BOYS BASKETBALL: Big men set tone, key Gorman in Tarkanian Classic third-place game

Bishop Gorman didn’t plan on being in the third-place game of its own tournament Saturday. But a tough loss to Bishop O’Dowd (Calif.) on Friday landed the Gaels there.

Gorman made the most of it.

The Gaels opened the game with a 10-0 run and never trailed on the way to a 62-53 victory over Redondo Union (Calif.) in the Tarkanian Classic at Gorman.

“We just had to come back and show our anger and aggression on the floor and take it out on the losing team,” junior forward Chase Jeter said.

The 6-foot-10-inch Jeter and 7-foot center Stephen Zimmerman combined for 17 first-half points a night after scoring just 19 in the 68-54 loss to O’Dowd.

Jeter finished with 19 points, making all 11 of his free-throw attempts, and added six rebounds and a blocked shot. Zimmerman had nine points, eight rebounds and a blocked shot.

“Chase was really good,” Gorman coach Grant Rice said. “I thought Zim was great in the first half. Zim came out and was really good, had nine points and was extremely aggressive.”

Zimmerman didn’t score in the second half, and spent much of the half on the bench after picking up his fourth foul with 11:48 to play, but it didn’t matter.

The Gaels led 40-37 at that point, but had stretched the lead to nine points by the time Zimmerman returned.

“We played on all cylinders,” Rice said. “Defensively, the zone was really working. We had guys diving on the floor for loose balls.”

Reserve guard Richie Thornton scored just two points, but had four assists and gave the Gaels a boost on defense.

“We went to a three-guard lineup, and he really gave us a good lift in the second half,” Rice said.

Senior guard Noah Robotham led the way with 22 points and three assists. Robotham was 7-for-10 from the field, and was named to the all-tournament team.

“Noah’s going to be our leader,” Rice said. “We know that.”

A steal and basket by Cameron High trimmed the Gorman lead to 38-37 with 12:24 to play. But Robotham answered with a fast-break basket, and Jeter hit two free throws to push the lead to five points. The Seahawks wouldn’t threaten again.

“We told them a true test of a team is not really how many games you win, but how you respond to losses and to adversity,” Rice said. “And we definitely had some adversity last night. They took it to us. So I was really happy, especially when we came out to start the game and had a 10-0 lead. The guys were focused.”

Ian Fox led Redondo Union with 14 points.

Montrose Christian (Md.) 63, Findlay Prep 61 — At Gorman, Raymond Doby’s alley-oop dunk as time expired gave the Mustangs the win over the Pilots.

Findlay Prep led by as much as 18 in the second half, and Montrose erased most of that in the final three minutes.

Allonzo Trier’s 3-pointer cut the lead to 57-48 with 2:49 to go. Trier hit two more 3-pointers after that, including one with 33 seconds left to tie the game at 61.

Findlay Prep had a chance to win the game at the foul line, but Derryck Thornton and Renathan Ona Embo each missed two free throws in the final 27 seconds.

Jarrell Brantley rebounded Ona Embo’s second miss with 10 seconds to play. Patrick McCaw came away from a scrum near midcourt after the ball was momentarily loose. He pushed the ball to the left wing, then heaved a lob to the rim for Doby who was running free from the right side.

Trier had 26 of his 33 points in the second half for the Mustangs. McCaw added 17 points for Montrose.

Kelly Oubre had 17 points to lead Findlay, which lost for the second consecutive night. Thornton added 14 points, and Craig Victor scored 10 for the Pilots.

Faith Lutheran 60, Chaparral 59 — At Faith Lutheran, Matt Blair’s 8-foot floater with 2.4 seconds remaining in overtime lifted the Crusaders over the Cowboys.

Blair finished with 18 points, while Clayton Holthaus scored 23 to lead Faith Lutheran.

Chaparral took a 55-54 lead on a 3-pointer by Charles Miller and was up 59-58 when Miller missed two free throws with 14.6 seconds, opening the door for the Crusaders.

Tyree McNeal posted a game-high 25 points for the Cowboys, and Miller chipped in with 15 points. McNeal drained a 3-pointer with 21 seconds left in regulation to cap a 16-3 run and send the game into overtime.

Despite a sluggish start, Faith Lutheran led 25-20 at halftime and appeared to take control with a big second-half run. Jordan Marino’s steal and layup made it 47-34, but the Crusaders were held without a field goal in the final 4:25 of regulation as Chaparral rallied.

Marc Silas’ three-point play made the score 47-40, and McNeal’s three-point play with 2:33 to go in regulation cut Faith Lutheran’s lead to 48-45.

