Peninsula stuns Crespi on opening night of Pac Shores

REDONDO BEACH, Calif. — Most of the first round games of the 64th annual Dijon Thompson Pacific Shores Tournament went by design, with the higher seed prevailing by blowout or with some resistance. Except for one. It didn’t take long for the first upset of the Southern California hoops scene as Palos Verdes Peninsula defeated HoopsByUgland.com’s preseason No. 9 Encino Crespi, 59-56, in the 8 p.m. matchup Monday night at Redondo Union High. Peninsula, behind senior forward Mickey Babek, jumped out to an 11-point lead at halftime before seeing the advantage disappear as big third quarters from Crespi’s sophomore guard duo of Brandon Williams and Taj Regans gave the Celts a 43-39 lead heading into the fourth. The final eight minutes was filled with ties and lead changes before Crespi lost big man Mitchell Mykhaylov to injury and Williams who picked up his fifth foul. USC-signee De’Anthony Melton had a good look at a game-tying 3-pointer with 0.7 seconds remaining, but the shot was wide left giving Peninsula the three point victory. Babek finished with 24 points and Mykhaylov had 10 for Crespi before exiting the game due to injury. In the first game of the day, Oak Park defeated Temecula Rancho Christian, 48-45, behind 23 points (and probably just as many rebounds) from sophomore forward Riley Battin. Highly-touted freshman Isaiah Mobley scored 20 points in his high school debut for Rancho Christian. Compton High found itself in a tight one with El Camino Real, but closed out a 72-69 win behind 28 points from Florida Gulf Coast-bound senior Raysean Scott. Brandon Russell, son of former Long Beach State and Utah Jazz standout Bryon Russell, poured in a day-one high of 36 points. HoopsByUgland.com’s preseason No. 10 Los Angeles Westchester dominated a short-handed Lynwood, 90-41. San Jose State-signee Keith Fisher led the Comets with 14 points and talented freshman guard Jordan Brinson added 13. Lynwood was led by senior Joe Tate who finished with nine points and played without two starters in freshman guard Oscar Lopez (hip injury) and Denzel Williams (must sit 30 days per CIF transfer rules). Inglewood struggled early against Hart of Newhall, but pulled away late to take a 73-62 win. Senior guard Terrell Gomez led the Sentinels with 19 points. Chad Donohoe paced Hart with 16. HoopsByUgland.com’s preseason No. 14 Eastvale Roosevelt had a difficult time scoring against Harbor City Narbonne, but the Mustangs defense helped them to a 44-37 opening round victory. Jalen Taylor led Roosevelt with nine points, while Psalm Maduakor had 11 for Narbonne and played solid defense against lauded Roosevelt guard Jemarl Baker. Maduakor held Baker to seven points. Host and HoopsByUgland.com’s preseason No. 7 Redondo Union breezed by Mayfair, 76-33, behind 18 points from Wesley Gilbert. The final game in the auxiliary gym was quite the barn-burner between HoopsByUgland.com preseason No. 5 Long Beach Poly and Campbell Hall. Lehigh-signee Jordan Cohen scored 24 points to keep Campbell Hall close, but Zafir Williams and Darryl Polk each nailed a pair of clutch free throws to close out a 48-42 Poly win. Williams finished with a team-high 20 points, while Hawaii-signee Drew Buggs added 13 with two coming by-way of an early-season “Dunk of the Year” type finish in the fourth quarter. Wednesday schedule 3 p.m. - El Camino Real vs. Lynwood 3:30 p.m. - Compton vs. Westchester (quarterfinal) 4:30 p.m. - Campbell Hall vs. Hart 5 p.m. - Eastvale Roosevelt vs. Peninsula (quarterfinal) 6 p.m. - Mayfair vs. Rancho Christian 6:30 p.m. - Redondo Union vs. Oak Park (quarterfinal) 7:30 p.m. - Crespi vs. Narbonne 8 p.m. - Long Beach Poly vs. Inglewood (quarterfinal)