period through one period. However, the never-say-die attitude of the Braves displayed why the team could make a run at a first-division finish in the Grossmont North League.

DEWAYNE ALEXANDER scored a team-high 17 points, at one point draining 5-of-6 shots from the floor. And LUCAS STAFFORD battled inside for rebounds while also scoring 10 points. Stafford was 4 for 4 from the floor, while Alexander was 8 of 15 for the game.

The silver lining in falling to a ranked team may be lost on El Cajon Valley coach NATE REED.

Once the press was taken away, SHIVAN SULYMAN displayed the ability to create his own shot, then knocking down a series of baseline jump shots (3-for-4) for his six points. He also collected a pair of assists. And DEJON JOY worked inside to grab three offensive rebounds, finishing the night with 8 rebounds.

Hoover (5-2) saw four players score in double figures. Joining Luster and Doxey were Jevon Carmon (12 points) and Keith Turner (11).

El Cajon Valley scoring: Dewayne Alexander 17, Lucas Stafford 10, Shivan Sulyman 6, Dejon Joy 4, Chris Chambers 2.

© East County Sports.com
SANTEE (12-12-06) -- Call it a sense of relief for coach TIM BARRY and his young Santana Sultans.

The Sultans outscored the visiting Borrego Springs Rams 46-15 in the middle two quarters and continued on for a lopsided 65-34 non-league victory on Monday night (Dec. 11).

The victory snapped a four-game losing streak for the Sultans (4-6).

"Everybody got to play tonight," said Barry, who saw 12 Sultans contribute to the scoring. "We played with a lot of intensity. After how we played this weekend (in the La Jolla Holiday Tournament), this was a refreshing change for us."

KYLE SALZMAN and CHRIS SODERGREN paced the Sultans with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Junior TYLER BLACKLEDGE led Santana with 14 rebounds and 4 assists.

"TYLER BLACKLEDGE was awesome again tonight," Barry noted. "He is our captain and leader -- the players really look up to him."

Santana scoring: Kyle Salzman 11, Chris Sodergren 10, Blake Harper 9, Tyler Blackledge 7, John Vasquez 5, Kevin Engelke 5, Anthony DeBarrows 4, Brett Romero 4, Ryan Garlin 4, Jesse Vargas 2, Jarrel Patacsil 2, Stephen Gaines 2.

© East County Sports.com
CHULA VISTA (12-10-06) -- When 6-foot-6 junior IAN COCHRAN is on his game, the Grossmont Foothillers are hard to handle.

Few of Cochran's shots failed to make the mark as he rattled in 12 field goals and 6 of 6 free throws for 30 points.

The Grossmont kingpin, who also had 31 points in an earlier game against Bonita Vista, attacked the boards for 14 rebounds against the Titans (2-3).

"Cochran was our big cog on offense," Grossmont coach FRANK FOGGIANO said. "He was really looking for his shots. He started out playing good ball this summer and hasn't stopped yet."

Grossmont (3-2) overcame a first-quarter deficit to lead 24-20 by halftime.

"We played all the way through this game," said Foggiano. "It was a close game all the way. We changed our defense in the second quarter and added pressure."

JUSTIN RUTHERFORD added 13 points, while MICHAEL GRAHAM canned 8 markers and logged a team-best 4 steals. KHALID WATERS contributed 3 steals, 2 assists, 3 rebounds and 4 points for Grossmont.

Grossmont scoring: Ian Cochran 30, Justin Rutherford 13, Michael Graham 8, Khalid Waters 4, Richard Ogunsalu 4, Alex Chiappone 2, Alex Leon 1.

WEST HILLS 69, H-TOWN 26 -- Graduation raked key losses on West Hills, which has most of the so-called experts claiming the Wolf Pack is an underdog to capture its fourth Grossmont North League title in five years.

Wolf Pack veteran coach JEFF ARMSTRONG does not involve himself in such debates, but believes the Pack has the power to contend for a league title.

West Hills ran its record to 3-2 by dominating the T-Wolves in Saturday's (Dec. 9) Wolf Pack Horsman Tournament consolation game in Santee .

The surprise leader for West Hills was CHRIS LIFGREN, who scored a career-high 18 points. That was quite a splash for Lifgren, who is the seldom used back-up quarterback for the West Hills football team.

Half of Lifgren's points came from beyond the 3-point arc.

"Chris Lifgren played very well, he was much more offense minded than he has been," said Armstrong.

Senior PETER GILSON scored 15 points and earned a place on the all-tournament team.

West Hills led 41-11 at halftime and Armstrong made wholesale substitutions for the remainder of the game.

Armstrong heaped accolades on TONY LYNN and GARRETT CABRAL, who combined for 16 points.

"Garrett played his best game of the year, and Tony played very well tonight, made some great decisions on the floor."

West Hills scoring: Chris Lifgren 18, Peter Gilson 15, Tony Lynn 9, Garret Cabral 7, Troy Nowlin 6, Tim Nowlin 6, Blaine Hoffard 2.

SAN PASQUAL 65, STEELE CANYON 59 -- TONY MINNIFIELD is known for his football prowess.

The All-East County Defensive Co-Player of the Year on the gridiron joined the Cougars basketball team only 10 days ago.

A linebacker by trade, Minnifield donned is basketball gait in rapid fashion. He proved that in Saturday's (Dec. 9) Wolf Pack Horseman Tournament game against San Pasqual.

The 6-foot-3, 210-pound Minnifield canned a career-high 26 points and muscled down 13 rebounds, but it wasn't enough to give the Cougars their first win in four starts. While Minnifield netted 9 of 15 shots from the floor, his shortcoming came at the free throw line where he missed 9 of 17 changes.

"We are slowly coming together," said Steele Canyon coach BERNIE BALIKIAN. "(San Pasqual) had a player (6-foot-5 Pat Eveland) that scored 44 points. He was all over the place. We just couldn't stop him. We missed too many free throws (15-32)."

Senior guard ARLIN TAYLOR, who suffered a broken collarbone in the latter stages of the football season, made his basketball debut against San Pasqual and delivered 11 points. If that wasn't enough good news, Taylor proved that he can hit the long ball as he made all 3 of his shots from above the arc and added 5 steals.

Football quarterback NICK STATHAS pitched in 7 points in his basketball debut, while ELIGE CARTER collected 6 points and a team-best 7 assists to go along with 4 steals.

"For a point guard, that's not bad," said Balikian of Carter's scoring passes. "Our record doesn't look like it, but I think we'll be a pretty good basketball team. We've probably played one of the toughest preseason schedules in town."

Steele Canyon scoring: Tony Minnifield 26, Arlin Taylor 11, Nick Stathas 7, Elige Carter 6, Jebari Robinson 3, Zane Keith 3, Josiah Smith 2, Riley Balikian 1 (4 ast., 3 stl.).

ST. MARGARET'S 66, FOOTHILLS CHRISTIAN 60 -- Down by seven points with 2 minutes remaining, BRANDON HALE dropped a pair of 3-balls to pull the Knights within a point, but a controversial foul call allowed the Tartans of San Juan Capistrano to escape with Saturday's (Dec. 9) La Jolla Small School Tournament contest.

Following Hale's treys, Foothills thought they got the ball back with a chance to take the lead after TROY LEAF blocked a St. Margaret's shot. However, he was called for a pushing foul on his follow through, as the Tartans (5-2) closed the game by making five straight free throws to seal the victory.

"The guys played hard, we just had that 1:15 stretch each game where if we get one shot to fall, get one call, the game goes the other way," said head coach BRAD LEAF. "We are in every game. This tournament has shown nothing but positive for us."

Hale finished with 11 points, while ZACH KAUL paced Foothills with 18 points and four steals. The Knights (5-3 overall) went 1-3 in the tournament, but each setback was against a Division IV or higher program.

Foothills Christian scoring: Zach Kaul 18, Troy Leaf 17, Brandon Hale 11, Kalob Hatcher 10, Ronnie Richards 4.

VICTOR VALLEY 66, SANTANA 22 -- Given that the Santana has played almost two times as many games as any Grossmont Conference team, it is small wonder that the Sultans might be a tad tired.

Nonetheless, Sultans coach TIM BARRY is not making any excuses.

The Jackrabbits of Victor Valley used a 24-6 second quarter to turn out the lights on the Sultans in Saturday's (Dec. 9) La Jolla Holiday Tournament.

"This team was way out of our league," said Barry, whose Sultans slipped to 3-6 on the season. "They are just as good as any team here in San Diego . We had more turnovers than shot attempts."

Nobody reached double figures for the Sultans, who were paced by guard JESSE VARGAS' 8 points.

Santana scoring: Jesse Vargas 8, Chris Sodergren 5, Tyler Blackledge 4, Blake Harper 2, John Vasquez 2, Jarrel Patacsil 1.

© East County Sports.com
CHULA VISTA (12-9-06) -- No matter what veteran coach JOHN SINGER says, his Helix Highlanders always seem to prove themselves championship worthy.

Sure, the faces change as people graduate, transfer in and out, but the results speak for themselves.

Case in point was Friday (Dec. 8) night's Hilltop Invitational championship game against undefeated Rancho Buena Vista.

With 6 seconds left and Helix down four points, the Highlanders' KAREEM ABUKAR hit a 3-pointer to close within one point. DAVID JEFFERSON tipped the ball on the Longhorns' inbound pass and JORDAN PAYTON stole it and passed the ball to LAWRENCE HURDLE who was standing in the middle of the key.

Hurdle hit a short jump shot at the buzzer, giving the Highlanders the tournament trophy and their fourth win in five starts.

"It was a good redemption tonight for Hurdle," said Singer, noting that Hurdle missed the same shot against the same team three days previous when Helix lost to Rancho Buena Vista 56-54 in the Hilltop Tournament.

