Running Diary: Nike Extravaganza XXII
A game-by-game briefing of Nike Extravaganza 22.
Oak Hill Academy 96, Chino Hills 91
Lindell Wigginton and Oak Hill academy did what 60 other failed to do over the last year and change: Beat Chino Hills.
The Warriors came into Southern California and snapped the Huskies 60 game winning-streak Saturday night behind Wigginton's 35 points.
Chino Hills (25-1) now hold the third-longest win streak in California state history (stat courtesy of Ronnie Flores of CalHiSports).
LaMelo Ball, one of the top sophomore's in the country, led Chino Hills with 36 points on 12 of 26 from the field and 7 of 14 from 3-point range.
Melo also did what he does best: Entertain a sellout crowd with deep triples, filthy crossovers and crafty finishes around the basket.
The Huskies, trailing 94-91 with nine seconds to play, had the opportunity to tie the game after an Oak Hill turnover on a baseline out of bounds play.
Melo found brother LiAngelo Ball fading to the right corner off of a flare screen, but Gelo's couldn't get the shot to fall.
Ty-Shon Alexander corralled the rebound and was fouled by Melo on an over-the-back call, sending him to the free throw line for two freebies with 4.4 seconds left.
Alexander iced the game to end Chino Hills streak.
Billy Preston, a Kansas-commit and SoCal native, scored 16 points and pulled down 21 rebounds for Oak Hill (27-3). Alexander, a Creighton-signee, and David McCormack each added 11 points.
UCLA-signee Gelo Ball finished with 23 points, but it came on 8 of 35 shooting and 4 of 22 from 3-point range. LMU-signee Eli Scott added 12 points and 16 rebounds, while highly-regarded sophomore Onyeka Okongwu had 14 points and 11 rebounds.
Mater Dei 74, San Diego St. Augustine 62
There's not much a team can do to defend against a 7-foot-2 guy throwing down a between-the-legs dunk in transition.
That was the task St. Augustine faced against Mater Dei and Bol Bol Saturday night.
Bol scored a game-high 26 points on 13 of 16 from the field and added nine rebounds and five blocks in Mater Dei's victory.
Recent California-commit Justice Sueing added 20 points for the Monarchs (26-1) and Spencer Freedman added seven points and 11 assists.
Mater Dei opened its largest lead of the game, 51-32, late in the third quarter, before St. Augustine rallied a bit in the fourth behind junior forward Taeshon Cherry to make the difference on the scoreboard a little more respectable.
Cherry finished with 24 points, while senior Otto Taylor added 15.
Sierra Canyon 98, Las Vegas Bishop Gorman 72
Marvin Bagley III, one of the best players in the country regardless of class, put together one of the best performances in Nike Extravaganza history, scoring a showcase-record 43 points as the Trailblazers coasted by the Gaels.
Bagley broke the record of 41 points previously set by Bishop Gorman's Shabazz Muhammad, now a member of the Minnesota Timberwolves, in 2012.
Sierra Canyon (23-1) had four in double figure scoring as UCLA-signee Cody Riley added 20, Arizona State-bound guard Remy Martin added 14 and Cornell-signee Terrance McBride pitched in 11.
An argument could be made that Adam Seiko, a senior heading to San Diego State, was the second-most important Trailblazer in this game.
Seiko drew the defensive assignment opposite Gorman's Charles O'Bannon, Jr., a McDonald's All-American heading to USC.
Seiko held O'Bannon scoreless in the first half and to just four points total on 1 of 16 shooting for the game.
Christian Popoola, Jr. led Gorman (14-9) with 22 points and seven rebounds. Jamal Bey added 21 points
Long Beach Poly 72, Orange Lutheran 49
Jackrabbits senior Jeremiah Sadler has a flair for the dramatic.
The senior guard scored a career-high 26 points on 9 of 16 shooting, including 5 of 9 from 3-point range, saying after, "I knew this was a showcase game and I want to showcase my skills."
Poly senior Jeremiah Sadler scored a career-high 26 points at Nike Extravaganza.
Poly (19-6) took a 27-11 lead after one period of play, led by Sadler's 13 points, and cruised to the 23-point win.
Myles Johnson added 13 points and 15 rebounds, while Zafir Williams chipped in 11 points and 12 rebounds.
