ORINDA, CA – The was some good basketball played in the six varsity games of the 11th Annual Elite Is Earned Invitational at Miramonte, with seven teams that will grace the first Prep2Prep CIF North Coast Section Rankings coming this week, and five teams ranked in the top 20 of the Cal-Hi Sports Rankings in the field.
Of everyone however the biggest statement came from St. Joseph Notre Dame-Alameda after the Cal-Hi Sports No. 9 Pilots also claimed the upcoming top spot in the P2P NCS rankings with a fairly convincing 68-60 victory over a Salesian-Richmond team that came into the game ranked much higher than St. Joseph Notre Dame in every local rankings but No. 16 in the Cal-Hi Sports rankings. Even with the loss Salesian will claim a top five spot in the NCS rankings.
“It was good for us to get that win and for us to prove ourselves,” Coach Shawn Hipol remarked.
St. Joseph Notre Dame (8-3) fell behind 12-5 early but from there they began a run that cut things to 14-13 after one quarter. The run went to 23-5 and with a 28-17 lead the Pilots took control and never let go of the momentum until the game was well out of reach. On four occasions the lead got to 19 points before Salesian closed the gap late to make the game look a little closer.
“Once we settled in everything was fine,” Hipol said. “Sophie (Nilsson) played well and hit some key shots.”
Nilsson, a 6-0 senior that missed all of last season with a knee injury, hit four three-pointers and finished with a double-double 19 points and 10 rebounds. Sophomore point guard Talana Lepolo had 15 points and five assists, and senior Malia Mastora, who committed to UC Riverside last week, added 14 points (two three-pointers) and six rebounds.
Salesian (12-2) got a game high 22 points (three three-pointers), eight rebounds and five steals from junior point guard Alexandra Alvarado, who is showing solid improvement since last season. Silvia Fonongaloa, a 6-1 sophomore post that has been leading the Pride in scoring and rebounding and controlling the paint, finished with 14 points and five rebounds, but during the time the game was decided in the second and third quarter she was held to a single free-throw.
“We decided in game prepping to get the big girl (Fonongaloa) away from the basket on offense and on defense where we ran sets and pick and rolls,” Hipol said.
Hipol and his girls have another busy week with two BCAL – East games with Athenian-Danville and College Prep-Oakland before taking on Nevada No. 1 Centennial-Las Vegas on Saturday at the MLK Showcase at St. Mary’s-Stockton and coming back in the evening to play a league game with Bentley-Lafayette, and then Cal-Hi Sports No. 2 La Jolla Country Day at the MLK Classic at Bishop O’Dowd-Oakland on MLK Day.
Salesian has a TCAL – Rock game with El Cerrito before meeting La Jolla Country Day in Stockton on Saturday and then Bear Creek-Stockton on Monday at O’Dowd.
O’Dowd makes its own statement
While St. Joseph Notre Dame showed why it deserves to be in the top spot in the upcoming Prep2Prep NCS rankings, Cal-Hi Sports No. 12 Bishop O’Dowd made its own statement with a win 55-52 victory over No. 10 St. Mary’s-Stockton in a game that had a lot of twists and turns.
“Getting this win was very important moving forward,” O’Dowd Coach Malik McCord said. “Getting back after the Holiday tournaments and getting to practice and address things we need to improve on was major. We are far from a finished product.”
O’Dowd (8-4) took its first lead at 20-19 and from there it was back and forth with the St. Mary’s taking a 36-35 lead into the fourth quarter.
St. Mary’s then went on an 8-1 get it to 44-36 but at that point the Rams went ice cold and O’Dowd put together a 17-2 run of its own to make it 53-46 with less than a minute to play before St. Mary’s closed on a 6-2 run but the game was really already decided.
“The run we had after getting down by eight was similar to the run Mitty put on us in the fourth quarter,” said McCord, referring to a 64-44 loss to Mitty last week. “I called a time out to tell them to ‘grow up and finish this game. We can play defense well enough to get stops and then convert offensively on the other end.’ The team responded and the rest is history.”
Three O’Dowd girls did most of the work. Amaya Bonner, a long 6-0 sophomore that is already a slid D1 prospect, had a solid double-double 14 points and 15 rebounds with three assists, two steals and a blocked shot. Senior Skylar McGlockton added a team-high 15 points, with seven rebounds and three steals, and junior 6-0 wing Kennedy Johnson had 12 points, seven rebounds and two steals.