Hurdle, who totaled 12 and 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals and 1 block, was selected the tournament's MVP. BRANDON FOUNTAIN, who canned 5 of 11 shots from the floor for 14 points, snagged 6 rebounds, handed out 3 assists and made 2 steals, also earned a berth on the All-Tournament Team.

Payton, even though he didn't receive any post-tournament honors, was a major player for the Highlanders, starting with his team-high 12 rebounds against the Longhorns. The senior newcomer also tipped in 7 points, made 4 steals and blocked 2 shots.

Jefferson, Helix's 6-foot-5 senior kingpin under the bucket, got in foul trouble early and sat out most of the second and third quarter. Nonetheless Jefferson was able to chip in 9 points and 6 rebounds, both marks which are below his early-season averages.

"It was a grind out game," said Singer. "I don't know how we won but we'll take it. It was a good learning tool not to quit, to find a way to win. RBV is a very good team, very synchronized. They will be a force to be reckoned with in Division I."

Helix continues to flex its muscles on second-chance shots. The Highlanders came up with 12 points on second-chance opportunities against the Longhorns.

Assistant coach ANDY MERIDETH had words of praise for BRANDON FOUNTAIN.

"I can't say enough about him. He always takes the other team's best player, never complains. Last year, we asked him to guard (now University of Arizona freshman phenom) Chase Budinger. Brandon does everything we want him to. He has really picked up his scoring, was our leading scorer tonight."

Coincidentally, Budinger and his Arizona teammates take on San Diego State Saturday night (Dec. 9) in the San Diego SLAM, which can be viewed on Cox Cable Channel 4 at 6:30 p.m.

Helix scoring: Brandon Fountain 14, Lawrence Hurdle 12, David Jefferson 9, Kareem Abukar 8, Donald McGowen 5, Jordan Payton 7, Dorian Staton 3, Alex Aguirre 3.

"This a fun trip for our kids, it gives us a little bit more bonding," said Mount Miguel coach JAY ROWLETT. "Now we've got 10 days off until the Sweetwater Tournament on Dec. 18 so we can practice some things that we need to work on."

The final score is not indicative of how controlling Mount Miguel was of the Bulldogs. It was not like a call should be placed to PETA, but the Matadors led by 29 points with 3 minutes left in the third quarter.

COURTNEY WRATHER canned 8 of 16 shots from the field -- including 1 trey -- on his way to a game high 22 points.

LARON RUSH made half of his 12 shots from the field to finish with 16 points. Junior TRAVON CAPLES was 6 of 8 from the floor and made all 4 of his free throw attempts for 16 points. Caples, a 6-2 junior, also led the Matadors with 16 rebounds. Rush cleared the boards with 10 caroms.

Sophomore AHMAAD NUNLEY knocked down 12 points, while DEVYN MOORE dealt 5 assists for Mount Miguel.

The game could have easily ended in a blowout victory for Mount Miguel had Rowlett chosen to take that path.

"Our defense was great in the first half," Rowlett said. "We put it in cruise control after the third quarter. The game was never in doubt."

Mount Miguel scoring: Courtney Wrather 22, Travon Caples 16, Laron Rush 16, Ahmaad Nunley 12, OJ Basey 4, Matt Miles 3, Devyn Moore 2.

WEST HILLS 59, ST. AUGUSTINE 48 -- In undoubtedly its most impressive outing of the young season, host West Hills (2-2) knocked off perennial power St. Augustine in Friday's (Dec. 8) Wolf Pack Horsman Tournament action.

It was all about a balanced scoring attack and an airtight defense for the Wolf Pack.

"We played very well, I was very happy with our kids' effort tonight," said West Hills coach JEFF ARMSTRONG. "Anytime you beat St. Augustine it's a good thing -- they are a well coached team."

BLAINE HOFFARD and CHRIS LIFGREN shared the high scoring mark of 13 for West Hills.

"Hoffard played very well," Armstrong noted. "He and Lifgren did a very good job on Saints' Robert Hayes, who scored 21 points and is one of the best guards in town. Hayes scored 14 of his points on free throws, and was 13 of 17 overall at the line. Hoffard and Lifgren handcuffed him pretty well tonight."

PETER GILSON pitched in 11 points, and the NOWLIN brothers -- TROY and TIM -- tallied 8 markers apiece.

"Troy Nowlen also played very well," Armstrong added. "Defensively, he played a great game -- took 5 charges. He's a big kid (6-4), pretty athletic and defends well. He'll be sore tomorrow."

The Wolf Pack led 18-15 after one quarter, 31-25 at the break and 46-34 after three periods.

West Hills scoring: Blaine Hoffard 13, Chris Lifgren 13, Peter Gilson 11, Troy Nowlin 8, Tim Nowlin 8, Lucas Armstrong 3, Garrett Cabral 2, Taylor Robbins 1.

WINDWARD 51, FOOTHILLS CHRISTIAN 48 -- The Knights fell to the perennial playoff participants from the Los Angeles City Section, falling in Friday's (Dec. 8) semifinals of the La Jolla Small School Tournament.

The cold-shooting Knights downed just five 3-point shots all contest, so Windward allowed them to keep shooting, which meant a season-low eight attempts at the foul line for Foothills (5-2) -- a nasty combination which led to the team's second straight setback.

TROY LEAF paced the Knights with 25 points and 12 rebounds, but only teammate BRANDON HALE was also able to break into double-figures scoring with 13 points.

"These games against tough teams are going to pay off great in the end," said assistant coach JAMES McHUGH. "The boys might be frustrated after 2 losses by just 4 points, but we're trying to keep them focused on a bigger picture."

Foothills will play in Saturday's third-place contest.

Foothills Christian scoring: Troy Leaf 25, Brandon Hale 13, Kalob Hatcher 7, Zach Kaul 3.

SD SOUTHWEST 72, EL CAPITAN 47 -- BARRETT BRAUN must feel like the Lone Ranger. No, the 6-foot-3 junior forward doesn't wear a mask nor should he be considered a long ranger in terms of shooting.

Braun can hit the 3-point shot. In fact he hit a pair on his way to a 27-point outing against San Diego Southwest in Friday's (Dec. 8) Eagle-Vaquero Classic contest in Lakeside.

The problem for Braun has been a lack of support. Not that his teammates aren't trying, but for a variety of reasons including youth and injuries, his sidekicks have had difficulty producing.

Six Vaqueros other than Braun reached the scoring column, but the scoring total was only 20 points among them.

ROBERT VICALDO, playing in only his second game in the Vaqueros' black-and-gold, tallied 5 points and handed out 6 assists.

Freshman BROOKS NOBLE led the team with 6 rebounds, and ARMON WORRELL, another freshman, pulled down 5 boards.

El Capitan scoring: Barrett Braun 27, Robert Vicaldi 5, Brooks Noble 4, Michael Landis 4, Armon Worrell 3, Michael Overson 2, James Luck 2.

MT. CARMEL 57, VALHALLA 50 -- Some of the numbers were a bit perplexing in Friday's (Dec. 8) Eagle-Vaquero Classic action at Mt. Carmel.

The Norsemen (3-2) claimed a 42-27 rebounding advantage over the Sundevils and maintained a 41-40 lead at the end three quarters.

But somehow Valhalla fizzled in the final 8 minutes.

" Mt. Carmel is much bigger than we are," said Valhalla first-year coach KEITH JACKSON. "But we played them tough, played well throughout the first three quarters."

The Norsemen gradually seemed to run out of gas down the stretch, but still had a chance as they trailed by only 3 points with 3 minutes remaining.

"We had to foul," Jackson said.

But the Sundevils were equal to the challenge as they converted 14 of 19 free throws.

AUSTIN SUHAY connected of 5 of 9 three-point shots to lead Valhalla with 15 points. KEVIN KRIEBEL accounted for most of his 11 points on 9 of 12 free throw shooting.

TRAVIS FOELSCH fetched a team-best 12 rebounds -- 2 more than teammate AAHRON MIMS.

"We are slowly working on coming together as a team," said Jackson.

Valhalla scoring: Austin Suhay 15, Kevin Kriebel 11, Aahron Mims 8, Daniel Butcher 6, Travis Foelsch 4, Mike Espinoza 4, Jorge Serna 2.

HILLTOP 49, MONTE VISTA 40 -- The visiting Monarchs couldn't find the basket for the majority of Friday's (Dec. 8) Hilltop Invitational Tournament game.

Monte Vista (2-3) gained the upper hand in scoring in only one of the four quarters as the Monarchs shot only 34 percent from the field.

"We were disappointed that we didn't do better in the tournament," said Monte Vista coach KEVIN MAHADY.

JAMAR RANSOME was the only Monarch to reach double figures with 11 points, a figure well below his early season average.

ROSHUN WYNNE had his poorest shooting night of the season thus far, settling for 8 points. But the senior guard made up for much of his shooting shortcomings with 7 assists, 6 steals and 6 rebounds.

MIKE WATKINS added 9 points and 5 rebounds.

"We played pretty well defensively, just couldn't overcome a bad shooting night. The kids played really hard," said Mahady.

Monte Vista scoring: Jamar Ransome 11, Mike Watkins 9, Roshun Wynne 8, Ryan Houser 4, Dale Thomas 2, Alex Robinson 2, Goeff Hartman 2, Fred Webb 2.

EL CAMINO 63, GRANITE HILLS 36 -- Eagles coach RANDY ANDERSON was proud of his team's 4-0 start, but realized his pending duel against visiting El Camino in Friday's (Dec. 8) Eagle-Vaquero Classic semifinal was going to be a major challenge.

As expected, the more experienced Wildcats (4-1) shredded the Eagles (4-1) from the opening tip. El Camino was standing on a 23-9 lead after the first eight minutes and never looked down thereafter.

"El Camino is quick and their pressure hurt us," Anderson admitted. "We had too many turnovers (23). And we hurried our shots too much. We just did a poor job of executing tonight."

