The 45th edition of the Lady Baron-Bonita Optimist Holiday Classic Basketball Tournament wrapped up Tuesday at Bonita Vista High School with the tourney host Barons earning a berth in the championship game.
The Lady Barons dropped an exciting 58-51 overtime contest to the defending tournament champion Alhambra (Ariz.) Lions. The game was a rematch of the championship game three years ago that saw the Barons grab a 51-45 win.
Bonita Vista freshman Shyla LaTone forced overtime with a dramatic three-point shot that tied the game, 51-51, at the buzzer. But the Barons, with team scoring and rebounding leader Carol Schroeder on the bench due to excessive fouls, were no match for the Lions in the extra period.
Still, at 8-2 on the season, it’s been a rewarding start thus far for the Bonitans. BVHS coach Wayne Wooten said it’s the best start for his team during his 10 years with the team.
“Even when we went to the CIF championship game in 2008, we didn’t start off this good,” Wooten said. “Our last two years we’ve taken our lumps because we had a very young team. Last year, we had only one senior. Our girls have worked very hard during the off-season. It’s paying off.”
Girl powered
Bonita Vista punched its ticket to the finals of the eight-team tourney after thumping the Santana Sultans, 66-29, in a pool game finale on Monday that featured a running clock in the fourth quarter.
The Barons led early 20-2.
Schroeder, a junior shooting/point guard, led Bonita Vista in scoring in each of its three pool games to earn tournament MVP honors. She had 20 points and 11 rebounds in Monday’s game after pouring in 19 points in a 45-42 win over Chula Vista and 18 points in a 58-47 win over Rick Hansen Secondary School from Canada in a pair of contests played last Saturday. She had 11 points before fouling out in Tuesday’s title tilt.
LaTone, named to the all-tournament team, keyed the Barons in the championship game with 17 points while senior guard/center Ashley Quidolit, who will attend Lehigh University in Pennsylvania on a softball scholarship, had 12 points.
Paloma Garcia had 12 points in Monday’s win while LaTone matched Schroeder with 18 points against the Canadian squad.
Schroeder is averaging 16.7 points per game to go with 7.6 rebounds per game while LaTone is averaging 13.8 ppg and Quidolit is averaging 9.7 ppg.
Bonita Vista is extremely entertaining to watch and instantly reminds spectators of last season’s highly successful Sweetwater boys team.
“It all starts with defense — team defense,” Wooten said. “After this tournament we have six games to get ready for Metro-Mesa League play. We want to be ready for that.”
Celeste Lira led Alhambra (10-4) with 20 points in Tuesday’s championship game.
Slam dunks
The Chula Vista-Bonita Vista game featured multiple lead changes until the Barons pulled it out at the end. Maria Tinajero, Chula Vista’s selection to the all-tournament team, led all scorers with 24 points in that game.
Monday’s Hilltop-Scripps Ranch game had to rank up there for excitement value as well.
Hilltop led more most of the first half until Scripps Ranch dropped in a three-point bomb and then scored on a lay-in to take a 20-15 edge. The Lancers suffered through poor shooting — Hilltop simply couldn’t buy a bucket — through most of the second half before mounting an inspired comeback in the final minute after whittling what had been a 10-point deficit down to five points with 25 seconds to play.
Aislinn Arias dropped in a deuce to further trim the Hilltop deficit to three points with 14 seconds remaining and Brittany Gafare scored off an inbounds steal with three seconds left to make it a one-point game.
A foul sent Scripps’ Alexa Paraza to the charity stripe with one second to play and she sank one shot to seal the 40-38 Falcon win.
Gafare, who led her team with 18 points in the game, heaved one final shot from midcourt at the buzzer. However, it missed the backboard.
“I think if the game had gone on for another 30 seconds that we might have won,” HHS coach Ray Jindra said.
The Lancers finished 1-2 in pool play and closed out the tournament with a 51-32 win over Santana in Tuesday’s fifth-place game. It was the 531st career win for Jindra, who is celebrating his 50th year in coaching in 2015.
“We really, really have a young team this season,” Jindra said in assessing the 2014-15 edition of the Lancers. “We lost eight seniors to graduation. But next season we’ll pretty much have everyone back. We’ll be very competitive this year. We’re 6-4 right now and have been in every game.”
