Holiday Classic basketball tournament: Live scores, updates, highlights from Day 2 (12/28/2023)
SAN DIEGO — Welcome to Day 2 of the Holiday Classic at Torrey Pines, presented by SBLive Sports.
Thursday is the second day of the five-division, 76-team boys basketball tournament that celebrates its 33rd year and concludes on Saturday. More than 20 current NBA players have played in The Holiday Classic, led by K]ay Thompson, Russell Westbrook, DeMar DeRozan and Jrue Holiday.
Day 1 featured many memorable moments and performances in the Nation Division, including a 43-point explosion from Styles Phipps, a 6-1 point guard headed to Grand Canyon College, and a 28-point effort from Faith Family Academy's Isaac Johnson, another 6-1 guard, who is committed to Texas A&M Corpus Christi (see highlights of his team's 62-54 win over O'Dea (Seattle) at top of page).
Faith Family Academy is the defending Texas 4A state champion.
Scroll down for the latest live updates, recaps, matchups and game times. Five sites throughout San Diego will host divisions, with Torrey Pines housing almost entirely National Division games. See links to each divisions and game schedules HERE.
THURSDAY'S SECOND-ROUND GAMES
(At Torrey Pines HS)
Mitty 64, Montgomery-San Diego 61 (final)
A game the Monarchs (6-2) had so well in hand was nearly wiped away by a determined and suddenly hot-shooting Aztec team. In the end, Mitty had just enough thanks to 19 points from Player of the Game Tyler Jones (19 points), along with 12 points apiece from Gavin Ripp and Grayson Jalal.
Down 49-29 late in the third quarter, the previously unbeaten Aztecs utilized tremendous trapping pressure and crazy-good 3-point shooting, capped with a four-point play (a 3-pointer and free throw) by JJ Sanchez (21 points) with 17.8 seconds left, cutting Mitty's lead to 62-59.
Two clutch free throws by Hursh Mehta extended the lead to five, but Xair Mendez (17 points) drilled a quick jumper, making it 64-61.
More pressure caused Mitty to call its last timeout, but the designed play from its own baseline (a double pass out of bounds) took longer than five seconds, giving Montgomery a chance to tie.
Sanchez, a 6-5 wing, was smothered by 6-8 Ripp and ultimately lost the ball before getting a shot. Montgomery's 12-game win streak to start the season frustratingly was over.
Mitty now plays in Friday's 8:30 p.m. semifinals against Carlsbad, which is coached by Mitty graduate Clark Allard.
Both teams came in riding impressive first-round wins, Mitty defeating favored Santa Margarita, 43-38, while Montgomery went wire-to-wire to beat Waxahachie, 49-37.
Mitty might be a little fatigued after Thursday's slugfest that featured four foul outs, including Jones with a minute to play.
"That was a dog fight," Jones said. "But we got dogs on the team and were ready to play. ... We played some really good teams and I think we're battle tested. Those set us up for games like this."
That said, Jones noted that Montgomery is a very different opponent, one that can speed and slow the game at their pace. The only difference is that Mitty plays the same way and for three quarters was in complete command.
Jones, a 6-3 point guard signed to UC Riverside, was in the middle of all of it. When he wasn't drilling 3s (he made three), he drove strongly to the hoop and made some very tough contested inside hoops.
"We were moving the ball really well and hitting the middle, playing through Gavin," Jones said of Mitty's fast start. "He's such a force down there. It frees up the game for us. Our spacing was really good."
The Aztecs, however, made a gallant comeback. Jones said it was tough watching the final sequence from the bench.
"I wasn't really watching. I couldn't," Jones said. "I saw Gavin on the ball and I thought, 'We got this.' "
Carlsbad 82, St. Mary's-Phoenix 81
The remarkable scoring skills of 6-4 junior Jake Hall was on full display in the first half with 24 points, which was a little less than his full-game average as a sophomore. He finished with 38 in a wild game, offsetting a 33-point effort by St. Mary's guard Styles Phipps.
Not a lot of defense in this one as both teams ran up and down the court with the greatest of ease. Phipps, a 6-1 point guard who had 43 in a first-round win on Wednesday, had 22 of his points in the second half. He got plenty of help from Kolby Barnes with 13.
