KENTFIELD — With a healthy roster replenished by an influx of football players, Wednesday’s opening round of the 2018 Bambauer Classic was expected to showcase the Marin Catholic Wildcats at their fullest potential.
Instead, the tournament hosts found themselves in an early hole, struggled to score and suffered a first-round loss for the first time since 2009 as the Redmond Mustangs were rewarded for flying down from Washington with an unexpected 56-51 victory.
After trailing for the entirety of the first half, Marin Catholic (5-5) took a 37-34 lead through three quarters behind the efforts of Riley Wirth, who scored all eight of his points in the third. The Mustangs responded by tying the game with five points from Aidan Rolfs, and Redmond (4-5) went back in front on two of Philip Bury’s game-high 19 points. A 3-pointer by Darek Khabani on the following possession opened up a 44-39 lead, and the Wildcats wouldn’t be able to get back within one possession until a Geordie Aarsheim 3-pointer cut it to 53-51 with 27.5 left. Jacob Miller made three of four free throws from there to allow Redmond to emerge victorious.
Eamon Davidson led Marin Catholic with 15, while Redmond got 17 from Rolfs and 12 from Jalen Lund.
Miramonte 75, Arroyo Grande 70 (2 OT)
A fourth overtime game proved to be the charm for the Matadors, though it wasn’t easy. After leading by as much as 17 in the third quarter, Miramonte (7-4) saw the Eagles end the third on a 9-3 run to cut the lead to 52-41, and two 3-pointers by Gage Gomez, who led Arroyo Grande with 22, brought the Eagles within one with 43.2 seconds left. AG got the stop on the following possession, and Robert Hutchens was fouled with a second left. He missed the first free throw but sank the second, forcing overtime and bringing back memories of three straight OT losses for the Matadors earlier in the month. Miramonte would miss an elbow jumper that would have won the game at the end of the first overtime, but Jayson Fernbacher scored nine of his game-high 31 points in the second added period to give the Mats the necessary clearance. His 3-pointer with two minutes left in the second OT stretched the lead to 71-63 before one last 7-2 Arroyo Grande run, capped off by a Bryan Smith basket in the paint. Two more free throws by Fernbacher, who also had six assists, put the game on ice and brought Miramonte into the winners’ bracket.
Sophomore guard Harry Davis scored 14 for Miramonte, including a 3-pointer to open double overtime. Lars Ohlson added 12 and Matt Meredith finished with 10, while Arroyo Grande (9-3) got 11 from Hutchens and 10 from Smith.
Heritage 72, University 54
The tournament’s opening game turned into the Ezra Manjon show as the UC Davis-bound point guard sank five consecutive 3-pointers, scoring 17 of his game-high 29 in the third to allow Heritage (8-3) to create separation. The Patriots were stellar at the free throw line, making all 10 attempts in the fourth quarter to seal the game. Joel Webb, who finished with 24, was 6-for-6 at the line and scored 17 of his points in the second half.
University (7-5) struggled to score from the outside but got 18 points from Charley Moore, including an emphatic two-handed slam to cap off a 7-0 run in the first quarter to cut the lead to 12-10. Max Fried, in his fourth game back from injury, scored 16. The Red Devils trailed by as much as 17 in the third before finishing the quarter with a 9-2 run, capped off by four points from Fried and a three from Charlie Kennedy
Redwood 88, Lincoln 78
A foul-filled contest with 80 combined free throws turned into a seemingly never-ending marathon, overshadowing a few tremendous offensive performances. Redwood (9-2) led wire-to-wire, with Brandon Radu scoring 18 of his game-high 24 points in the second half, including a remarkable alley-oop from Chance Farrell-Martin on the first play of the third quarter. Miles Squiers had 23 for the Giants and was untouchable from 3-point range, making five of six from beyond the arc before leaving in the third quarter with an ankle injury. Lincoln (6-6) lost reserve Colby Wu after just 11 seconds on the court to a head injury in the second quarter, but freshman guard Jordan Aquino was able to keep the Mustangs close with 22 points, including two ridiculous plays in the first half. His falling and-1 cut the Redwood lead to 15-11, and he saved an errant pass at midcourt and turned it into a 3-pointer to send Lincoln into the half down just 36-33. From there, though, the Giants would open the second half on a 15-5 run, capped off by Squiers’ fifth three, and the lead would grow to 16 by the end of the third. A jumper for two of Pajri Samhi’s 14 points cut it to 75-66 before the last of the deluge of free throws sealed the game. Lincoln was 39-of-46 from the line in the losing effort, with Aquino making eight of nine and Samhi going 9-for-10. Sophomore Joseph Fox scored all 11 of his points on free throws and Shakur Blaylock went 6-of-6 as part of his 13-point effort. Jack Gerson added 13 for Redwood.
King 61, Urban 42
What looked to be a snoozefest as the Wolves opened up a quick 17-0 lead turned into a surprisingly compelling game, with Urban pulling within a point before halftime.
In the second half, though, King (9-7) used the same recipe that fueled the opening run, feeding DuWan Franklin. Franklin scored the game’s first eight points but was silent from there until adding another 10 in the third quarter. The sophomore-heavy Blues made things interesting with more than half of their offensive output in a 22-point second quarter, fueled by Bryce Smith and Jaydon Aquino. A crazy off-balance 3-pointer by Aquino (10 points) left Urban (4-8) down just 28-27 at half, though Franklin restored momentum for the boys from Riverside in the second half. King also got nine points from Josh Dietz and eight from sophomore guard Sean Rowland, while Bryce Smith scored 17 for the Blues.
Central Catholic 64, Mills 44
After an uninspiring first half in which head coach Mike Wilson exclaimed that his team looked like they had just eaten a pound of potatoes, the Central Catholic Raiders were able to penetrate the middle of Mills’ zone defense to pull away.
Sophomore Myles Clayton scored the first eight points of the second half as Central Catholic (6-5) went up 38-25, part of his 18-point, 11-rebound performance. The Raiders also got 16 points from Charles Hallman and nine apiece from Matt Govea and Justin Traina while Mills (4-5) was able to key in on point guard Dayton Magana, who was held to just three points. CC held an early 20-9 lead before a 7-0 Viking run, featuring a Colby Vasquez 3-pointer off a behind-the-back pass from Quinn Bura. Vasquez, who missed Mills’ first three games with a broken arm, scored 16 and Aaron Chen added 15. The Vikings were still without Michael Matsuno (ankle), while Central Catholic awaits the eligibility of three-sport star Dalton Durossette, who transferred in from Ceres before the school year. Additionally, Nic Sani, who averaged 10.7 points per game as a sophomore, is out for the year with injuries.
Serra 80, Terra Linda 36
As expected, the Padres made quick work of the Trojans, using a 12-0 run to open up a 20-8 lead in the first quarter. Serra (6-1) never allowed more than 10 points in a quarter, led by 25 at halftime and 37 through three. Cade Rees led the Padres with 20 points despite not playing the final 10 minutes, and Antonio Abeyta and Parker McDonald each scored nine. Head coach Chuck Rapp was able to go deep into his bench, with reserve Jovon Jesus scoring all nine of his points in the fourth quarter. Terra Linda (2-8) got seven points from sophomore Jake Sasaki.
Arcata 52, Huntington Park 33
Jaden Gorge led all scorers with 19 points as Arcata (6-6) allowed just four points in the third quarter and started the fourth on a 13-0 run to win a battle of teams separated by 658 miles. The Tigers also got nine points from Garrett Hall and eight from Hunter Santsche, while Huntington Park (5-3) got 15 points from Jeremy Tejeda and nine, all on 3-pointers, from Miguel Felix.