Josh Griffin and Isaiah Pope led Orange Lutheran (11-15) with 10 points apiece.
Santa Margarita 59, Fairfax 51
Fairfax has had a little bit of trouble putting the ball in the basket since it lost Ethan Anderson to injury, and the second quarter of its Nike Extravaganza game against Santa Margarita told that same story.
The Eagles (19-5) outscored Fairfax (21-3) 17-11 in the second quarter and the final score held very close to true to that margin.
Kaden Rasheed led Santa Margarita with 14 points, Jake Kyman added 13 and Pearson Parker and Adrease Jackson added 11 apiece.
Fairfax junior Jamal Hartwell led all scorers with 15 points. Robert McRae and Kirk Smith each had 11.
Corona Centennial 83, Los Altos 53
The Huskies had four players score in double figures with Jalen Hill (21), Legend Stamps (17), Isom Butler (13) and Jaylen Clark (12), in their 30-point rout of Los Altos.
Centennial (20-7) put the kibosh on the Conquerors (20-4) in the first five minutes of the contest, jumping out to a quick 20-3 lead and never looking back.
Butler, a senior, put together a spectacular defensive effort against one of Southern California's best scorers, Jarod Lucas, with some help from Paul Vilela and his big men inside.
Lucas was held Lucas well-below his season average, finishing with 11 points on 3 of 12 shooting.
Julian Lopez led Los Altos with 13 points.
Hill added 17 rebounds to go along with his 21 points.
Los Alamitos 54, Villa Park 48
Junior forward Jacob Eyman turned in one of his best offensive performances of the season, scoring 25 points on 8 of 12 shooting in the Griffins upset victory over the Spartans.
Los Al (18-6) beat Orange County's sixth-ranked team in Villa Park one night after struggling against three-win Marina in Sunset League play.
Villa Park (18-5) missed 14 of its 15 3-point attempts in the first half and trailed the Griffins, 20-15, at the break.
Villa Park took a one-point lead midway through the fourth quarter on a bucket from Julien Franklin, but Joseph Riley hit a 3-pointer, followed by a basket from Eyman, to give the Griffins a 45-41 lead with 3:40 to play.
With Los Al leading 50-48, Spencer Frank found Zach Ruiz with a drive, draw and dish to give the Griffins a four-point lead with under a minute to go.
Villa Park missed four straight looks from behind-the-arc on its final possession, finishing just 3 of 25 from 3-point range.
Julien Franklin led the Spartans with 23 points. Myles Franklin added 11.
Riley added 11 points off the bench for Los Al.
St. John Bosco 81, Capistrano Valley 75
Makani Whiteside scored 22 of his game-high 30 points in the second half and overtime(s), leading St. John Bosco to an 81-75 triple overtime victory over Capistrano Valley at Nike Extravaganza.
Bosco trailed Capo Valley by 14 after three, but stormed back in the fourth behind Alpha Okoli and Whiteside.
Okoli's driving layup with just under four to play cut the Cougars lead to four, 55-51, and then Whiteside hit a hanging eight-footer through contact to make it a 56-53 Capo advantage.
Sophomore guard Makani Whiteside has been St. John Bosco's best scorer this season.
Whiteside then penetrated the Cougars defense and found Okoli for a layup, making it a one-point Capo lead with 1:40 left.
Capo's Grayson Beeman then ripped baseline for a finish, plus the foul, but missed the ensuing free throw to make it a 58-55 Cougars lead with just over a minute left.
Whiteside answered with a layup of his own on Bosco's next possession, cutting the deficit back to one, and split a pair of free throws to tie it at 58 with 25.3 seconds left.
Dawson Baker, who finished with 18 points, left a turnaround 15-footer short to send it into overtime.
After a handful of back-and-forth in the first overtime, Baker scored a crafty left-handed finish to tie the game at 64 with 52 seconds left.
Whiteside missed a 3-pointer with 7.1 seconds left and Baker turned it over on Capo's end before Fernando Gomez's desperation triple glanced off the rim to send it into double overtime.
Whiteside took over down the stretch in the third overtime, hitting a right wing triple with 28 seconds left, giving the Braves a 79-75 lead.
Okoli added 19 points for the Braves (15-11), while Fernando Gomez chipped in 13.
