San Leandro-based Chinese Christian racked up 19 points in the opening 4:56 of the first quarter Wednesday.

The Rams scored 22 points the rest of the way.

Santa Ynez eventually put a box-and-one defense on Solomon Fortune, the Rams’ top scorer, and the strategy worked. The Pirates got their offense flowing, too, in the second quarter and they defeated the Rams 56-41 at Valley Christian Academy for third place in the VCA Holiday Tournament’s boys division.

Fortune netted two 3-pointers in the first 1:37 Wednesday. He scored two points afterward. Santa Ynez scored the last nine points of the game.

“We started out in a 2-3 zone,” said Santa Ynez coach Jeff Reck after his team improved to 8-5. “Then we moved to the box-and-one to take (Fortune) out of the offense. He’s their best shooter.”

“He was their top scoring guy,” said 6-5 Santa Ynez center Johnny Henno. “It was good coaching,” to put a box-and-one on Fortune.

Henno helped his team win by barreling his way inside for 15 points. Todd Whitmore added 14 points for Santa Ynez. Fortune, with his eight points, was Chinese Christian’s leading scorer.

Advertisement

The day didn’t start very well for the Pirates. Chinese Christian led 19-6 before Henno scored inside with 1:12 to go in the first quarter.

“We came out flat,” said Henno.

The Pirates sharpened up considerably as the game went along. They slapped the ball out of Rams dribblers’ hands. They got into Chinese Christian’s passing lanes. They moved the ball around better on offense.

“Four games in three days (during this tournament) — it’s tough,” said Reck.

“Our guys woke up.”

The Pirates still trailed 23-12 with 4:58 left in the second quarter. Then their scoring began to take off.

They whittled their halftime deficit to 27-25. The Pirates made four consecutive shots in the last 1:53 of the first half, with their last basket before intermission coming on Eric Becker’s bucket with 37.4 seconds left before halftme. The Pirates had a chance to tie, but Justin Peters missed a 12-footer just before the half ended.

Santa Ynez took its first lead, at 30-29, when Whitmore sank a 3-pointer 58 seconds into the third quarter. The Pirates went ahead for good, at 32-31, on Becker’s two foul shots with 5:03 left in the third quarter.

After Becker gave his team the lead, the Rams kept having trouble getting decent shots against the Santa Ynez defensive pressure.

“We started out having Becker on (Fortune),” said Reck. “Eric’s one of our top scorers, though, and it was taking a lot away from his offense.

“We started having different guys,” hawking Fortune.

Whatever the Pirates ran on defense usually worked. Chinese Christian, after making six of its first nine shots, made 11 baskets the rest of the way.

Santa Ynez also capitalized on its considerable height advantage as the game progressed, primarily by getting the ball to Henno inside. Henno scored eight points the last 4:31 of the third quarter. The Pirates led 47-37 as the fourth quarter began.

Michael Eng scored four points for the Rams as they cut the Santa Ynez margin to 47-41 with 5:14 to go. Chinese Christian was scoreless the rest of the way.

“We finished strong — the Santa Ynez way,” said Henno. “That was nice to see.”

Westlake Village Oaks Christian routed Carpinteria 70-40 in the boys championshp game. Oaks Christian has now won back-to-back VCA Holiday Tournament titles.

North Hollywood Campbell Hall defeated Ojai Nordhoff 65-46 for the girls title. Campbell Hall has been a regular participant in the VCA Tournament for the past 15 years. It was the school’s first VCA tourney title.

Santa Maria routed Grace Brethren 55-12 to win the girls Consolation championship. Coast Union of Cambria beat Cabrillo 65-50 in the girls fifth place game.

The Boys All-Tournament Team included MVP Tyler McGrath of Oaks Christian; Becker; Solomon; Jules Sharpe of Oaks Christian; Larin Lusterio of Carpinteria; and Luius Bedart of Christian.

The Girls All-Tournament Team included MVP Nicole Tolbert and Lauren Holiday of Campbell Hall; Nicole Bergman of Nordhoff; Ashley Bonenfant of Cabrillo; Alyssa Lopez of Santa Maria; and McKenzie Cunningham of Campbell Hall.

Santa Maria girls 55, Grace Brethren 12

The Saints (5-8) were too much for the over-matched Lancers of Simi Valley in the Consolation championship of the VCA Holiday Tournament.

Lopez led three Saints in double figures with 23 points. Elia Santiago and Joyce Loberg scored 12 points each.

January 01, 2009