BRIAN HUMPHRIES was Granite Hills stats leader with 11 points, 8 rebounds and 5 blocks. DEAN MILLER chimed in with a team-high 9 rebounds, one more than ANDREW JOSLYN.

Granite Hills scoring: Brian Humphries 11, Wayne Martin 9, Dean Miller 7, Andrew Joslyn 6, Nico Sanchez 2, Kyle Snyder 1.

Helix wins the jump ball against Torrey Pines in Hilltop Tournament action. (Courtesy, iCrew Digital Productions)

© East County Sports.com
CHULA VISTA (12-8-06) -- Still smarting from Tuesday's (Dec. 5) loss to Rancho Buena Vista, the Highlanders have to welcome the chance to avenge that defeat when they face the Longhorns again in Friday night's (Dec. 8) championship of the Hilltop Invitational Tournament at 8:15 p.m. at Hilltop.

While Helix veteran coach JOHN SINGER thoughts are obviously focused on that title bout, he wanted to talk about the Highlanders' 61-49 semifinal victory over Torrey Pines on Thursday (Dec. 7).

"We talked about boxing out and being physical on the boards yesterday in practice," Singer said. "I guess the kids were listening because we had a body on them all night."

The primary Helix body to put the lean on Torrey Pines was that of DAVID JEFFERSON, a 6-foot-5, 225-pound senior who paced the Highlanders with 18 points and a game-high 20 rebounds. Jefferson also made 4 steals and handed out 3 assists while connecting on 7 of 11 shots from the field.

Helix newcomer DONALD McGOWEN banked in 7 of 11 shots from the field for 15 points. He also snagged 9 rebounds.

"The more I see this kid play, the more excited I get about him," said Singer.

Guard LAWRENCE HURDLE canned 10 points, bagged 6 rebounds, dished 4 assists and made 3 steals for the Highlanders who have won three of their first four games.

Singer was pleased by the early contributions of the Helix football players joining the team, primarily DORIAN STATON. The Highlanders' football quarterback didn't produce any flashy numbers, but gave his coach indications that he will be a factor down the road.

"I think this team could be a better team than we were last year," Singer said, whose team finished 21-7 a year ago.

Helix scoring: David Jefferson 18, Donald McGowen 15, Lawrence Hurdle 10, Jordan Payton 6, Brandon Fountain 4, Kareem Abukar 4, Alex Aguirre 4.

MONTE VISTA 59, ORANGE GLEN 38 -- Thirteen Monarchs contributed to the scoring in Thursday's (Dec. 7) conquest of Orange Glen in the Hilltop Invitational Tournament in Chula Vista.

Although the Monarchs (2-2) staggered out of the starting gate, they quickly regained their footing and sprinted past the outmanned Patriots to lead 26-13 by intermission.

JAMAR RANSOME nailed 8 of 16 shots from the floor and 2 free throws for a game-high 18 points. The muscular 6-foot-2 forward collected 10 rebounds and made 4 steals.

Speedy senior point guard ROSHUN WYNNE canned 10 points, dished 6 assists and made 5 steals.

A new face in the Monarchs crowd working to make a name for himself is 6-foot-2 sophomore GEOFF HARTMAN, who netted 7 points and gathered 8 rebounds.

"Our goal every game is to hold our opponent under 50 points," Monte Vista coach KEVIN MAHADY said. "We haven't been all that good at it so far this year, but I'm happy that we did it tonight."

Monte Vista scoring: Jamar Ransome 18, Roshun Wynne 10, Geoff Hartman 7, Brandon Williams 6, Brian Williams 2, Alex Robinson 2, Eric Griffin 2, Trent Watkins 2, Kenny Mesa 2, Ryan Houser 2, Mike Watkins 2, Anthony Bell 2, Fred Webb 2.

CORONADO 69, FOOTHILLS CHRISTIAN 68 -- Both teams allowed 10-point leads to slip away, but a 22-10 advantage by the Islanders in the third quarter was enough to hand the Knights their first setback of the season in Friday's (Dec. 8) La Jolla Small School Tournament pool play contest.

Coronado guard Chas Marks sank a series of six 3-balls, including four consecutive bombs in the third quarter to claim the lead. Foothills trimmed the deficit to a single point in the final two minutes, but a pair of late turnovers prevented them from moving back in front.

ZACH KAUL paced the Knights with 22 points, including six treys, while TROY LEAF added 18 points and 7 rebounds. In addition, guard KALOB HATCHER posted 15 points and 11 assists.

Foothills (5-1) next meets L.A. Windward in a 4:30 p.m. Friday (Dec. 8) contest at La Jolla Country Day.

MADISON 65, SANTANA 47 -- The fledgling Sultans stayed close to the host Warhawks for little more than a quarter in Thursday's (Dec. 7) La Jolla Holiday Tournament, but then faded down the stretch as they suffered their fifth loss in eight starts.

Freshman point guard JESSE VARGAS turned in another strong game for Santana, knocking down a team-high 12 points, including 7 of 10 free throws.

JOHN VASQUEZ, the only returning senior regular, added 7 points for Santana, which also got 6 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists and 1 steal from 6-foot-2 junior TYLER BLACKLEDGE.

Junior KYLE SALZMAN added 7 rebounds for Santana.

"We missed 19 shots from a distance of four feet and in -- five in the first half and 14 in the second half," said Santana coach TIM BARRY. "We gave them 17 offensive rebounds and committed 24 turnovers. At least five turnovers were in the backcourt. It shows that we start one freshman, two sophomores and a junior."

But Barry hasn't given up on the season or his team.

"We are definitely experiencing growing pains. We still play very hard," Barry added. "My goal is to be.500 or better by the time we open conference play."

Santana scoring: Jesse Vargas 12, John Vasquez 7, Tyler Blackledge 6, Chris Sodergren 6, Anthony DeBarrows 6, Kyle Salzman 4, Brett Romero 4, Blake Harper 2.

CHRISTIAN vs. ST. MARGARET'S -- La Jolla Small Schools Tournament; no report.

© East County Sports.com
EL CAJON (12-7-06) -- For those who believe this will be a down year for the Granite Hills Eagles this season after last year's record-breaking run, take notice.

Coach RANDY ANDERSON's Eagles are off to a 4-0 start including Wednesday's (Dec. 6) 56-37 romp over San Diego Southwest in the Eagle-Vaquero contest.

"We play good defense and have great balance this year," said Anderson, whose defending Grossmont South League champions finished with a 21-8 overall record a year ago. "We're not the same team we were last year, but I think we're a little bit better than people out there might think."

BRIAN HUMPHRIES, a 6-foot-4 junior, paced the Eagles with 21 points, hitting 9-of-12 shots along the way. Humphries also grabbed 7 rebounds, blocked 5 shots and made 4 steals.

Sophomore DEAN MILLER hauled down a team-best 11 rebounds, blocked 6 shots and contributed 6 points, while ANDREW JOSLYN tossed in 11 points and claimed 7 rebounds.

DERICK EDWARDS hit all 5 of his floor shots for 10 points, and junior guard WAYNE MARTIN -- hobbled by an ankle sprain -- added 6 assists.

"Miller and Humphries really know how to block shots," said Anderson. "We had 14 blocks as a team tonight."

Granite Hills also shot 55 percent from the field and controlled the game from wire to wire.

"We'll find out just where we stand when we play El Camino at our place on Friday night (Dec. 8)," Anderson said of the Eagles' 7 p.m. showdown against the perennial power Wildcats.

Granite Hills scoring: Brian Humphries 21, Andrew Joslyn 11, Derick Edwards 10, Dean Miller 8, Kyle Snyder 3, Wayne Martin 2, Nico Sanchez 1.

VALHALLA 59, EL CAJON VALLEY 38 -- The host Norsemen outscored the Braves in every quarter of Wednesday's (Dec. 6) Eagle-Vaquero Classic.

The key statistic for Valhalla (3-1) was a 48-25 rebounding edge lead by the 13 boards of senior TRAVIS FOELSCH.

AAHRON MIMS grabbed an additional 10 rebounds and shared high-point honors with teammate KEVIN KRIEBEL with 12.

Guard DANIEL BUTCHER pitched in 6 assists and 8 points for the Norsemen, who led 35-19 at intermission.

"It was good to see Kriebel get back on the beam," said Valhalla coach KEITH JACKSON. "He's coming back from football and had been fighting his shot. He got 5 buckets tonight so I think he's getting back in the groove."

Jackson also commended Butcher for his court leadership.

"Daniel did a good job of distributing the ball.

Nobody made it to double digits for El Cajon Valley, which fell to 1-3.

Valhalla scoring: Kevin Kriebel 12, Aahron Mims 12, Travis Foelsch 11, Daniel Butcher 8, Austin Suhay 7, Garret Giles 4, Rod Fakhoury 3, Michael Holder 3, Shivan Sulyman 3, Ruffy Bacong 2.

El Cajon Valley scoring: D.Alexander 8, Lucas Stafford 7, Dejon Joy 5, Chris Franco 4, Anthony Ussery 4, Andrew Johnson 4.

CHRISTIAN 76, CALIPATRIA 58 -- Playing somewhat short-handed due to Christian's involvement in Friday's (Dec. 8) San Diego CIF Division V football championship game against Francis Parker, the Patriots' six-man basketball unit opened the season Wednesday (Dec. 6) with a victory in the La Jolla Small Schools Tournament.

Despite the temporary lack of depth, Christian's veteran three-pronged attack of

ANDREW MIKUTIS 26, VIKTOR ASACIOVAS 23, and DANIEL HAZLETT 21 was enough to swat the Hornets in a game played at The Bishop's.

"We are very pleased that our football team is doing so well," Christian coach KEN BAILEY said. "But I have five or six kids in football that are going to help us in basketball once football is done."

