The Holiday Classic National Division Championship – Key takeaways
With a sellout – and largely partisan crowd, rooting on Mission Bay’s basketball team, the stage was set for a San Diego team led by a highly-recruited guard to claim the coveted National Division championship at the Torrey Pines Holiday Classic for the second time in three years.
The Buccaneers, which entered the tournament as the No. 3 team in San Diego, had rattled off three consecutive wins in the highest division of the nationally recognized tournament to make it to the championship game against Shadow Mountain of Phoenix, AZ, one of the top teams in the country.
Shadow Mountain had other designs.
Led by its highly touted backcourt of Jaelen House and Jovan Blacksher, who scored 29 and 22 points, respectively, the Matadors dominated Mission Bay 82-62 in a game marred by five technical fouls, 56 personal fouls and two player disqualifications.
What did we take away from the finale of the Holiday Classic? We talk about some key points here.
The Holiday Classic National Division Championship – Key takeaways
Shadow Mountain stakes claim to top team on West Coast
Rancho Christian and Sierra Canyon might have something to say about this, but the Phoenix high school made an impressive statement this weekend. Playing an intense brand of full-court defense and boasting impressive depth, the Matadors ran away with the title game in dominant fashion. Arizona State-bound Jaelen House and Grand Canyon signee Jalen Blacksher are as good a back court as you will find, I’d argue, anywhere. But their role players, including senior wings Jalen Williams and Christian Allen, are very impressive. Freshman guard DeVontes Cobbs has a chance to be an elite prospect.
Boogie Ellis was named to the All-Tournament TeamBoogie Ellis showed grit in loss
The 6-2 senior guard gets opponents best shot every year, and the championship game was no different. Ellis finished with 20 points, albeit in inefficient fashion from the field (3-10 FG). But I was impressed by the fact that Ellis didn’t back down from the challenge, continued to attack and got to the foul line at will, scoring 14 of his 20 at the stripe.
Mission Bay’s supporting cast stumbles…
The Buccaneers complementary players, who had been stellar all weekend, posted mixed returns in the title game. Andre Scott, who is playing with increasing confidence, scored 15 points and got the Bucs going early. But Jay Norton, the Bucs’ second leading scorer, and 6-7 C Ronnie Latting could never get into a rhythm due to foul trouble. Both fouled out in the 3rd quarter. Junior guard Savaughn Davis missed all eight of his free throws.
…But deserves more credit than it receives
With that said, the Buccaneers would not have been in the championship game if not for the contributions of Scott, Norton, Davis and Latting all weekend. Scott came up huge in the quarterfinals win against Torrey Pines, a game in which Ellis only scored six points. It was Scott who scored 20 points to pick up the scoring slack. Norton steadily Latting averaged a double double the entire tournament. And Norton scored 20 points against Capital Christian to open up the tournament. Davis, who is the lone junior in the starting lineup, had some strong moments throughout the tournament.
San Diego’s Top 4 is a toss up
The past week has muddled the Open Division outlook in San Diego, especially at the top of the pile. Three of the teams ranked in the San Diego Union Tribune’s Top 10 – Foothills Christian, Torrey Pines and St. Augustine – have played each other – with Foothills and Mission Bay claiming a win over Torrey Pines, and the Saints and the Falcons beating each other. Mission Bay is the No. 1 this week, but is 7-5 after playing the toughest schedule of the Top 10 teams.