Go inside here for all Saturday scores and highlights from annual Stockton St. Mary’s MLK Showcase other than the top matchup between Miramonte and Mater Dei. For that writeup and breakdown, CLICK HERE.
St. Mary’s (Stockton) 84, Alemany (Mission Hills) 47
After a week in which the unbeaten Rams, ranked No. 1 in the state and nation, almost lost in an overtime game to Salesian of Richmond and were hit by yet another injury, you wouldn’t have known it by how they played on Saturday.
With the recent injuries, one player who’s come on strong for No. 1 St. Mary’s is sophomore Ariel Johnson.
With guard Sierra Smith returning from a concussion, St. Mary’s head coach Tom Gonsalves wasn’t sure that his big-time sophomore, Aquira DeCosta, would be able to play Saturday against Alemany (ranked No. 17 in the state) due to a left knee injury.
DeCosta did play but didn’t start and only scored two points to go with 11 rebounds. It still didn’t matter. The Rams’ backcourt was sensational and other players, like 6-foot senior Kat Tudor and 5-foot-11 sophomore Raziya Potter, helped on the inside.
Junior guard Naje Murray nailed five 3-pointers to finish with 15 points while Tudor led in scoring with 16. Senior Mi’Cole Cayton had 14 points while sophomore Ariel Johnson had a strong showing in all facets of her game and ended with 12.
“I think not only the players but the coaches all stepped it up this week,” St. Mary’s head coach Tom Gonsalves said. “There was more significance to everything we did and it was nice to have a few more players back tonight.”
Alemany, which also lost earlier this week to league rival Chaminade (No. 6 in state), received 13 points each from Kate Takuhara and Amaya McDavid.
Oaks Christian (Westlake Village) 59, McClatchy (Sacramento) 49
Katie Campbell connected for 24 points to lift the Lions in the final game of the day/night. Ranked No. 18 in the state in the most recent Cal-Hi Sports State Top 20, the Lions improved to 11-5 and continued to play well after last week’s narrow loss to state No. 6 Chaminade. McClatchy, the defending CIF D1 state champs, was missing standout Jordan Cruz (seen in a walking boot) and hasn’t had all-state forward Gigi Garcia all season (out with an ACL).
Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, Nev.) 61, Vanden (Fairfield) 49
The Vikings led early but couldn’t hold on in their loss to the 17-1 Gaels, who have lost only to Bishop’s of La Jolla (which lost by 14 points to La Jolla Country Day on Friday). Vanden fell to 9-7 in what has been a tough schedule so far.
Salesian (Richmond) 50, La Jolla Country Day 49
Playing at St. Mary’s seems to suit the Pride. One week after they nearly shocked the host Rams, head coach Steve Pezzola’s squad bounced a Country Day team that was coming off of a 14-point win on Friday night over Bishop’s of La Jolla and was No. 11 overall in this week’s state rankings.
Richmond Salesian coach Steve Pezzola reacts to a play during first half of Saturday’s game vs. La Jolla Country Day. Photo: Mark Tennis.
A bizarre loss to Sacramento has prevented Salesian (13-4) from being in the State Top 20 itself, but that clearly has now been overcome by this week’s results pending what happens in Monday’s game against Bishop Gorman of Las Vegas.
The Torreys (13-4) led 43-34 heading into the final quarter and had two chances to win the game in the final 1.0 seconds. The first chance came when Kiera Oakry stepped to the line for a pair of free throws and LJCD down 50-49. She missed both shots before Alaysia Styles grabbed the rebound and tried a put-back that also rimmed out.
USC-bound Minyon Moore had 17 points and seven steals to lead Salesian with Jordan Hobson scoring 11. Lisa Harvey only had six points, but scored the go-ahead basket with 12 seconds left.
Washington-bound Mai-Loni Henson shined for the Torreys with 19 points, seven rebounds and four assists.
St. Mary’s (Berkeley) 67, Christian Brothers (Sacramento) 51
The Panthers have struggled at times this season due to grad losses from last year and a knee injury to UC Santa Barbara-bound Kayla Ybarra-Harvey, but they evened their record at 7-7 by defeating a CBS squad that recently beat St. Francis of Sacramento, preseason No. 2 in the Sacrameno area. Carolyn Gill topped the scoring for St. Mary’s with 16 points. Junior guard Kalani Mark had 22 points for the Falcons.
Bishop O’Dowd (Oakland) 70, Sacramento 52
Senior guard Mylah Andrada nailed four 3-pointers and had 17 points as the Dragons (12-3) pulled away in the second quarter. Sac High’s Dragons fell to 11-8. Junior guard Mya Pace had an impressive overall outing for O’Dowd (ranked No. 9 overall in the state) with 13 points, 13 rebounds, five steals and five assists.
Brookside Christian (Stockton) 63, Lincoln (Stockton) 57
After national and state No. 1 St. Mary’s, there’s been some debate about which team is second-best in town. The Knights settled that argument with a win over a Lincoln team that recently won the Best in the West tourney in Southern California. Washington-bound Aari McDonald didn’t score until the second quarter, but finished with 20 points, 15 rebounds and four assists.
South Medford (Oregon) 77, Rio Linda 62
The Panthers represent one of the top programs in Oregon and opened the day by topping the Knights. Kaitlyn Clayton and the rest of Rio Linda’s team have been hanging in there with last year’s freshman phenom, Makaila Sanders, no longer at the school.
Mark Tennis is the co-founder and publisher of CalHiSports.com. He can be reached at markjtennis@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow Mark on the Cal-Hi Sports Twitter handle: @CalHiSports
