Thompson-Tynen connection propels Bishop Montgomery past Santa Margarita

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif — The feature game of Coaches for a Cause between Bishop Montgomery and Santa Margarita more than lived up to its big-ticket billing. The Knights erased a 13-point second half deficit to eke by the Eagles, 58-56, Saturday night at Ocean View high school. Bishop Montgomery put the ball in the hands of its highly-touted junior swingman Ethan Thompson with just over 30 seconds to play and the score tied at 56. Thompson drove left into the middle of the paint, stumbled, but was able to draw a second defender before dishing it to sophomore forward Fletcher Tynen who finished through a good contest at the rim by Santa Margarita, giving the Knights a two-point lead with eight seconds to play.

Bishop Montgomery's Ethan Thompson (above) scored 17 points and made the game-winning assist in the Knights 58-56 win over Santa Margarita Saturday night. The Eagles opted to inbound the ball quickly and into the hands of junior shooting guard Kaden Rasheed. Rasheed sprinted up the left sideline and launched a potential game-winning 3-pointer which hit off the back-iron, giving Bishop Montgomery the two-point victory. The Knights, ranked No. 3 in the HoopsByUgland.com SoCal preseason Top 20, came out ice-cold from the field and fell behind No. 16 Santa Margarita, 10-2, in the opening minutes of the contest. The Eagles (0-1) were paced early on by freshman forward Jake Kyman who scored four quick points in his varsity debut and senior point guard Noah Rasheed. Rasheed scored 10 of his game-high 20 points in the first 16 minutes, including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to close the opening half of play. Santa Margarita extended its advantage to 13, 33-20, early in the third quarter before Bishop Montgomery (1-0) freshman point guard Gianni Hunt led a Knights comeback with two 3-pointers and a couple heady assists. The teams back-and-forth from then on out before Montgomery took control at the end. Thompson finished with 17 points, while teammate Jordan Schakel added 14. Eagles sophomore Jordan Guest had 14 points and nine rebounds. Santa Margarita played without talented junior forward Adrease Jackson whose transfer from Las Flores Tesoro is still under review by the CIF. Bishop Montgomery was without one of its stars in sophomore David Singleton who had his wisdom teeth removed. In other Coaches for a Cause games: Huntington Beach Ocean View 80, Mission Viejo 40 Seniors Zamir Kelly and Christian Anderson scored 16 points each to lead the Seahawks to an easy win over the Diablos. In addition to the two talented upperclassmen, Ocean View starts a trio of sophomores in Paul Head, Bryson Betti and Mehkel Harvey.

Ocean View sophomore Mehkel Harvey (above) scored 10 points and pulled down 10 rebounds in his varsity debut Saturday night. Harvey might be the most intriguing of the three due to his 6-foot-6 frame, soft hands and energy around the basket which results in rebounds and blocked shots. Harvey finished his first varsity game with 10 points and 10 rebounds. JSerra 66, Troy 57 Alec Hickman led the Lions with 18 points in the victory. Sebastian Much, who recently transferred from San Jose Archbishop Mitty, added 14 points and eight rebounds for JSerra. Compton Dominguez 77, North Hollywood Oakwood 39 Highly-regarded sophomore shooting guard Wayne Arnold scored 15 points with four rebounds, two assists and two steals to lead the Dons to a big season-opening win.