One of the good things the Patriots' "Mighty Six" managed was to commit just 13 fouls.

Christian scoring: Andrew Mikutis 26, Viktor Asaciovas 23, Daniel Hazlett 21, Cameron Johnson 2, Stowers 2, Sexton 2.

CALEXICO 73, EL CAPITAN 52 -- The struggling Vaqueros (0-4) received 23 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists from junior BARRETT BRAUN but fell for the fourth time in as many Eagle-Vaquero Tournament starts on Wednesday night (Dec. 6).

Newcomer ROBERT VICALDO made his varsity debut for El Capitan, pitching in 12 points, five rebounds and 2 assists.

Calexico (1-3) took a 20-11 first-quarter lead and then breezed to its first win.

More bad news for the already depleted Vaqueros when they learned that JERAMIE CARR has been lost for the season with a dislocated shoulder suffered from the previous game.

El Capitan scoring: Barrett Braun 23, Robert Vicaldo 12, Mike Overson 7, Armon Worrell 6, Michael Landis 2, Brian Deuel 2.

FOOTHILLS CHRISTIAN 78, SANTA FE CHRISTIAN 63 -- Following four wire-to-wire triumphs, the Knights actually trailed briefly in their La Jolla Small Schools Tournament contest against Santa Fe Christian, down 30-29 at the half. However, frustration never landed on the team, which came out and took the ball to the basket instead of settling for 3-point shots.

TROY LEAF registered a season-high 45 points -- only six came on treys; he drained 11 straight foul shots -- while KALOB HATCHER added 21 points. Both players joined DAVID CARTER to pace Foothills (5-0) with five rebounds each, while Hatcher also posted eight assists.

Santa Fe Christian, coached by former San Diego Christian College standout and assistant coach CHAD BICKLEY, saw four players score in double figures, led by 16 from senior Eric Friedman. Bickley once held the national prep record for made three-pointers in a game with 21.

Foothills next meets Coronado in pool play action at 8 p.m. Friday. A victory advances the Knights to the weekend's championship semifinals.

Foothills Christian scoring: Troy Leaf 45, Kalob Hatcher 21, Brandon Hale 6, Zach Kaul 3, David Carter 2, Ronnie Richards 1.

© East County Sports.com
CHULA VISTA (12-6-06) -- Monte Vista's new head coach KEVIN MAHADY was pleased that his Monarchs presented him with his first win -- an 82-62 romp over Point Loma -- with his new team during Tuesday's (Dec. 5) Hilltop Invitational Tournament.

Not that Mahady was ready to throw a party. Instead he wanted to praise his team for "our best shooting performance of the season."

JAMAR RANSOME converted 10 of 21 shots from the field and 12 of 16 free throws for a season-high 33 points to spark the Monarchs (1-2).

Senior ROSHUN WYNNE is the fuel to the Monte Vista attack. The 6-foot-1 guard nailed 11 of 14 shots from the field and made a pair of free throws for 25 points.

BRANDON WILLIAMS chipped in 13 points, while MIKE WATKINS pitched in 10. Williams led Monte Vista's 3-point parade with a 2 for 3 effort, while Wynne, Watkins and Ransome each hit one.

Monte Vista used a 15-0 scoring run to break open a 12-10 game in the second quarter.

"We put it together at the defensive end," Mahady said. "Our pressure defense will dictate how well we do on offense. It was good today."

Monte Vista scoring: Jamar Ransome 33, Roshun Wynne 25, Brandon Williams 13, Mike Watkins 10, Eric Griffin 1.

RANCHO BUENA VISTA 56, HELIX 54 -- The Highlanders blew a 49-38 advantage in the final quarter of Tuesday's (Dec. 5) Hilltop Invitational Tournament contest against Rancho Buena Vista (3-0).

Helix rarely surrenders that kind of lead during the latter stages of a game. Still, the Highlanders had an opportunity to force overtime. However, a LAWRENCE HURDLE putback rimmed in and out and the die was cast.

It was not the best of shooting nights for Hurdle, who connected on just 4 of 16 shots yet still led the team with 12 points. He also had a team-high 8 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks.

DAVID JEFFERSON was also off the mark as he totaled 8 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals and one block before fouling out.

BRANDON FOUNTAIN had the hot hand, hitting 5 of 7 shots for 10 points to go along with 8 rebounds and 3 steals.

KAREEM ABUKAR contributed 9 points, 3 assists and 4 steals, while DONALD McGOWEN knocked down 8 points and retrieved 5 rebounds.

It was Helix's first loss in three starts. Helix's football-turned-basketball players arrived on the court today following Monday's (Dec. 4) hard-fought 14-7 loss to Oceanside in the SDCIF Division II playoffs.

"We got our football players out today. We've haven't practiced very well yet," said Helix coach JOHN SINGER. "It's probably good for us (to lose this game). If we win without working hard, then why work hard?"

Helix scoring: Lawrence Hurdle 12, Brandon Fountain 10, Kareem Abukar 9, David Jefferson 8, Donald McGowen 8, Jordan Payton 4, Red Narcisse 2, Alex Aguirre 1.

HORIZON 63, STEELE CANYON 39 -- Top-ranked Horizon declawed the Cougars in rather easy fashion during Tuesday's (Dec. 5) Wolf Pack Horsman Tournament at Steele Canyon.

The Panthers led 32-13 at halftime and breezed the rest of the way.

In spite of the lopsided score, Steele Canyon second-year head coach BERNIE BALIKIAN wasn't disheartened by the effort of his Cougars (0-3). After all, all of Steele Canyon's losses have come to Top 10 teams.

"I told our guys that we hit ‘The Perfect Storm,'" Balikian said. "The day before the season opened the football players joined the team -- it takes some time for them to blend in. We have some players who are injured and won't play for awhile. On top of that, we're playing the best teams in the county."

Seven-footer Jeff Withey was a force for Horizon with a triple-double of 20 points, 14 rebounds and 10 blocks.

"He's the real deal," Balikian said. "After he gets done at Louisville he'll be an NBA guy on the tube. He has a really nice shooting touch and runs the floor well. It seemed to me that they should give him the ball more than they do."

JAKE RANSOM paced Steele Canyon with 10 points and 8 rebounds, while JEBARI ROBINSON added 10 points and 7 boards.

Balikian had special praise for 6-3 sophomore forward ZANE KEITH, who hit 3 of 7 3-point shots for 9 points and collected 7 rebounds.

"That was Keith's best game of the year and I'm very happy for him," Balikian said. " Overall Steele Canyon shot only 24.5 percent, hitting 13 of 53 attempts."

Steele Canyon: Jebari Robinson 10, Jake Ransom 10, Zane Keith 9, Elige Carter 8 (4 assists, 3 steals), Josiah Smith 2.

RANCHO BERNARDO 69, GROSSMONT 42 -- The Foothillers (2-2)took an early 11-10 lead over undefeated Rancho Bernardo (3-0) in Tuesday's (Dec. 5) Eastlake Titan Tip-Off Tournament game, but went flat in the second quarter and never recovered.

"I sat some of our starters all of the second half because I didn't like what I was seeing," said Grossmont coach FRANK FOGGIANO. "Our second group did pretty well, cut the lead down to 7 points at one point but ran out of gas."

"Overall, this was a good learning experience, and some of the kids who don't get to play as much got some extensive playing experience."

JUSTIN RUTHERFORD topped the Foothillers with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while IAN COCHRAN collected 14 points and 8 caroms.

Grossmont scoring: Justin Rutherford 16, Ian Cochran 14, Alex Chiappone 4, Michael Graham 3, Robert Sullivan 3, Alex Leon 2.

EL CAMINO 73, MOUNT MIGUEL 52 -- No. 7-ranked El Camino ran roughshod over host Mount Miguel in Tuesday's (Dec. 5) Eagle-Vaquero Tournament game.

COURTNEY WRATHER ran up 17 points to pace the Matadors (1-3), who also received 11 points and 12 rebounds from TRAVON CAPLES.

"I know this score may not look like it, but we are getting better," Mount Miguel coach JAY ROWLETT said. "Caples has been our most consistent player, both defensively and offensively.

Mount Miguel scoring: Courtney Wrather 17, Travon Caples 11, Laron Rush 9, OJ Basey 9, Ahmaad Nunley 3, Matt Miles 2, A.J. Stanford 1.

CLAIREMONT 61, SANTANA 31 -- The visiting Sultans (3-4) could generate little offense in Tuesday's (Dec. 5) La Jolla Holiday Tournament encounter as they crumbled at Clairemont.

"Clairemont has a kid who is a regular "beast" -- (6-foot-6 Moala Tatuaa) one of the top players in the county, who scored 23 points on us," said Santana coach TIM BARRY.

Trailing 29-13 at halftime, the Sultans fell out of contention when the Chieftains cranked off a 16-4 scoring run.

"Two nights in a row we had trouble in the third quarter, 16-3 last night against La Jolla and 16-4 tonight," said Barry. "We just shoot poorly. I don't think I've ever had a team shoot well at Clairemont. Our effort tonight was good, we played hard. We might be outmatched in some areas but I've got kids taking a charge with two minutes left."

Santana scoring: Tyler Blackledge 7, Chris Sodergren 6, Anthony DeBarrows 5, Jesse Vargas 5, Kyle Salzman 2, John Vasquez 2, Jarrel Patacsil 2, Brett Romero 2.

© East County Sports.com
BONITA (12-5-06) -- One thing the Grossmont Foothillers can count on this year is IAN COCHRAN's ability to put the ball in the basket. And rebound it when he and others miss.

The 6-foot-6 junior has scored 83 points -- an average of 27.7 -- and bagged 53 rebounds -- an average of 17.7 -- for the 2-1 Foothillers, who dusted host Bonita Vista 63-47 in Monday's (Dec. 4) Eastlake Titan Tip-off Classic.

