Classic at Damien boys basketball tournament: Live updates, recaps from first round of Platinum Division
LA VERNE, Calif. — Platinum Division action in the 112-team and sixth edition of The Classic at Damien, one of the top boys high school basketball events in the region, tipped off on Tuesday at Damien High School. The Platinum Division is the tournament's top bracket.
Follow for live updates from the first day of Platinum Division action below.
Game 8: Etiwanda (Calif.) 57, Inderkum (Sacramento, Calif.) 39
In the Platinum Division nightcap, Etiwanda used its patented brand of aggressive and fast paced man to man defense to beat Inderkum 57-39. The Tigers were held to their lowest point total of the year.
Jimmy Baker scored 13 points to lead the Eagles and Curtis Williams added 11.
Etiwanda will play Harvard-Westlake (Studio City, Calif.) in the winners bracket on Wednesday night.
Game 7: Rancho Christian (Temecula, Calif.) 70, Owyhee (Meridian, Idaho) 67
In a game that was delayed and moved to Bonita High School due to the Owyhee team's travel getting delayed, Rancho Christian won a barn burner 70-67. Kollen Murphy scored the game-winning layup for Rancho Christian with under 10 seconds to play.
Rancho Christian will play West Ranch (Valencia, Calif.) in a fantastic Platinum Division quarterfinal matchup on Wednesday.
Game 6: American Fork (Utah) 53, Santa Margarita (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.) 43
Junior big man Blake Rawson scored 17 points to lead American Fork to a 53-43 win over Santa Margarita. Rockwell Reynolds, a senior Northern Arizona commit, put in a team high 12 points for Santa Margarita
SM got to within four points of American Fork late in the fourth quarter, but the Eagles couldn't close the gap any further.
With the win, American Fork will take on Curtis (University Place, Wash.) in the winners bracket on Wednesday.
Game 5: Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks, Calif.) 50, Salesian College Prep (Richmond, Calif.) 46
Notre Dame head coach Matt Sargeant summed it up well when describing Salesian's plan of attack.
"That's the kind of game if I was coaching against us, I'd try and put us in," he said referencing Salesian's intense defensive approach.
Notre Dame had its lowest scoring output of the year in the win — the Knights had to work for it.
"Winning a game like that, is a good sign," Sargeant added. "Being able to withstand an offensive game that we don't usually have and getting enough stops to win shows that we're as tough as I expect us to be."
Salesian had a couple chances to tie the game late, but the Pride couldn't get their shots to fall. Notre Dame senior Caleb Foster, a Duke commit, led all scorers with 19 points. Junior Deundrae Perteete scored 16 points to pace Salesian.
Notre Dame survived an off shooting night from Gonzaga commit Dusty Stromer. The senior had 11 points.
"Dusty does so much on the floor that even when he doesn't shoot well, he's blocking shots, getting rebounds and getting deflections," Sargeant said. "That's the great part about his game. He can shoot poorly and we can still win because he does a bunch of other stuff."
Notre Dame will take on Liberty (Henderson, Nev.) in the winners bracket on Wednesday. On paper, that game looks like it will be one of the Classic's best.
Game 4: Harvard-Westlake (Studio City, Calif.) 79, Narbonne (Harbor City, Calif.) 34
Harvard-Westlake showed why it's one of the best teams in the country in its 79-34 demolition of Narbonne. The Gauchos didn't score double digit points in any quarter. Jacob Huggins ended the game with 16 points to lead Harvard-Westlake. Narbonne was without two of its top players: Marcus and Maxi Adams.
Harvard-Westlake will play Etiwanda (Calif.) in the winners bracket on Wednesday night.
Game 3: Liberty (Henderson, Nev.) 85, Canyon (Anaheim, Calif.) 68
Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd watched Liberty junior point guard Dedan Thomas propel the Patriots to a first round win. Thomas scored 23 points to lead Liberty. Junior forward Andre Porter scored 16 points and senior shooting guard Angelo Kambala added 15 points for the Patriots. Canyon's Brandon Benjamin led all scorers with 25 points in defeat.
Libery moves on to play Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks, Calif.) in the second round.
Game 2: West Ranch (Valencia, Calif.) 63, Dublin (Calif.) 53
Boise State commit Andrew Meadow led West Ranch with 19 points in the Wildcats' 63-53 win over Dublin. The victory pushed the Wildcats to 13-0 on the season following last week's championship run in the Tarkanian Classic.
"This is better than I expected, but with the group that we have and the experience that we have, I'm not shocked or surprised at our start, West Ranch head coach Jeff Bryant said. "The crazy part is we haven't reached our potential yet."
Jazz Gardner, James Evans, Jaqari Miles and Darrell Morris have all been big contributors for undefeated West Ranch.
The Wildcats will play Rancho Christian (Temecula, Calif.) in the second round. Dublin fell to 9-4 on the year in the opening round defeat.
Game 1: Curtis (University Place Wash.) 87, St. Bernard (Playa del Rey, Calif.) 63
Curtis beat up St. Bernard in game one. With University of Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd looking on, Curtis star point guard Zoom Diallo, a junior, scored 21 points. Curtis senior Tyce Paulsen, a Point Loma commit, led all scorers with 32 points. Tyler Rolison paced St. Bernard with 18 points.
It was a challenge, but Curtis managed to mostly avoid flight issues that have plagued the country this week to get to the Classic, according to head coach Tim Kelly.
"We got lucky," Kelly said. "Alaska Airlines worked real hard for us. We got down here in four separate groups, two on Sunday and two on Monday, but we all got here."
Curtis will play American Fork (Utah) in the winners bracket on Wednesday.
