2022 Holiday Classic tip off night: Recaps, top scorers
(Lead photo by Justin Fine)
The 32nd annual Holiday Classic presented by SBLive Sports hosted their tip off night on Friday, featuring three showcase games made up of six San Diego Section schools.
Here’s a game-by-game recap as well as the top scorers from the three games.
GAME 1—
Mission Bay 55, Carlsbad 52
-BOX SCORE
After losing to Carlsbad 78-61 less than a month ago, Mission Bay had revenge on their minds Friday night. The Buccaneers trailed after each of the first two quarters before a 22-point third quarter gave them a six-point lead heading into the final quarter.
“They got us last time,” Mission Bay junior guard Gavin Girouard said. “We wanted our get back game, we’ve worked all week for this. We came ready to play in big moments.”
The Buccaneers led by as many as eight points in the fourth quarter, holding on for a three-point win.
Girouard led all scorers with 33 points, knocking down seven three-pointers.
“I got aggressive but didn’t try to force anything and let it come to me,” Girouard said.
GAME 2—
Santa Fe Christian 65, Torrey Pines 59
– BOX SCORE
Santa Fe Christian jumped out front of host Torrey Pines early in the first quarter, 17-6, but saw their lead shrink to 28-26 at the halftime buzzer. The Eagles pushed the lead up to 11 points early in the fourth quarter before Torrey Pines fought back to tie the game at 49.
Santa Fe Christian responded with a 12-0 run of their own to put the game out of reach in the final minutes to pick up a signature victory. Santa Fe Christian junior guard Brycen Mackenzie was hot from the start, scoring 15 of his game-high 25 points in the first half.
Senior guard Drew Bickley, who battled foul trouble throughout, scored nine of his 12 points in the second half, coming up with two key baskets for the Eagles down the stretch.
Falcon guards JJ Bartelloni and Max Żylicz combined to knock down all six three-pointers for Torrey Pines, finishing with 17 and 14 points, respectively.
GAME 3—
San Ysidro 81, La Costa Canyon 79
-BOX SCORE
San Ysidro used a hot start to build a 21-10 lead over La Costa Canyon before the Mavericks closed the gap down to four points after the first quarter. The Cougars, led by five-star guard Mikey Williams, grew their lead back to ten points early in the second quarter before La Costa Canyon closed on a 7-2 run to head into the break tied at 43.
La Costa Canyon briefly led by four points in the third quarter but a JJ Taylor bucket in the final minute knotted the teams at 60 heading into the final quarter. Neither team led by more than three points in a back-and-forth final quarter that came down to the wire.
“I just come out here and be happy,” Williams said of playing in front of the near capacity crowd at Torrey Pines. “I don’t even see the crowd anymore, honestly. It’s just second nature like I’m at home out here.”
La Costa Canyon led by three points with 1:40 to play until Mikey Williams responded with back-to-back baskets that gave the Cougars a one-point lead. The Mavericks missed the front end of a 1 and 1, leading to a third straight basket by Williams. After both teams alternated with missed free throws, the Mavericks had one last shot with nine-tenths of a second remaining, but the inbounds pass was stolen by Williams to seal the victory.
“I told them we’ve gotta play as hard of defense as we’ve ever played for these last 30 seconds, 40 seconds,” Williams said. “We just did what we had to do, execute.”
TOP SCORERS
Mikey Williams, San Ysidro, 35
Gavin Girouard, Mission Bay, 33
Ty Hendler, La Costa Canyon, 27
JJ Taylor, San Ysidro, 25
Bryce Mackenzie, Santa Fe Christian, 25
Jake Hall, Carlsbad, 23
JJ Bartelloni, Torrey Pines, 17
Parker Jelsing, La Costa Canyon, 16
Trevor Ladd, La Costa Canyon, 15
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