St. Mary’s (8-4) got a monster double-double from 6-2 senior wing Amaya Oliver. She finished with 15 points and 16 rebounds with three assists and three steals. Freshman sensation Brooklyn Perry had a team high 17 points (two three-pointers) with five steals. No other Rams player had more than five points.
O’Dowd now hosts its MLK Classic and has a Saturday date with Sacramento and then faces Heritage-Brentwood on Monday.
St. Mary’s has a Tri-City Athletic League match-up with Modesto Christian before hosting its MLK Showcase with Nevada Bishop Gorman-Las Vegas on Friday, Bonita Vista-Chula Vista on Saturday, and then Nevada Centennial-Las Vegas on Monday.
Miramonte bounces back with a solid victory over Folsom
Elite Is Earned Invitational host Miramonte (14-2) played without junior star Mia Mastrov for the fifth straight game, but the Mats didn’t need her just like in the last three games after posting a 67-54 victory over Folsom.
The Mats lost to Salesian in the West Coast Jamboree Diamond Division title game with Mastrov playing with an infection she didn’t know she had, and then without her in a last second 63-62 loss to Cal-Hi Sports No. 17 Orangewood Academy-Anaheim in Wyoming that dropped Miramonte to No. 20 in those rankings. However, since then the other girls in the arsenal of Coach Kelly Sopak have really picked it up, and it definitely showed against Folsom.
Two girls in particular were really hot. Senior Erin Tarasow ked the way with a double-double 24 points (three three-pointers) and 10 rebounds with three assists and three steals Junior Jordan Allred added her own double-double with 21 points (four three-pointers) and 10 rebounds. Senior Leah Sopak nailed two three-pointers and chipped in with 10 points.
Folsom (12-4) got 15 points and 5 rebounds with five assists and four steals from junior Charity Gallegos but no one else was in double-figure scoring or really made an impact against Miramonte.
Miramonte bolted out to a 16-4 lead that got to 24 points at 57-33 but Folsom made one final push with a 14-0 after Mats Coach Kelly Sopak used some reserves, but after getting it to 57-47 with the run, Sopak went back to Tarasow and crew and they made 10 of 12 free throws down the stretch to close it out.
Miramonte now faces Colorado No. 8 Regis Jesuit-Aurora on Friday in the St. Mary’s-Stockton MLK Showcase and then they shift to Oakland on Saturday to face Sacred Heart Cathedral-San Francisco in the O’Dowd MLK Classic.
Folsom begins Sierra Foothill League play this week at home versus Whitney-Rocklin.
Heritage holds off California
In the opening game of the Elite is Earned Invitational, Heritage defeated California 67-60 behind the huge double-double 24 points and 15 rebounds of Boise State-bound 6-3 senior Abigail Muse. Her little sister, 6-5 freshman Amanda Muse, added 14 points, six rebounds and four assists, while Isabella Fabricante chipped in with 10 points
“We got a lead from pressing, so that kind of relaxed me so I was able to look for my teammates more,” Abigail Muse remarked. “When the shooters hit those shots, it just flowed.”
Heritage (8-3) trailed 24-11 early but led by as many as 19 at one point in a game where California had no quit but the size of the Patriots wore down the Grizzlies.
Senior Erica Adams led California (8-6) with 22 points and fellow senior Audrey Moulton added a double-double 15 points and 10 rebounds with seven assists.
“It’s one of our most improved games,” Heritage coach Rob Ocon said, noting that he “needed everybody” due to injury and illness. “I like the way the sisters have played together.”
Heritage opens BVAL play on Tuesday with cross-town arch rival Liberty, while California continues EBAL play on Tuesday at San Ramon Valley-Danville.
In other games at the Elite Is Earned Invitational St. Patrick-St. Vincent-Vallejo (9-6) was a 53-46 winner over Edison-Stockton behind 17 points from senior Tameiya Sadler, 16 points from senior Kayla Revelo and 10 points from sophomore Zeni Purge.
Edison (11-4) got 15 points on five three-pointers by senior Day’jah Pursley and 13 points by junior transfer Mya Blake.
Nevada No. 8 Bishop Manogue-Reno (9-3) had little trouble in a 69-35 victory over Las Lomas-Walnut Creek. Nevada-Reno-signed senior guard Kenna Holt, the daughter of Coach Craig Holt, put on a show and finished with 27 points, 14 rebounds, seven assists and seven steals. Junior wing Jordyn Jensen added 20 points.
Las Lomas (8-7) got a great effort from Rose Morse. The junior guard finished with 21 points.
Scott A. Giorgianni contributed to this report