Pepperdine-signee Jael Martin had 19 and Tony Duckett with 18 for Carlsbad (12-2). Hall, Martin and Duckett made up for all but seven of Carlsbad's points.
Carlsbad seemed in control in the third quarter on a Duckett layup to go up 58-45, but slowly St. Mary's climbed back and took a four-point lead after a bucket and four straight free throws by Phipps, giving St. Mary's a 77-73 lead with 2:41 remaining.
Disheveled and reeling, somehow Carlsbad got back on track and it started with Hall. He made a big steal fed Martin, a 6-9 wing, who swooped in for a slam. After a stop, Hall had a beautiful hesitation move, before swooping in for another deuce, tying the game at 77-77 with 2:10 left.
From there the game see-sawed until Duckett scored the go-ahead basket with 30 seconds left to go up 82-81. St. Mary's played for the last shot and with the ball in Phipps' hands, its chances looked good.
But on a drive to the hoop he was called for a travel with 3.0 seconds to play. From there, the finish got crazier. After a timeout, Carlsbad's inbounds pass went out of bounds, giving St. Mary's one last shot. It turned out to be three.
A 3-pointer by Kenny White missed, as did two follow shots. Carlsbad (12-2) survived and will now face Mitty in the semifinals.
St. Augustine 77, St. Francis Prep (N.Y.) 67
St. Francis Prep lived up to its tough-nosed, hard-charging reputation of New York City basketball. Simply the hometown Saints, from leisurely Southern California, were a little tougher. And they shot lights out.
In particular, the shinning shooting star was 6-2 sophomore Jaden Bailes, who drained six 3-pointers, many from well behind the mark, to finish with 26 points. He was matched by no-nonsense 6-3 strongman Ian de La Rosa who was an indomitable and unrelenting down low with 26 points and eight rebounds.
The duo, along with super point guard LoLo Rudolph and a 6-3 junior Manny Cortez (eight points, seven rebounds) simply wouldn't let the Terriers in the game. New York's No. 9 ranked team kept battling and battling — especially the duo of Vere Anthony (20 points, five steals) and Oesoemana Sacko (18 points) — but the Saints wouldn't relent.
They made better than 60 percent of their shots, held their own on the boards and with Rudolph in control of the ball, the leisurely bunch, coached superbly by Mike Haupt rolled into the semifinals.
Asked if it was their 'A' game, Bailes said: "I think so. If not, it was up there. That was one of our best games for sure."
De La Rosa was particularly dominating in the first half, when he scored 16 and controlled the paint. He also also very vocal after every bucket, letting anyone who would listen that he was in charge down low.
"I'm just trying to up hype up my teammates any way I can," he said. "If' it's talking trash, hyping them up after a bucket, giving them high fives. I just want to hype them up any way I can."
The performance — and St. Augustine's early 12-2 start that included a third-place finish at that Tarkanian Classic earlier this month — is particularly impressive considering the Saints lost six seniors, including three starters, off last season's 28-3 San Diego Section Open Division championship team.
Haupt pointing to Cortez, a really good player who couldn't get on the court last season, but stuck with the program and his loyalty is now rewarded.
"That's what all these guys are about," Haupt said. "I'm not surprised by (12-2 start). I'm a firm believer if you have good guards you can be in any game."
Without a player taller than 6-5 on the roster 10 of the 13 who are 6-3 and shorter, the Saints have to scrap. Even against tough kids from the inner city of New York.
"We hit some big shots tonight," Haupt said. "It all looks better when you're making shots."
De La Rosa said it was just as important to hit the Terriers with some force down low. "We talked before the game about hitting them first before they hit us."
It wasn't just to start the game.
Up just 43-35 at halftime, Isaiah Hasten, an athletic 6-5 All-CIF defensive back and receiver for St. Augustine, sent down a windmill fastbreak dunk to start the second half. It set the tone.
Isaiah Hasten with slam to start the third quarter for St. Augustine.
Photo: Justin Fine
He finished with six points, eight rebounds and some very tough defense.
St. Francis Prep had plenty of chances to fold, but hung tough, particularly Anthony, who scored seven points and had three steals in the third.