Nic Lipovic scored a team-high 19 points for Capo Valley (19-6).
JSerra 73, Dos Pueblos 51
The Lions played without two of its starters in senior Sebastian Much and junior J.T. Robinson, but had no issue dispatching Dos Pueblos in the 8:30 a.m. game of Day Two of Nike Extravaganza.
Six-foot-10 junior center Joel Mensah paced JSerra (16-8) with 21 points and seven rebounds. The Lions had two others score in double figures in Bryan Hustrulid (16) and sophomore MuNir McClain (10).
Diego Riker paced Dos Pueblos (19-4) with 14 points.
Day One
Mater Dei 74, Village Christian 42
The nightcap of the first day of Nike Extravaganza XXII at Mater Dei high school didn't exactly start out the way most expected.
Monarchs head coach Gary McKnight flipped the starting five on its head, trotting out three little known players alongside senior big man Miles Brookins and junior forward Reagan Lundeen, while normal starters Spencer Freedman, Justice Sueing, Harrison Butler and soon-to-be regular starter Bol Bol were relegated to the bench for the first 5:50 of the game.
McKnight hailed his regulars at the 2:10 mark of the first with Mater Dei trailing Village Christian 9-5 and the Monarchs turned that into a 25-22 halftime lead.
There was absolutely no contest in the second half as Mater Dei (25-1) outscored Village Christian (14-10), 49-20, over the final 16 minutes of play, which included a number of lob passes from Freedman ending in highlight dunks from Bol.
Bol led all scorers with 19 points and added nine rebounds. Sueing and Harrison Butler chipped in 13 apiece, while Freedman added 12 points and eight assists.
Sophomore guard Javon Jones led Village Christian with 12 points.
Oak Hill Academy (VA) 86, El Cajon Foothills Christian 59
The homecoming for SoCal native and Kansas-commit Billy Preston went well as he could've hoped.
Oak Hill blasted Foothills Christian Friday night in preparation for a showdown Saturday night against Chino Hills.
The Warriors (24-3) were paced by sharpshooting two-guard Lindell Wigginton, an Iowa State signee, who finished with 29 points on 10 of 18 shooting, including 6 of 11 from 3-point range.
Oak Hill guard Lindell Wigginton led the Warriors with 29 points in a lopsided win over Foothills Christian Friday night at Nike Extravaganza.
Preston, who spent time at St. John Bosco and Redondo Union earlier in his high school career, added 19 points and 12 rebounds.
Foothills Christian (18-5) were paced by UCLA-bound point guard Jaylen Hands who finished with a game-high 34 points on 15 of 28 shooting.
Ty-Shon Alexander added 12 points, while junior center David McCormack pitched in six points and 13 rebounds for Oak Hill.
Saddleback Valley Christian 48, Servite 40
The Warriors, widely considered the fifth-best team in Orange County, inched by Servite without star senior Trey Smith, the county leader in scoring at 27.5 points per game.
SVC (23-3) had a balanced scoring effort led by Jonah Tolmaire who scored 11 points. Nick Andrews added 10 points, while Trey Mena finished with nine points and eight rebounds.
Servite (10-14) was led by senior guard Devyian Roberson's 12 points and Brian Gomez who added 10 points.
Rancho Mirage 58, Rolling Hills Prep 52 (OT)
Unsigned senior shooting guard Charles Neal scored 30 points on 13 of 30 from the field to lead Rancho Mirage past Rolling Hills Prep in overtime of the opening game of Nike Extravaganza XXII.
Neal connected on a number of clutch shots throughout, including a right corner 3-pointer that gave the Rattlers a 50-47 lead with 55.1 seconds left.
Rolling Hills Prep sophomore Chris Koon tied things at 50 with a triple of his own with 30 seconds to play.
Neal got two looks a potential game-winning shots, but couldn’t connect on either, sending the game to overtime.
Rancho Mirage (25-3) turned up the defensive effort in the overtime period, holding Rolling Hills Prep (16-2) to two points in the extra four minutes.
Koon led Rolling Hills Prep with 18 points, while junior Alex Garcia and freshman J.T. Tan added 11 each.
Matt Barajas-Tiedeman pitched in 13 points for Rancho Mirage.