The nine-game Elite Is Earned New Year’s Showcase at Miramonte last Saturday had a little something for everyone, from national and state-ranked teams to teams mostly from the Central Coast Section and North Coast Section at various places in those Prep2Prep rankings
Mitty withstands a test
ORINDA, CA – Just over a week after being named the No. 1 team in the nation in every ranking, human or computer, and fresh off titles in the top divisions of the Nike TOC and West Coast Jamboree, Prep2Prep Central Coast Section top-ranked Archbishop Mitty got a stern test against St. Joseph Notre Dame, but in the end the Monarchs (13-0) showed why they are No. 1 in everything with a 70-48 victory that was a lot closer than the score indicates.
Leading only 44-40 after three quarters against a scrappy and fleet-footed P2P North Coast Section No. 4 St. Joseph Notre Dame, the Monarchs finally came alive and turned up the heat with a 14-1 run to start the fourth quarter that sealed the deal.
“I would say us withstanding a test is a pretty accurate statement. It wasn’t a 22-point game,” Mitty Coach Sue Phillips said. “We were stagnant offensively, but one of the things that saves this team is they tend to answer the bell.”
This year’s Mitty team is the kind of group that is so deep with talent that if one or two of its big stars has an off night another player picks up the slack, and in the win over the Pilots it was Karisma Ortiz and big time.
“There’s always an opportunity on this team for someone to step up and last night with Haley (Jones) and Nicole (Blakes) having an off night it was Karisma. I thought she played phenomenal,” Phillips remarked.
Phenomenal might be an understatement for the performance of Ortiz. All the 6-0, Penn State-bound guard did was go for a triple-double, with a game-high 26 points (four three-pointers, four-of-four from the free-throw line), 11 rebounds and 10 assists, with two steals.
Despite what Phillips felt was an off night, Jones, the 2017 Cal-Hi Sports State Sophomore of the Year and ESPN No. 1 ranked junior win in the nation, and Blakes, both still had solid outings for most any other player. Jones had a double-double 14 points and 11 rebounds with five assists. She now needs 13 points to reach 1,000 for her career. Blakes, a 6-2 University of San Diego-bound post, had 16 points with 12 in the Monarchs 28-point fourth quarter, plus nine rebounds and three steals.
St. Joseph Notre Dame (8-2) finally gave way but not before delighting theirs and many fans that expected a blowout. When the horn sounded to end the third quarter and the young Pilots only down by four, a fan seated behind the scorer’s table blurted out “St. Joseph doesn’t know they’re not supposed to be in the game.”
Zhane Duckett, a quick and explosive 5-6 junior guard, led the Pilots with 15 points (two three-pointers), three rebounds and three steals. Malia Mastora, a 5-9 junior wing, added 11 points, and 5-11 sophomore in Sophie Nilsson hit two treys and chipped in with nine points and five rebounds.
Mitty opens West Catholic Athletic League action on Wednesday at P2P CCS No. 7 and undefeated Presentation, and then hosts CCS No. 12 St. Ignatius on Saturday.
St. Joseph Notre Dame should not break much of a sweat in the Bay Counties – East League but a Jan. 20 with Pinewood at the Lamorinda Classic should be interesting.
“Despite the way we played I like the progress the team is making that will lead to long term success,” Phillips said.
For Phillips the long-term success she’s talking about is winning a CIF Open Division title.
St. Mary’s 83, Campolindo 39
In the only real blowout of the Elite Is Earned Showcase the Rams bolted out from the start and led 28-10 after one quarter, 50-20 at the half, and 74-26 after three periods in what was a running clock finish.
Despite playing less than three quarters and looking to get her teammates involved in the action, 6-2 Baylor-bound Aquira DeCosta, the ESPN No. 1 ranked senior wing in the nation, put on a show that included a flying no feet touching down put-back, and a full stat. She only had 14 points, but DeCosta pulled down 16 rebounds with four assists, four steals and three blocks. At one point in the game she was guarding two players at once and still forced a turnover.
Florida-signed Ariel Johnson led St. Mary’s (13-2) and lit up the scoreboard to the tune of 26 points (three three-pointers) with five rebounds, four steals and three assists. She made an acrobatic floater between two defenders that was picturesque.
Prep2Prep NCS No. 6 Campolindo (9-5) got a solid effort from Haley Van Dyke but she and her Cougars teammates were just plain overmatched. The 6-0 Washington-bound Van Dyke had a 56-point game last week against Brookside Christian but against St. Mary’s she was held to 16 points with 14 rebounds, four assists and four steals. Weber State-bound senior guard Ashley Thoms ADDED 10 POINTS
Pinewood 52, Bishop Gorman 41
Despite not trailing in the game P2P CCS No. 2 Pinewood (11-1) was never really able to completely shake off the young team from Las Vegas, partly due to a horrid shooting performance.