Gafare earned Hilltop’s selection to the all-tournament team. She had 21 points in Tuesday’s win while Anissa Tolbert had 12 points and Breeana Gafare had 11 points.
The Gafare sisters provide much of the impetus for this season’s Lancer squad.
“Breeana is a sophomore guard and she’s still learning the offense but she’s one of the best defensive players in the league,” Jindra said. “Brittany is a junior and does the muscle work.”
Chula Vista finished seventh in the tournament.
LADY BARONS-BONITA OPTIMIST ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Chula Vista: Maria Tinajero, 12th
Brittania (Canada): Julian Duong, 11th
Hilltop: Brittany Gafare, 11th
Santana: Morgan Turner, 10th
Scripps Ranch: Totyana Simien, 10th
Rick Hansen (Canada): Sukki Birk, 12th
Bonita Vista: Shyla LaTone, 9th
Alhambra (Ariz.): Celeste Lira, 11th
Most Valuable Player:
Carol Schroeder (Bonita Vista), 11th
LADY BARONS-BONITA OPTIMIST HOLIDAY CLASSIC
All games at Bonita Vista High School
Friday, Dec. 26
Chula Vista 45, Santana 43
Alhambra (Ariz.) 58, Scripps Ranch 30
Britannia vs. Hilltop 47, Britannia (Canada) 28
Saturday, Dec. 27
Bonita Vista 58, Rick Hansen (Canada) 47
Alhambra (Ariz.) 47, Hilltop 27
Scripps Ranch 37, Britannia (Canada) 33
Rick Hansen (Canada) 51, Santana 48
Bonita Vista 45, Chula Vista 42
Monday, Dec. 29
Rick Hansen (Canada) 38, Chula Vista 28
Alhambra (Ariz.) 57, Britannia (Canada) 24
Scripps Ranch 40, Hilltop 38
Bonita Vista 66, Santana 25
Tuesday, Dec. 30
Seventh-place game: Chula Vista 43, Britannia (Canada) 23
Fifth-place game: Hilltop 51, Santana 32
Third-place game: Scripps Ranch 49, Rick Hansen (Canada) 37
Championship game: Alhambra (Ariz.) 58, Bonita Vista 51 (OT)
Montgomery Aztecs Holiday Tournament
Championship game: Montgomery 61, Serra 57
Consolation games: El Cajon Valley 60, Valley Center 33, Eastlake 66, El Capitan 34, Vista 77, Mt. Miguel 37; Bonita Vista 60, Vincent Memorial 53
Chula Vista Spartan Classic
Championship game: Grossmont 58, Seton Catholic (Ariz.) 57
Third-place game: Huntington Park 47, Lincoln 46
Consolation games: Central Union 44, Chula Vista 36, Lutheran 64, O’Farrell 46
All-tournament team: Tommy Rutherford (Grossmont), Cameron Henderson (Grossmont), Jake Rueter (Seton Catholic), Christopher Tovar (Huntington Park), Moli Mojus (Lincoln), Mohammed Al-Asady (Lutheran), A.J. Gates (O’Farrell), Awan Saad (Central Union), Erick Ruiz (Chula Vista)
Lady Raiders top Lady Colts, 40-31, in tourney play
The Southwest Lady Raiders defeated Crawford, 40-31, in the fourth round of the Crawford Lady Colts tournament on Friday, Jan. 2.
Southwest coach William Stewart called it “total team effort” on the part of his team. The victory raised the Lady Raiders’ season record to 7-3. Southwest next plays Lincoln on Saturday, Jan. 3, at 4 p.m. as tournament play continues.
Leading scorers for the Lady Raiders against Crawford included:
Vanessa Fulgencio, 14 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 steals
Carla Mataban, 10 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 steals
Erica Basa, 8 points, 2 rebounds and 9 steals (tying her season high in steals)
Yvonne Angeles, 4 points, 3 rebounds & 4 steals
Taylor Jaime, 4 points, 4 rebounds and 2 steals
Marie Ramos, 3 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 steals
Iriliana Espinoza, 3 rebounds
Rikki Thomas, 1 rebound
America Hernandez, 1 steal
Yahaira Marquez, 2 rebounds