Oak Cliff Faith Family (Dallas) 60, JSerra Catholic 42
Colorado-bound 6-10 post Doryan Onwuchekwa was a little quiet in a first-round win over O'Dea-Seattle. Not so Thursday in the first of four quarterfinal games.
Onwuchekwa scored 22 points and added 12 rebounds and four blocks as the Eagles (8-8) ended JSerra's 13-game win streak to open the season. They did so decisively with a 20-7 run in the fourth quarter, breaking open a close game.
This against California's No. 3 team.
No one other than Onwuchekwa scored in double figures for Faith Family, which had the same thing happen in Wednesday's win when Isaac Williams exploded for 28 points. Onwuchekwa had only eight, but he scored the last four points to clinch the win.
Sebastian Rancik, a 6-8 wing who will join Onwuchekwa at Colorado next season, led the Lions with 18 points and Aidan Fowler added 16. The rest of JSerra managed 10 points.
Consolation games
St. Edward (Ohio) 60, St. Francis Episcopal (Texas) 59 (Final)
Tied at 59 in the closing moments, St. Edward's Brian Sullivan was fouled on a layup attempt with less than a second to play. He made the first free throw to give the Eagles the lead and missed the second attempt, leaving St. Francis with a full-court heave as the clock expired.
St. Edward will take on host Torrey Pines in the consolation bracket on Thursday while St. Francis will play O'Dea in the first game of the day at 9:30 a.m.
Torrey Pines 71, O'Dea (Washington) 54 (Final)
The host Falcons used a huge second quarter, taking a 39-26 halftime lead over the Fighting Irish. Senior guard Matin Madadkar gave the Falcons a jump start with 17 first half points on his way to a game-high 29.
Torrey Pines held their double digit lead throughout the second half, getting a big contribution from junior guard Cody Shen who finished with 21 points.
O'Dea finished with three scorers in double digits, led by Malcolm Clark (14) and Brian Webster (13). The Fighting Irish will look to get their first win against St. Francis Episcopal (Texas) on Friday morning while Torrey Pines will look to move to 2-1 in the bracket when they play St. Edward (Ohio).
Bishop O'Dowd 72, Our Lady of Good Counsel (Maryland) 50
Bishop O'Dowd outscored Good Counsel by 17 points over the second and third quarters to earn their first win of the tournament.
The Dragons finished the game with four players in double digits led by sharpshooter Josh Green's 18 points. The junior guard knocked down three three-point attempts in each half. Leo Chapman had 17 points for O'Dowd while Tobias Aisien pitched in with 16.
The Falcons had 10 players scored, led by Israel Tchoubfong and Justin Bumbray who each had seven points. Good Counsel will play in the second game on Friday morning against Waxahachie (Texas) with both teams seeking their first win of the tournament.
Santa Margarita 75, Waxahachie (Texas) 59
Santa Margarita jumped out to a 17-5 lead over Waxahachie in the opening quarter and cruised to the second round victory. The Eagles led by 26 points after three quarters before the Indians closed the final deficit to 16. Junior guard DeMarco Johnson led Santa Margarita with 16 points while Cameron McNamee and Brayden Kyman each finished with 15.
Playing without leading scorer King Grace for the second straight game, Waxahachie struggled to find their offense until the game was out of reach. Junior big man Parker Jefferson led the Indians with 23 points, converting on nine of 10 free throw attempts.
Santa Margarita advances in the consolation bracket to play Bishop O'Dowd on Thursday while Waxahachie will look for their first win against Our Lady of Good Counsel (Maryland).
NATIONAL DIV. QUARTERFINAL SCHEDULE
(All games Thursday at Torrey Pines High School)
Consolations
9:30 a.m. — St. Francis (Texas) vs. St. Edward (Ohio)
11:05 a.m. — O'Dea (Wash.) vs. Torrey Pines
12:40 p.m. — Good Counsel (Md.) vs. Bishop O'Dowd-Oakland
2:15 p.m. — Santa Margarita vs. Waxahachie (Texas)
Championship round
3:30 p.m. — Faith Family (Texas) vs. JSerra Catholic
5:25 p.m. — St. Augustine vs. St. Francis (N.Y.)
7 p.m. — St. Mary's (Phoenix) vs. Carlsbad
8:35 p.m. — Archbishop Mitty vs. Montgomery
