While the St. Augustine boys and La Jolla Country Day girls competed against the best this week, Montgomery came home with a championship, of sorts.
The Aztecs (8-3), won the Baller TV consolation bracket in the Tarkanian Classic in Las Vegas, defeating Las Vegas schools Sierra Vista, 71-46; Valley, 60-58, and Clark, 54-36, after a first-round loss to eventual champion Layton, Utah, 70-60.
St. Augustine, in the Platinum Bracket, was 2-2 in the Tark and the Torreys 3-1 in the Nike Tournament of Champions in Phoenix.
The Saints (9-2) opened with a 56-51 victory over Orlando Oak Ridge (7-3), then the No. 2 team in Florida. They defeated Cleveland St. Ignatius, 62-54. They dropped a 79-70 decision to 6-2 Las Vegas Bishop Gorman, Nevada’s No. 1 squad.
The Gorman Gaels lost, 67-62, in the Tarkanian final to 12-0 Valencia West Ranch, which had defeated Carlton Kell of Marietta, Georgia, 65-55, and Santa Ana Mater Dei, 60-55.
St. Augustine’s final game was an 84-76 loss to 11-1 Kell, an Atlanta suburban team ranked second in the state.
FIRST DEFEAT
La Jolla Country Day (13-1), ranked No. 5 in the U.S. by Max Preps, was defeated by Long Island Lutheran of Brookville, N.Y., 63-50, in the Tournament Of Champions final.
Breya Cunningham scored 23 points for the Torreys, who fell behind, 18-6, after one quarter, rallied to a 29-27 halftime deficit, and fell behind again, 45-33, after three quarters.
The LuHi Crusaders, No. 1 team on the state’s eight-million population peninsula, featured 6-foot, 5-inch center Kate Koval from Ukraine. Koval had 10 points and nine rebounds.
SET SHOTS
Mikey Williams scored 35 points and San Ysidro (5-3) defeated Sherman Oaks Notre Dame (7-3) in a non-tournament game, 89-82…the visiting Knights’ other losses were 66-64 to Valencia West Ranch and 94-77 to Duncanville, Texas…Otay Ranch was in the Visit Mesa Tournament at Westwood High in Mesa, Arizona, winning, 68-59, over Aurora of Overland, Colorado; losing to Sunnyslope, 62-33, and winning, 65-38, over Westwood….Coach Terry Bamford’s La Jolla Country Day Torreys return in January, beginning the New Year on Saturday, Jan. 7, at Chatsworth Sierra Canyon, the team that edged the host Torreys, 63-62, in the state regional playoff semifinals in 2021-22…St. Augustine will be back in action on Tuesday, Dec. 27, in the Torrey Pines Holiday Classic with a game on the Saints’ home court against the 9-2 Centennial Coyotes of Peoria, Arizona….