"He's a pretty solid player," said Grossmont coach FRANK FOGGIANO, who is not frivolous with his praise.

Cochran chalked up 31 points and a career-best 22 rebounds for Grossmont.

"Ian plays with such intensity," Foggiano said. "He raises everyone else's level."

Among the beneficiaries is JUSTIN RUTHERFORD, who rolled off a nifty 11-point, 11-rebound effort against Bonita Vista.

"Justin is a good complement to Cochran," Foggiano said. "And KHALID WATERS handled the ball very well at the end, like we want him to. He's fast."

Waters poured in 11 points and dished 5 assists

Grossmont scoring: Ian Cochran 31, Justin Rutherford 11, Khalid Waters 11, Richard Ogunsalu 6, Michael Graham 2, Alex Leon 2.

GRANITE HILLS 85, EL CAPITAN 42 -- Granite Hills freshman KYLE SNYDER put the fine touch to his shooting in Monday's (Dec. 4) Vaquero-Eagle Classic with a 24-point scoring spree in the Eagles win over the Vaqueros.

Another Granite Hills freshman, NICO SANCHEZ, added 11 points and handed 4 assists.

"I was really happy with my freshmen tonight, along with BRIAN HUMPHRIES, who had his usual steam game," said Granite Hills coach RANDY ANDERSON. "WAYNE MARTIN went down with an ankle sprain in the first quarter."

DEAN MILLER added 14 points, doing most of his scoring on 12 of 14 free throws. Humphries chipped in with 11 points, 9 rebounds and 6 blocked shots.

Junior BARRETT BRAUN banged in a career-best 34 points for El Capitan (0-3).

Granite Hills scoring: Kyle Snyder 24, Dean Miller 14, Brian Humphries 11, Nico Sanchez 11, Andrew Joslyn 5, Wayne Martin 5, Ian Birmingham 4.

El Capitan scoring: Barrett Braun 34, Jeramie Carr 4, Armin Worrell 2, Michael Overson 1, Trent Hudson 1.

LA JOLLA 59, SANTANA 39 -- A 16-3 scoring run by visiting La Jolla in Monday's (Dec. 4) La Jolla Holiday Tournament was the difference as the Sultans' record fell to 3-3.

"We led the whole first half," said Santana coach TIM BARRY. "We had a really, really bad third quarter. La Jolla is a very good team. They put on constant defensive pressure, just wore us down. It was good for our team to play against a team like that."

Santana started freshman point guard JESSE VARGAS, who had 9 points and 11 rebounds.

"He's going to be a jewel for me," said Barry. "He did a tremendous job for us. His 11 rebounds was pretty good for a point guard."

TYLER BLACKLEDGE added 7 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals. Sophomore CHRIS SODERGREN contributed 8 points and 7 rebounds.

"I've never had a team this young but I think we're making big strides," Barry added. "We have only one senior in an 8-man rotation. We are missing two players right now, one to illness, the other hurt his hand in a car door."

Santana scoring: Jesse Vargas 9, Chris Sodergren 8, Tyler Blackledge 7, John Vasquez 7, Brett Romero 4, Blake Harper 2, Ryan Garlin 2.

SCRIPPS RANCH 67, STEELE CANYON 20 -- No contest! The young Cougars shot a paltry 15 percent from the field and turned the ball over 28 times against the highly regarded Falcons in Monday's (Dec. 4) Wolf Pack Horsman Tournament at West Hills.

"They were in midseason form," said Steele Canyon coach BERNIE BALIKIAN. "We just couldn't stop them. They jumped over us and went around us."

The Falcons shot 55 percent (29 of 53) from the field while holding the Cougars to 5 points in the second half.

Steele Canyon scoring: Elige Carter 6, Jake Ransom 5, Riley Balikian 3,, Tony Minnifield 3, Jebari Robinson 2Josiah Smith 1.

© East County Sports.com
BORREGO SPRINGS (12-3-06) -- How much of a threat will Foothills Christian be this basketball season? So much, that the Knights were snubbed of the most valuable player award even though the school raced through four ballgames en route to the Ram Desert Classic championship, held at Borrego Springs High.

Foothills completed the school's first run to a tournament crown, capped by Saturday's (Dec. 2) easy 76-60 decision over Vista-Calvary Christian.

"The tournament was a great stepping stone for our kids," said assistant coach JAMES McHUGH. "Some of these players have been waiting their whole lives to get to this level of basketball. Our players battled so much adversity in this tournament. I'm incredibly proud of the poise they showed."

Freshman guard TROY LEAF paced Foothills with 122 points over the team's sweep, including 39 in the Knights' second victory of the event over the Lions.

Unbelievably, Calvary Christian senior center Micah Youngdale, who scored 116 points for a team which went 2-3 (including two setbacks to Foothills), was declared the MVP. Leaf was named to the all-tournament team.

The Knights raced to a quick 14-4 lead in the opening quarter, winning wire-to-wire for the fourth consecutive ballgame. Leaf gained many of his points on passes from KALOB HATCHER, who registered 12 assists in the game and 44 for the tournament.

Point guard ZACH KAUL added nine points and six steals, while BRANDON HALE had eight points. Both are sophomores for Foothills (4-0), which is currently rated the top SDCIF Division V program in the San Diego Section.

Foothills Christian scoring: Troy Leaf 39, Zach Kaul 11, Kalob Hatcher 9, Brandon Hale 8, David Carter 5, Ryan Smith 4.

HELIX 79, POINT LOMA 46 -- Just two games into the season these Highlanders (2-0) are beginning to prove that are among the best teams in the San Diego CIF -- again. Of course, that is hardly news. Helix is a standard member of the upper echelon.

The Highlanders made quick work of the Pointers by racing to a 63-31 lead advantage after three quarters in Saturday's (Dec. 2) Hilltop Invitational Tournament.

LAWRENCE HURDLE knocked down seven of 14 shots on his way to a team-leading 18 points. The senior guard also logged eight steals and handed out three assists.

Helix shot 54 percent from the field, including a 4-for-5 effort by junior DONALD McGOWEN (8 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists).

"He's never played before," Helix coach JOHN SINGER said. "He really played well in the third quarter. I'm hoping he is turning the corner and becomes our fifth guy."

DAVID JEFFERSON added 17 points and 12 rebounds, while BRANDON FOUNTAIN chipped in 12 points and 11 boards.

Helix scoring: Lawrence Hurdle 18, David Jefferson 17, Brandon Fountain 12, Kareem Abukar 8, Donald McGowen 8, Tyonte Hosley 7, Jordan Payton 5, Darrell Chandler 2, Bryant Johnson 1, Alex Aguirre 1.

MOUNT MIGUEL 74, EL CAPITAN 32 -- Mount Miguel broke into the win column for the first time in three starts under new head coach JAY ROWLETT in Saturday's (Dec. 2) Eagle-Vaquero Classic contest in Lakeside.

This was no contest, as the Matadors soared to a 21-9 first quarter lead and never looked back.

AHMAAD NUNLEY nailed 17 points, LARON RUSH collected 12 points and 10 rebounds and TRAVON CAPELS pitched in 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Matadors.

COURTNEY WRATHER rolled in a dozen points, dished 5 assists and made 5 steals for Mount Miguel.

BARRETT BRAUN led El Capitan (0-2) with 17 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocks. JERAMIE CARR cleared 11 rebounds, swatted 4 shots, dished 3 assists and scored 8 points.

Mount Miguel scoring: Ahmaad Nunley 17, Courtney Wrather 12, Laron Rush 12, Travon Caples 10, OC Basey 8, J.J. Norton 6, A.J. Stanford 4, Matt Miles 3, Devyn Moore 2.

El Capitan scoring: Barrett Braun 17, Jeramie Carr 8, Michael Overson 4, James Luck 2, Brooks Noble 1.

MIRA MESA 65, GROSSMONT 63 (OT) -- One of the most improved teams in East County, the Foothillers (1-1) let one get away in Saturday's (Dec. 2)

Eastlake Tournament encounter.

Despite a 33-point scoring spree and 18-rebound effort by 6-foot-6 junior IAN COCHRAN, Grossmont was unable to hold a four-point lead with 40 seconds left in regulation.

"We made some ill-advised passes, which hurt us when the game was on the line." Grossmont coach FRANK FOGGIANO said.

Grossmont led most of regulation and then took a three-point edge early in overtime. After that lead faded away, the Hillers still had a shot with four seconds left and the score knotted at 63-63.

"We tried to throw the ball inside, and Mira Mesa tipped it away and scored a layup at the other end," Foggiano said. "We had the game won, but made too make mistakes down the stretch. It was a tough loss, but I really see good things ahead for this team."

JUSTIN RUTHERFORD added 11 points and 10 rebounds for Grossmont.

Grossmont scoring: Ian Cochran 33, Justin Rutherford 11, Alex Chiappone 8, Khalid Waters 4, Michael Graham 3, Richard Ogunsalu 2, Alex Leon 2.

OTAY RANCH 68, STEELE CANYON 43 -- Second-year coach BERNIE BALIKIAN welcomed back seven players from the Steele Canyon football team in time for Saturday's (Dec. 2) season opener of the Wolf Pack Horsman Tournament at West Hills.

Not surprisingly, the Cougars were a little bit sluggish as they fell behind Otay Ranch 29-16 in the first half.

"We had only one 40 minute practice before this game," said Balikian. "We are so very young. So many of our key players are coming from football, so it's going to take us time to get our game in synch."

Not a whole lot of things went right for the Cougars in their season debut, as they turned the ball over 33 times and shot only 28 percent (11 of 39) from the field.

Eight Cougars hit the scoring column but nobody reached double figures. JOSIAH SMITH had 8 points and 7 rebounds to pace Steele Canyon. ELIJAH CARTER also had 8 points and 4 rebounds. JEBARI ROBINSON shared the scoring lead with 8 points as well.

