Championship day for the 19th annual Nike Tournament of Champions featured six different division title games. The high profile match up between St. Mary’s and Riverdale Baptist was the closing contest Tuesday afternoon and the West coast – East coast battle didn’t disappoint. Blue Star Media’s Tony Bleill and Fred Kroner were on hand from start to finish and now break down all the championship games.
For complete brackets and results, follow the link below.
TONY BLEILL
t wasn’t hard to discern how much a championship at the prestigious Nike Tournament of Champions meant to veteran coach Tom Gonsalves and his St. Mary’s (Stockton, Calif.) program.
Gonsalves began to choke up while discussing a 75-70 title game victory against Riverdale Baptist (Upper Marlboro, Md.) in the Joe Smith Division on Tuesday. It was the school’s first championship in the tournament, which brings together many of the best teams in the country.
“I’m very humbled,” Gonsalves said.
After coasting through three games by an average margin of 28 points, the Rams needed every bit of energy they had to withstand talented Riverdale Baptist in a matchup that some experts consider the country’s top two teams.
Tournament MVP Aquira DeCosta had 20 points and 20 rebounds for St. Mary’s, while Kat Tudor and Mi’Cole Cayton added 14 apiece.
“To win this tournament — and for no other St. Mary’s (team) to win this tournament — means a lot,” said Cayton, who joined DeCosta on the 11-player all-tourney team.
“I do think when you get to a certain goal, sometimes you’re happy just to be there, and we definitely weren’t,” Gonsalves said.
“It could have gone either way. I just feel fortunate. We got a little lead and hung on.”
The Crusaders trailed the entire game but refused to go away. The turning point came with 4:06 remaining and St. Mary’s ahead 62-53. Riverdale’s Teyjah Oliver was fouled by Sierra Smith — her fifth foul — on a three-point attempt. Smith was then whistled for a technical foul, so Oliver went to the line for five free throws.
She sank three, then buried a three-pointer on the ensuing possession to quickly turn a nine-point deficit into three. It was a dogfight from there. Riverdale soon cut the margin to one, but Cayton hit a three-pointer to get St. Mary’s back on track.
“The key was when they made a run, we didn’t get flustered,” Gonsalves said. “We were able to recompose ourselves.”
It was an eventful final period for Cayton, a Nebraska signee. With 40 seconds left and her team up by seven, Cayton vomited on the court during a stoppage in play. She left the gym while the court was cleaned up but missed only a few seconds of action.
“I’ve been having a slight stomach issue for a while but today I’ve been drinking a lot of water and it just kind of came out,” she said.
“Between her and Angel (Johnson),” Gonsalves said of two of his four seniors, “they’re kind of our heart and soul.”
The Crusaders nearly pulled off what would have been remembered as a remarkable feat. That’s because they made it close at the end despite committing a whopping 37 turnovers against the notorious St. Mary’s pressure.
The offense was led by Maryland-bound Kaila Charles with 17 points and 14 rebounds. Oliver finished with 18 points, Mangela Ngandjui added 12 and Morgan Smith10.
All-tournament team: DeCosta (MVP), Cayton, Charles, Smith, Madeline Holland (Archbishop Mitty), Justice Ethridge (Centennial), Jeannie Boehm (New Trier), Lindsey Pulliam (Good Counsel), Valerie Higgins (Chaminade), Ally Rosenblum (Mater Dai), Danae Miller (Long Beach Poly).
A championship — regardless of division — at the Nike TOC is a very big deal. Just ask Bellevue (Wash.).
Coach Leah Krautter’s Wolverines erased seven-point deficit in the second half and pulled out a 44-39 victory against Oaks Christian (Westlake Village, Calif.) in the title game of the John Anderson Division.
“It’s a bit of a historic event for our program, for our school, and for making a name for ourselves,” Krautter said. “It’s really exciting.”
The Wolverines have long been established as a power in Washington, having three top-five finishes in a row in state tournament play. But a TOC title can get a program recognized nationally.