The Panthers under Coach Doc Scheppler live and die from the three point line and against Gorman they were eight of 45 to go 18 percent from outside the arc. Overall, they shot a dismal 23 percent from the field.
Junior sharpshooter Hannah Jump had a game-high 18 points, but she was only four of 17 on three-pointers. Junior wing Klara Astrom had 15 points and was three of 11 behind the line, and senior guard Briana Claros had 11 points but she blanked on seven three-point shots. In fact, Claros and four other girls combined to go 0 for 14 from three-point range.
One thing Pinewood did do well was rebound. Despite a significant height disadvantage they out-rebounded Gorman 48-27.
Despite being only 5-7, junior Trinity Copeland had 23 rebounds.
Bishop Gorman (4-10) got 11 points and 15 rebounds from junior Georgia Ohiaeri, and 10 points apiece from junior Caira Young and sophomore Bentleigh Hoskins.
Pinewood opens West Bay – Foothill League action on Tuesday at Eastside Prep, and if they shoot the way they did against Gorman they could be in trouble.
Eastside College Prep 65, Sacred Heart Cathedral 50
In what was a mild upset P2P CCS No. 4 Eastside Prep took down CCS No. 3 Sacred Heart Cathedral, and it wasn’t the fact the Panthers won, but how they did it.
Senior Kayla Tahaafe, who was like a freight train driving to the basket, and according to Panthers Coach Donovan Blythe she should probably not have played against Sacred Heart Cathedral or the night before in a 54-53 victory over P2P CCS No. 12 Menlo-Atherton due to a bad cold, had a game-high 22 points with five rebounds, five steals and three assists, and she gave the Irish girls fits.
Junior Zion Gabriel added 17 points (three three-pointers), freshman Amira Brown had 12 points, four rebounds and two assists, and freshman Marley Langi only had six points but she pulled down 10 rebounds.
Eastside Prep (9-3) took the lead for good at 9-8 and steadily drew away to lead by 18 points in the third before the Irish made a run that could only get it to 55-46 before Blythe’s girls closed it out with a 10-4 run of their own.
Sacred Heart Cathedral (4-8) only had one girl in double-figure scoring and it was senior guard Aliyah Arcillas who came off the bench for 11 points. Fellow senior Rainah Smith only could muster eight points but she had 10 rebounds and four assists.
Salesian 54, Woodside Priory 41
Prep2Prep NCS top-ranked Salesian (9-2) only led 25-23 after one quarter against a full-strength Woodside Priory, and the Panthers only trailed 36-32 with under two minutes left in the third quarter before an 8-0 run to end the quarter by the Pride keyed by junior forward Makayla Edwards pretty much took the starch out of the P2P CCS No. 9 ranked Panthers.
Edwards finished with a double-double 17 points and 10 rebounds with two assists. Fellow junior and 6-5 post Angel Jackson only had six points but she grabbed 13 rebounds and blocked nine shots.
In only her second game back after missing eight full games and most of a 75-45 loss to P2P NCS No. 4 Cardinal Newman with six Panthers losses during the stretch, senior Tatiana Reese had 15 points but ran out of gas and only had two points in the second half. She also had seven rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Clovis West 60, Bishop Manogue 37
In the only game of the nine contested in the Elite Is Earned Showcase that did not involve a team from the CCS or NCS it was the defending CIF Open Division champion Clovis West (11-3) with an easy victory in a game they led from start to finish. The game also featured coaches with daughters as stars of their respective teams
Junior sharpshooter Madison Campbell, the daughter of Golden Eagles Coach Craig Campbell, knocked down five three-pointers and finished with 23 points and eight rebounds with three steals. Junior Champney Pulliam added 10 points, five rebounds and two assists.
Bishop Manogue (8-7) got an outstanding game from a no-quit sophomore Kenna Holt, the daughter of Miners Coach Craig Holt. She had 24 points with nine steals and six rebounds.
Castro Valley 73, St. Patrick-St. Vincent 51
In the 8:30 a.m. game P2P NCS No. 9 Castro Valley (12-1) rebounded from a loss to California in the Emerald Division title game at the West Coast Jamboree, and followed up a win over Acalanes on Thursday with an easy win over the Bruins.
Senior guard Vivian Woo led Castro Valley (12-1) with 18 points and eight rebounds, fellow senior guard Bailey Jones added 16 points, six rebounds, seven assists and three steals, and junior Payton Stanberry chipped in for 11 points.
St. Patrick-St. Vincent (8-7) closed to 12 with six minutes left but that was as close as they would get after Castro Valley quickly answered with a 12-3 run.
The Bruins got 14 points from junior Ashmeen Sran and sophomore Kayla Revelo, and 11 points and eight rebounds from sophomore Tameiya Sadler.