"We'll be OK in time," said Balikian, whose Cougars will face Top 10 power Scripps Ranch and Horizon on Monday and Tuesday, respectively, next week.

Steele Canyon scoring: Josiah Smith 8, Jebari Robinson 8, Elijah Carter 8, Jake Ransom 7, Riley Balikian 4, Tony Minnifield 3, Casey Gayton 3, Cameron Moss 2.

SANTANA 61, TRI-CITY CHRISTIAN 51 -- The Sultans completed their desert tour Saturday (Dec. 2) by knocking off Tri-City Christian in the third-place game of the Ram Desert Classic in Borrego Springs.

All-Tournament selection TYLER BLACKLEDGE netted 9 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and handed out 3 assists to pace Santana (3-2).

Senior JOHN VASQUEZ registered a team-high 14 points, while sophomore CHRIS SODERGREN added 10 points.

Santana maintained an 8-12 point lead for most of the game, but began to wilt in the waning moments. Tri-City cut Santana's advantage to 51-48 but the Sultans used a 10-3 run to secure the victory.

Coach TIM BARRY praised the work of freshman point guard JESSE VARGAS and that of Vasquez.

"Vargas is doing a great job at the point for us," Barry said. "Vasquez, the only senior in our 8-man rotation, played another great game. He's been very consistent for us."

Santana scoring: John Vasquez 14, Chris Sodergren 10, Tyler Blackledge 9, Kevin Engelke 9, Jesse Vargas 7, Blake Harper 4, Brett Romero 7, Stephen Gaines 1.

HOOVER 94, VALHALLA 39 -- JayDee Luster, the all-time San Diego Section assist leader, was in scoring mode for Saturday's (Dec. 2) Eagle-Vaquero Classic contest, scoring 33 points to lift the Cardinals to the lopsided victory over Valhalla (2-1).

"I know the score doesn't show it, but my kids played hard," said first-year coach KEITH JACKSON. "Our goal was to keep them out of the lane and we did a pretty good job of that. But it seemed like Hoover was hitting their shots from all over the court."

The Cardinals, who led 50-23 at halftime, nailed 9 3-pointers.

AAHRON MIMS paced Valhalla with 13 points, 9 rebounds and 3 blocks. TRAVIS FOELSCH chipped in 8 points and 9 rebounds for the Norsemen.

"I'm not disappointed because our kids gave such a great effort," Jackson said. "We hit the boards well but Hoover is just a little more athletic than we are."

Valhalla scoring: Aahron Mims 13, Travis Foelsch 8, Rod Fakhoury 5, Jorge Serna 5, Kevin Kriebel 4, Austin Suhay 4.

MISSION HILLS 80, WEST HILLS 42 -- The Grizzlies of Mission Hills scored 52 points in the middle two quarters to turn Saturday's (Dec. 2) Wolf Pack Horsman Tournament game into a rout.

Mission Hills (2-0) knocked down 12 3-pointers divided among six players.

"They had an excellent shooting game and their big kids beat us up and down the floor," said West Hills coach JEFF ARMSTRONG.

PETER GILSON paced the Pack (1-2) with 11 points.

"On a positive note, I thought our point guards BLAINE HOFFARD and TONY LYNN played hard and we got some good minutes out of Peter Gilson," Armstrong said.

West Hills scoring: Peter Gilson 11, Blaine Hoffard 7, Tim Nowlin 6, Taylor Robbins 5, Troy Nowlin 5, Tony Lynn 3, Jesse LaFuze 3, Chris Lifgren 2.

RANCHO BUENA VISTA 79, MONTE VISTA 66 -- The Monarchs had plenty of offensive firepower in Saturday's (Dec. 2) Hilltop Invitational Tournament shootout with Rancho Buena Vista (2-0).

It was the defensive end that caused Monte Vista (0-2) to suffer its second loss in as many starts.

Senior forward BRANDON WILLIAMS paced the Monarchs with 20 points, while ROSHUN WYNNE and JAMAR RANSOME tallied 17 markers apiece. Wynne was 8 for 9 from the free throw line.

"We fell behind early and never really got into it," said Monarchs coach KEVIN MAHADY.

Guard Greg Grimm led the Longhorns with 34 points, which included 13 of 16 free throw shooting.

MIKE WATKINS added 10 points -- including a pair of 3-pointers -- for Monte Vista.

Monte Vista scoring: Brandon Williams 20, Roshun Wynne 17, Jamar Ransome 17, Mike Watkins 10, Geoff Hartman 2.

© East County Sports.com
LAKESIDE (12-2-06) -- In a battle of two teams in rebuilding mode, the visiting Valhalla Norsemen dribbled past El Capitan 60-35 in Friday's (Dec. 1) Eagle-Vaquero Classic encounter.

AAHRON MIMS paced the Norsemen (2-0) with 16 points and 11 rebounds.

"I told Mims I want him to step up for us, and he did," said Valhalla coach KEITH JACKSON. "Our kids were hustling, diving on the floor. I'm trying to get these guys to buy into working hard. Mims really came through for us."

MIKE ESPINOZA added 7 points and 4 steals for Valhalla.

BARRETT BRAUN paced El Capitan (0-1) with 16 points.

El Capitan, which less than 24 hours earlier was eliminated from the San Diego CIF Division III football semifinal playoffs, could not count on much help from its battered football gladiators. TAELOR WORRELL, who left the final minutes of the football game with leg cramps, did manage to don his basketball togs and contributed 3 points.

Clearly, a young team, El Capitan has three freshmen on the varsity. To further lessen its depth, three of the Vaqs top players are hobbling from football injuries. BEN NOY (broken collarbone/football), JOHN MOLZEN (hairline back fracture/football) and JAKE ZAWLACKI (broken wrist) are sidelined and the time line for their return is uncertain.

Valhalla scoring: Aahron Mims 16, Mike Espinoza 7, Austin Suhay 6, Travis Foelsch 6, Daniel Butcher 6, Kevin Kriebel 6, Rod Fakhoury 5, Garret Giles 4, Derek White 2, Jorge Serna 2.

El Capitan scoring: Barrett Braun 16, Jeramie Carr 8, Michael Overson 4, Taelor Worrell 3, Brooks Noble 2, Trent Hudson 2.

GRANITE HILLS 69, CALEXICO 33 -- BRIAN HUMPHRIES spearheaded a balanced attack with 17 points for the host Granite Hills Eagles who buried the visiting Bulldogs from Calexico in Friday's (Dec. 1) Eagle-Vaquero Classic.

"We started off pretty slow," said Granite Hills coach RANDY ANDERSON. "We didn't look like we were ready to play, were kinda inconsistent. We came out with a lot of fire in the second half, played pretty well. We picked it up in the 3rd quarter -- the defensive effort of Humphries, Miller and (DERICK) EDWARDS was really good in the 3rd quarter."

Granite Hills carried a 27-15 advantage into the third quarter and, headed by its defense, swelled the deficit with an 18-7 spread over that 8-minjute segment.

Humphries' impressive numbers did not stop with his scoring, which included four 3-pointers. The 6-foot-4 junior also nailed 5 of 6 free throws, grabbed 7 rebounds, dished 6 assists, made 8 steals and blocked 3 shots.

DEAN MILLER led Granite Hills' supporting cast with 14 points and 10 rebounds. WAYNE MARTIN chipped in 11 points and 5 assists, while freshman KYLE SNYDER added 10 points.

Granite Hills scoring: Brian Humphries 17, Dean Miller 14, Wayne Martin 11, Kyle Snyder 10, Kyle San Nicolas 9, Nico Sanchez 4, Derick Edwards 2, Andrew Joslyn 2.

HELIX 85, ORANGE GLEN 43 -- Although he was feeling ill enough to require bed rest, Helix veteran coach JOHN SINGER was courtside for Friday's (Dec. 1) Hilltop Invitational Tournament opener against the North County Patriots.

Senior DAVID JEFFERSON scored a career-high 31 points, cleared 8 rebounds and dished 5 assists to guide the Highlanders to the lopsided victory.

"After suffering a broken foot in his sophomore year, Jefferson, a four-year starter, has gotten so much smarter and so much better defensively," said Helix assistant coach ANDY MERIDETH. "He's not trying to block every shot now. He's got such a sweet stroke on the ball."

LAWRENCE HURDLE added 17 points and eight assists for the Highlanders.

While offense was clearly Helix's strength on paper, Merideth was quick to praise the Highlanders' defense.

"Our defensive pressure held Orange Glen to 4 points in the last six minutes," Meridith added.

Singer managed to offer a quick evaluation of the Highlanders' debut.

"Jefferson dominated inside," Singer said. "Once we figured out some things (Orange Glen) was doing, we got it going. DORIAN STATON and ERIC FORNEY will be back from football on Tuesday (when the Highlanders meet RBV)."

That can only help.

Helix scoring: David Jefferson 31, Lawrence Hurdle 17, Brandon Fountain 12, Kareem Abukar 6, Jordan Payton 7, Demond "Red" Narcisse 4, Donald McGowen 4, Alex Aguirre 2, Bryant Johnson 2.

MT. CARMEL 66, MOUNT MIGUEL 46 -- First-year head coach JAY ROWLETT isn't overly concerned by his team's 0-2 start to the season, which includes Friday's (Dec. 1) Eagle-Vaquero Classic loss to visiting Mt. Carmel.

"I figure we will have to wait until after the Christmas Break to see our true identity," Rowlett said. "Until then, my goal is to keep our heads above water. We have a new coach and a lot of new players. It's going to take some time to mesh."

Mount Miguel welcomed the return of senior standout LARON RUSH to the court. A blue-chip wide receiver in football where he suffered a broken collarbone, Rush made the most of limited playing time against Division II power Mt. Carmel.