Foothills Christian (Calif.) 63, Cheyenne 59 — At Faith Lutheran, Jarrell Bell had 15 points, but the Desert Shields were unable to rally against the Knights.

Javon Peterson, Jaeln McEaddy and Daveion Wright finished with 12 points each for Cheyenne.

Wright converted a four-point play to cut Foothills Christian’s lead to 55-53 and hit two free throws with 1:37 remaining to tie the game at 55. But Wright’s basket was the Desert Shields’ only field goal in the final three minutes until he sank a meaningless layup at the buzzer.

Luis Salgado drained a 3-pointer with 1:15 left to put the Knights back on top 58-55, and Foothills Christian made five of six from the free-throw line in the final 43 seconds to hang on.

T.J. Leaf poured in a game-high 19 points to lead Foothills Christian. Caleb Hoffman had 11 points, and Salgado finished with 10 points.

The Knights opened the game on a 17-5 run before Cheyenne started to chip away at the lead. Peterson hit a 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer to cut Foothills Christian’s advantage to 37-31, and his three-point play gave the Desert Shields their only lead of the game at 49-48 with 6:18 remaining.

John Muir (Calif.) 65, Faith Lutheran 62 — At Faith Lutheran, Holthaus finished with 16 points, and Mitch Fulfer added 15 points in the Crusaders’ loss to the Mustangs.

Chris Ballew had 16 points, including the go-ahead basket with 1:40 remaining, to boost John Muir.

Faith Lutheran used a 12-4 run to tie the game at 53 and took a 62-61 lead with 2:10 to play on a 3-pointer by Blake Bell, but couldn’t hold on.

After Ballew put the Mustangs back on top, Desmond Austin-Harris converted on a fast break with 55 seconds to give Muir a three-point lead. The Crusaders got the ball back with 6.7 seconds, but Blair’s 3-pointer with two seconds to go didn’t fall.

Blair had 10 points for the Crusaders, who trailed 31-30 at halftime.

Dejon Williams and Jhamir Jenkins had 11 points apiece for Muir, and Austin-Harris chipped in with 10 points.

Coronado 78, Chaparral 41 — At Faith Lutheran, Austin Morgan and Matt Johnson each had 15 points as the Cougars overwhelmed the Cowboys.

Eddie Austin and Andrew Palma finished with 10 points apiece for Coronado, which led 37-13 at halftime and was never threatened in the second half.

Silas hit three 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 22 points to lead Chaparral. Teammate McNeal added 11 points.

Coronado 88, John Muir (Calif.) 72 — At Gorman, Eddie Austin scored 30 points as the Cougars beat the Mustangs.

Marcus Sobaszek added 17 points, and Trey Austin and Travis Boman each scored 13 for Coronado.

Daniel Harris led Muir with 21 points.

Ambridge (Pa.) 44, ThunderRidge (Colo.) 43 — At Faith Lutheran, Daylon Carter scored 22 points, and the Bridgers held on to beat the Grizzlies in the fifth-place game.

Noah Szilagyi (11 points) made a 3-pointer with 16.8 seconds left in regulation to bring ThunderRidge within one point. After the Bridgers missed two free throws, ThunderRidge’s Jay Crawford drove the lane, but his shot before the buzzer didn’t fall.

Clark 72, Durango 40 — At Gorman, Diontae Jones scored 20 points as the Chargers routed the Trailblazers.

Sherron Wilson added 16 points, and Carter Olsen scored 12 for Clark.

Alex Tarkanian led Durango with 10 points.

Lynwood (Calif.) 65, Legacy 53 — At Gorman, Eric Boose scored 16 points to help the Knights beat the Longhorns.

Francisco Quintana added 13 points for Lynwood.

Deshaun Hilliard led Legacy with 17 points, and teammate Jacob Rainey scored 12.

Upper St. Clair (Pa.) 76, Legacy 37 — At Gorman, J.J. Conn scored 15 of his 23 points in the first half as the Panthers rolled past the Longhorns.

Will Ross added 13 points for Upper St. Clair, which led 42-21 at the break.

Rainey led Legacy with 11 points, and teammate Neiamiah Lane scored 10.

Liberty 69, Hillsboro (Ore.) 49 — At Liberty, Tyler Newman drained six 3-pointers and had 26 points as the Patriots rallied from an early 18-12 deficit to post a win.

Noah Jefferson added 11 points and eight rebounds, and Ed O’Bannon scored 10 for Liberty.

Tyler Fernstrom paced Hillsboro with 26 points.