The 6-foot-4 Rush knocked down 13 points, including 7-for-10 free throw shooting, snagged 8 rebounds and made 3 steals. AHMAAD NUNLEY added 11 points, most coming on a trio of 3-pointers, while TRAVON CAPELS canned 8 points and bagged 10 rebounds.

The Matadors claimed a 16-14 first-quarter edge over the Sundevils, who eventually turned the game into a rout with overpowering second (19-8) and fourth quarters (19-10).

Mount Miguel scoring: Laron Rush 13, Ahmaad Nunley 11, Travon Caples 8, A.J. Sanford 6 ( 5 rebs), Courtney Wrather 5 (3 steals), OC Basey 2, Matt Miles 2.

FOOTHILLS CHRISTIAN 95, BORREGO SPRINGS 62 -- The Knights took aim at the San Diego CIF Section and Foothills Christian record books in defeating the tournament hosts in Friday's (Dec. 1) final pool-play round of the Borrego Springs Rams Classic.

Foothills (3-0) drained 14 three-points shots, equaling the 9th-best mark all-time in the section. Included were five treys by ZACH KAUL, who scored 23 points, while TROY LEAF led the Knights with 27 points and a school-record 19 rebounds.

Leaf also registered 10 assists to complete a triple-double, as did KALOB HATCHER, who mounted totals of 22 points, 10 boards and 10 assists. In addition, the team's 95 points is a school mark, too.

Foothills, which has never trailed in any ballgame this season, plays in Saturday's Ram Desert Classic championship game against Vista-Calvary Christian at noon.

Foothills Christian scoring -- Troy Leaf 27, Zach Kaul 23, Kalob Hatcher 22, Brandon Hale 13, Ryan Smith 6, David Carter 2, Andrew Atia 2.

CALVARY CHRISTIAN 53, SANTANA 47 (OT) -- Coach TIM BARRY and his Sultans were looking to a championship showdown against flashy Foothills Christian in the Ram Desert Classic at Borrego Springs.

Santana was up by 18 points in the fourth quarter and Calvary Christian cut the lead to 2, leaving the score at 39-37 with 37 seconds left. Santana missed a breakaway lay-up and CC hit a lay-up to tie it again at 39-39 with 31 seconds remaining.

A technical was called on Santana's CHRIS SODERGREN for hanging on the rim, but Calvary Christian missed both free throws. Santana came down, missed a lay-up and got the rebound and scored with six seconds left in regulation. CC threw a half court pass and got a lay-up to tie it at 41-41 to end regulation play.

Calvary's Royal Knights used a 12-6 run in the four-minute overtime to drop Santana's record to 2-2.

"This was a strange game," Barry said. "Four of our players were missing: two were ill, one broke his finger in a car door, and one got a concussion in the first quarter. Also missing were our football players, who played in a SDCIF playoff game last night."

Barry conceded that "Calvary Christian owned the O.T. We didn't do that bad considering we were playing short-handed. We owned the first three quarters tonight and were up 28-16 and then we just ran out of gas."

Santana scoring: Jesse Vargas 10, John Vasquez 9, Blake Harper 9, Chris Sodergren 8, Tyler Blackledge 7, Ryan Garlin 2, Brett Romero 2.

TORREY PINES 59, MONTE VISTA 49 -- First-year Monte Vista coach KEVIN MAHADY and his Monarchs found themselves in a battle royale against perennial power Torrey Pines in Friday's (Dec. 1) opening round of the Hilltop Invitational Tournament Friday (Dec. 1).

JAMAR RANSOME paced the Monarchs with 14 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists and one steal. ROSHUN WYNNE added 10 points, 5 assists, 4 boards, 2 steals and a block.

Monte Vista rebounded from an 18-10 first quarter deficit to lead 28-25 by intermission. The Falcons regained a three-point edge by the close of the third period and then pulled away during the final eight minutes.

"It was a good game, close all the way," said Mahady. "They hit some free throws late in the game that made the difference. "Wynn played a great game and RYAN HOUSER had some very strong minutes off the bench."

Torrey Pines' James Rahon scored 30 points for the Falcons.

Monte Vista scoring: Jamar Ransome 14, Roshun Wynne 10, Watkins 8, Brian Williams 7, Geoff Hartman 6, Ryan Houser 4.

SERRA 71, WEST HILLS 54 -- The NOWLIN Brothers -- TROY and TIM -- muscled in 28 points between them in Friday's (Dec. 1) Wolf Pack Horsman Automotive Tournament contest against No. 8-ranked Serra, but it wasn't enough to foil the visiting Conquistadors.

"We had trouble handling the ball tonight," said West Hills coach JEFF ARMSTRONG. "(Serra's) pressure got to us. They have a Top 20 kid (La'shard Anderson) who got 20 points on us tonight, and a couple of big kids 6-5 (Greg Murray, 22 points) and 6-7 (Carlton Coleman, 9 points)."

Serra took command with a 25-16 scoring bulge in the second quarter to take a 39-28 halftime lead.

West Hills scoring: Troy Nowlin 16, Tim Nowlin 12, Peter Gilson 9, Blaine Hoffard 8, Chris Lifgren 5, Taylor Robbins 2, Jesse LaFuze 2.

EL CAMINO 84, EL CAJON VALLEY 33 -- The Braves fell to 1-2 following Friday's (Dec. 1) Eagle-Vaquero Classic game in North County.

No other information was reported by El Cajon Valley coach NATE REED.

El Cajon Valley scoring: Dejon Joy 15 (1-3 pt), Laroy McGee 5, Lucas Stafford 5, Anthony Ussery 4, Chris Franco 2, Mahummed 2.

© East County Sports.com
BORREGO SPRINGS (12-1-06) -- JOHN VASQUEZ paced the Sultans with 16 points, while JESSE VARGAS drained a pair of foul shots in the final seconds Thursday (Nov. 20), lifting Santana past tTri-City Christian, 49-46, at the Borrego Springs' Ram Desert Classic.

Vasquez hit a pair of early 3-point baskets, propelling the Sultans to a double-digit lead. The lead was trimmed to 47-40 with a minute to play before Tri-City Christian hit a pair of quick baskets to make it a one-possession game. However, Vargas calmly hit his free throws, then Santana allowed a concession basket at the buzzer.

"Jesse hit some big shots to give us a comfortable lead," said Sultans coach TIM BARRY. "But we let them hang around because we couldn't make free throws, but Tri-City never had the ball with a chance to take the lead."

Entering the contest, Santana (2-1) was a solid 14-for-17 (.824) from the line. However, the team was just 11-for-24 against the Eagles, which continued to inch close before running out of time.

TYLER BLACKLEDGE added a strong effort on both ends of the court. On offense, he scored 12 points and collected five assists. Defensively, Blackledge led all players with 17 rebounds and five steals. Meanwhile, KEVIN ENGELKE scored 11 points and Vasquez collected eight boards and three steals.

For Tri-City Christian, Luke Smith scored a team-best 12 points.

Santana continues Ram Desert Classic action Friday (Dec. 1), meeting Calvary Christian ( Vista) at 3 p.m. A victory would place the Sultans into the championship contest, probably against pre-tournament favorite Foothills Christian.

Santana scoring -- John Vasquez 16, Tyler Blackledge 12 (17 reb., 5 ast., 5 stl.), Kevin Engelke 11, Jesse Vargas 5, Blake Harper 3, Ryan Garlin 2.

WEST HILLS 62, CENTRAL UNION 44 -- Host West Hills used a strong second half to turn a one-point halftime lead into an easy season-opening victory over Central Union in Thursday's (Nov. 30) first round of the annual Wolf Pack Horsman Automotive Tournament.

PETER GILSON knocked down 14 points in the 4th quarter on his way to a game-best 22-point outing for the Wolf Pack.

"We saw flashes of the Peter Gilson of old tonight," said West Hills coach JEFF ARMSTRONG. "CHRIS LIFGREN played a very good second half for us, and TIM NOWLIN, our junior post player, played very well."

Nowlin netted 11 points and Lifgren tossed in 10 as West Hills outscored the Spartans 37-20 over the final 16 minutes.

"I think there's a lot of potential for us to have a very good team," the veteran Armstrong said. "We have a lot of experience -- seven seniors return from last year. The kids ran the floor well."

West Hills scoring -- Peter Gilson 22, Tim Nowlin 11, Chris Lifgren 10, Troy Nowlin 7, Taylor Robbins 4, Blaine Hoffard 2, Tony Lynn 2, Lucas Armstrong 2, Garrett Kabral 2.

FOOTHILLS CHRISTIAN 73, CALVARY CHRISTIAN (Vista) 52 -- Freshman TROY LEAF fell just one assist short of a triple-double, but his 19 points, 11 rebounds and 9 assists were more than enough to power the Knights past Vista's Calvary Christian in Thursday's (Nov. 30) pool play contest at the Ram Desert Classic at Borrego Springs High.

Leaf, along with his 7-for-13 shooting from the floor, also registered four steals and blocked a shot, as Foothills raced to a quick 19-8 advantage through the first period and were never headed.

Foothills forced 35 turnovers against Calvary Christian, and has not trailed at any point during its first two games.

Five Knights scored in double figures, including 16 by ZACK KAUL. KALOB HATCHER and DAVID CARTER posted 11 each, and BRANDON HALE added 10. Hatcher powered the offense with a career-high 14 assists and seven steals.

Foothills Christian scoring -- Troy Leaf 19, Kalob Hatcher 11, David Carter 11, Brandon Hale 10, Andrew Atia 4, Ryan Smith 2.

© East County Sports.com
BORREGO SPRINGS (11-30-06) -- Sure, this is only the first game of the season, but coach BRAD LEAF was pleased with what he saw from his youthful Knights in Wednesday's (Nov. 29) Ram Desert Classic opener at Borrego Springs High.

The Knights unleashed a potent freshman backcourt tandem of TROY LEAF and KALOB HATCHER against Tri-City Christian. The Foothills Christian pair accounted for 51 points, with Leaf knocking down a game-high 37 points.

"That was a pretty good start for our freshmen in their first varsity game," Brad Leaf said. "They both played well."

Freshman Leaf canned 10 of 13 from two-point range and nailed 5 of 9 from beyond the arch. From the free throw line, Leaf made good on two attempts.

Leaf also garnered 10 rebounds, dished four assists and picked a pair of steals.

Hatcher didn't have the shooting that Leaf had, but contributed in many other facets of the game. Hatcher notched a game-best 11 steals, dished 8 assists, plucked 6 rebounds and pitched in 14 points.

"Kalob is a tremendous all-around player," coach Leaf said. "He contributes in so many ways."

Sophomore ZACH KAUL added 13 points and 7 steals for the Knights, who also received 10 points and three assists from BRANDON HALE.

Foothills Christian scoring: Troy Leaf 37, Kalob Hatcher 14, Zach Kaul 13, Brandon Hale 10, Ronnie Richards 4, Andrew Atia 2, Ryan Smith 2.

GRANITE HILLS 54, EL CAJON VALLEY 31 -- In a non-league battle of Madison Avenue, host Granite Hills turned Wednesday's (Nov. 29) Eagle-Vaquero Classic into an easy victory.

Bouncing out to an 11-0 lead, Granite Hills closed the opening quarter with an 18-7 advantage. Key for the Eagles was WAYNE MARTIN hitting two early 3s to spark the run.

"It was nice to play at home to open the season, and especially nice with the big crowd we had," said Granite Hills coach RANDY ANDERSON. "I'm very happy with our help defense. We did a good job of denying the pass lanes. Our teamwork was superb -- we were very unselfish and moved the ball well."

Junior BRIAN HUMPHRIES paced the Eagles with 16 points, 10 rebounds and 7 blocked shots. Martin finished with 13 points and 6 assists, while DEAN MILLER chalked up 13 points and 3 blocks.

DERICK EDWARDS didn't figure much in the scoring column, but grabbed a team-high 13 rebounds and handed out 5 assists.

SHAVON SULYMAN led El Cajon Valley (1-1) with 8 points.

Granite Hills scoring: Brian Humphries 16, Dean Miller 13, Wayne Martin 13, Andrew Joslyn 7, Derick Edwards 3, Nico Sanchez 1, Kyle San Nicholas 1.

El Cajon Valley scoring: Shivan Sulyman 8, Laroy McGee 6, Chris Franco 6, Dejon Joy 5, D.Alexander 2, Lucas Stafford 2, Gethridge 1, Andrew Johnson 1.

SANTANA 56, JULIAN 38 -- Coach TIM BARRY's youthful Sultans balanced their ledger at 1-1 in Wednesday's (Nov. 29) Ram Desert Classic at Borrego Springs High.

It was a balanced attack for the Sultans, who were led by the 16 points and 9 rebounds of foul-plagued junior TYLER BLACKLEDGE. Senior guard JOHN VASQUEZ added 10 points as did sophomore KEVIN ENGELKE for Santana. Vasquez made away with 7 rebounds, one less than KYLE SALZMAN.

Freshman point guard JESSE VARGAS was a steadying influence with 7 points, 4 steals and 3 assists.

Santana put this game away early, soaring to a 24-point lead early in the second quarter.

"This was a nice way to get everybody extensive playing time rather than playing our top players and winning by 50," Barry said.

Santana scoring: Tyler Blackledge 16, Kevin Engelke 10, John Vasquez 10, Jesse Vargas 7, Blake Harper 4, Stephen Gaines 2, Ryan Garlin 3, Ryan Grotewiel 2, Kyle Salzman 2.

© East County Sports.com
EL CAJON (11-29-06) -- Think the El Cajon Valley Braves are lacking firepower this season?

It may be a bit premature, but these Braves showed in Tuesday's (Nov. 28) season-opening 57-52 win over Mount Miguel in the Eagle-Vaquero Classic that they might be a team to be reckoned with.

DEJON JOY pounded in 24 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, while LAROY McGEE added 17 points and 16 boards as the Braves pulled out a victory in the final quarter.

The score was tied 41-41 after three quarters. Mount Miguel took a 48-45 lead early in the 4th quarter before Joy tied it with a three -- the only one all night.

After a defensive stop, McGee hit a basket to put El Cajon Valley up 50-48. The Braves never lost the lead after that.

"I feel that we have five players who can put up good numbers," said El Cajon Valley coach NATE REED. "Joy and McGee were on their game tonight. It feels good to get the first one under our belts and it's great to start out this way, especially at home."

Mount Miguel first-year head coach JAY ROWLETT wasn't as happy with his club's opening night performance.

"We missed 20 free throws and had 33 turnovers," lamented Rowlett, who noted that his team was without senior rebound specialist LARON RUSH, who was injured twice during the football season. Rush, a 6-foot-3 leaper, should be back on the court on Friday.

Three Matadors reached double scoring digits led by COURTNEY WRATHER's 16 points.

El Cajon Valley scoring: Dejon Joy 24, Laroy McGee 17, Anthony Ussery 6 (6 assists, 3 blocks, 3 steals), Chris Franco 4, Lucas Stafford 3, Shivan Sulyman 2 (5 steals), D.Alexander 1.

Mount Miguel scoring: Courtney Wrather 16, O.C. Basey 12, Admaad Nunley 11, Travon Caples 8, Devyn Moore 3, A.J. Stanford 2.

VALHALLA 62, CALEXICO 37 -- Valhalla arrived in Calexico Tuesday (Nov. 28) to find that the high school gym was condemned. After waiting for almost an hour for a junior varsity girls basketball game to be completed, the Norsemen were able to take to the court for their Eagle-Vaquero Tournament season opener at a nearby junior high school.

AUSTIN SUHAY (16 points), KEVIN KRIEBEL (13 points), and TRAVIS FOEOLSCH (11 points) paced the visiting Norsemen to their first victory under new coach KEITH JACKSON.

"This was Suhay's first varsity game," said Jackson. "We were only up 11 at the half. Suhay made some big buckets for us in the second half."

A 20-6 scoring spread in the final period sealed the Valhalla victory.

"Calexico had one guy -- Maricio Lucero (6-1, 155) -- who scored 23 of their 37 points, 15 in the first half," Jackson said. "RUFFY BACONG and Kriebel played good defense in the second half. They really had to clamp him down."

Valhalla scoring: Austin Suhay 16, Kevin Kriebel 13, Travis Foeolsch 11, Ruffy Bacong 5, Daniel Butcher 4, Michael Espinoza 4, Aaron Mims 4, Derek White 3, Rod Fakoury 2.

GROSSMONT 65, RAMONA 51 -- As the preseason favorite to capture the Grossmont North League championship, the Grossmont Foothillers dribbled past host Ramona in Tuesday's (Nov. 28) Eastlake Tournament opener.

Six-foot-6 Junior IAN COCHRAN, the 2005-06 East County Rookie of the Year, picked up where he left off last year, pouring in 19 points and hauling down 13 rebounds, helping the Foothillers tame the Bulldogs.

JUSTIN RUTHERFORD, a 6-foot-7 senior, added 18 points and 14 rebounds for the Foothillers, who netted 28 of 41 free throws.

Cochran was the Hillers' ace from the charity stripe, connecting on 9 of 11 shots. Junior RICHARD OGUNSALU was 4 for 6 from the line on his way to a 13-point outing. Ogunsalu also converted Grossmont's only 3-point shot and captured 6 rebounds.

"I think we are going to be fairly solid," commented Grossmont coach FRANK FOGGIANO. "We had spurts of playing well tonight. I think we'll get progressively better."

Grossmont scoring: Ian Cochran 19, Justin Rutherford 18, Richard Ogunsalu 13, Michael Graham 8, Khalid Waters 4, Alex Chiappone 3.

© East County Sports.com
SANTEE (11-28-06) -- As far as Santana coach TIM BARRY was concerned Monday's (Nov. 27) season opener was hardly discouraging although his Sultans came up on the short end of a 66-45 score against the visiting Kearny Komets.

"Considering we are so very young, I was encouraged by what I saw," said Barry, who has only one player returning from last year's 17-11 team.

Santana skipped to an early 7-4 lead before the Komets' experience and pressure defense eventually took control, closing the opening period with an 11-0 run and never looked back.

"What made this so encouraging for me is I can see where this team can be a couple of years from now," Barry said. "Right now, we're just so young. When we get a lead we are content to just me jump-shot shooters."

Senior TYLER BLACKLEDGE paced Santana with team-highs of 11 points and 9 rebounds. Freshman point guard JESSE VARGAS added 8 points (two 3-pointers), 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals for the Sultans.

It was not the best of shooting nights for Santana, which clicked on only 25 percent of 60 shots from the field. The Sultans did convert 10 of 13 free throws.

Santana scoring: Tyler Blackledge 11, Jesse Vargas 8, John Vasquez 7, Kyle Salzman 6, Kevin Engelke 5, Blake Harper 5, Chris Sodergren 3.

Norsemen Hoop Alumni Game

(c) East County Sports.com
EL CAJON (11-21-06) -- Valhalla High will host its inaugural boys basketball alumni game on Friday (Nov. 24). The event will start at 6 p.m. with a two-man shooting and 3-point competition, followed by the main event at 7. Any former Norsemen interested in participating should contact Coach Keith Jackson at (619) 251-9840.

2005-06 Highlights

Valhalla senior Keith Williams (right) drives on Helix's Eric Forney, with the burst captured under the special effects eye by one of East County Sports.com's award-winning photographers. (Photo by Travis Downs)