And it helps to have a nationally known players. Guard Anna Wilson, the tournament MVP, is headed to Stanford. Guard Quenessa Caylao-Do is bound for Colorado.
Wilson (17 points, eight rebounds) and forward Tatiana Streun (11 points, 11 rebounds) were named to the all-tournament team.
All-tournament team: Wilson (MVP), Streun, Boyer, Campbell, Reili Richardson (Brea Olinda), Leilah Vigil (Highlands Ranch), Sydne Wiggins (Harrison), Sydni Harvey (Brentwood Academy), Alaysia Styles (LaJolla Country Day), Grace Berger (Sacred Heart Academy), Destiny Slocum (Mountain View).
Bellevue won it with defense. Oaks Christian made only five field goals in the second half, three coming from foul-plagued Sydney Boyer (21 points). The Lions went more than seven minutes during one stretch without a field goal.
“Our girls’ legs were pretty dead, so we really had to get on them to play more aggressive defensively,” Krautter said. “Typically that’s the way we play, but we just had to let them know we needed to run our traps and play strong on-ball (defense) and in the fullcourt. They dug in and got it done.”
Katie Campbell added 10 points for Oaks Christian.
Winning a championship at the Nike TOC isn’t at the top of most teams’ to-do list. That typically involves winning a state title.
But for ThunderRidge (Highlands Ranch, Colo.), winning the Mike Desper Division at the TOC was a close second.
“When the season started we said, ‘We have, have, have to win the Nike tournament,’” said ThunderRidge senior Jaz Myne Snipes, the tournament MVP, after a 55-51 title-game win against Trinity (River Forest, Ill.). “The past couple years we’d lose the first game or lose the second, and to know that this is the greatest ThunderRidge has done in this tournament since the Waner sisters is just incredible to know.”
The famed Waner sisters never accomplished what this group just did, although in fairness their efforts came in the tourney’s top division. The Grizzlies last won a division of the TOC late in the previous decade.
“This is the second time we’ve been 4-0 here in 15 years,” coach Matt Asik said. “We’ve been 0-4, we’ve been 1-3, we’ve been everything. It’s a tribute to the kids and to the sacrifice they made to make the team better. Everybody buys in.”
ThunderRidge had to hold off a furious Trinity rally to get its crown. The Grizzlies led by 14 in the waning seconds of the third quarter before Annie McKenna buried a three-pointer to spark a 12-0 Trinity run.
The margin was one point before Snipes sank two free throws with 47 seconds left. Snipes’ layin with 20 seconds to go sealed it.
Snipes, headed for Regis University in Colorado, finished with 29 points and 11 rebounds. Taylor Rusk added 14 points.
McKenna paced the Blazers with 15 points and Kaitlin Aylward added 11.
FRED KRONER
High school freshmen can be an unknown commodity. Coaches often don’t know how the newcomers will react under intense game pressure. Not so with Kyle Pedersen and ninth-grade twins Hanna and Haley Cavinder. They’ve played on his club team — the Arizona Elite — for several years. When 5-foot-6 Hanna Cavinder went off for 14 first-quarter points Tuesday — accounting for all of her team’s total — Pedersen wasn’t surprised.
“We run a lot of sets for her,” he said. “She’s a lights-out shooter. I haven’t seen any freshmen who can shoot at the level she’s at.”
Pedersen is not alone with that opinion. College coaches from Arizona, Kansas and Oregon State are among the ones keeping track of the sharpshooter.
Though the attention is nice, Hanna Cavinder said, “nothing is official until there’s an offer.”
She poured in 29 points on Tuesday — hitting eight three-pointers in the process — and was the catalyst as Gilbert (Ariz.) defeated another state school, Liberty (from Peoria) 41-38 in the Black Division championship game of the 19th Nike Tournament of Champions, at Highland High School.
Having played for Pedersen previously eased the transition for the Cavinder twins, who join a third sister (junior guard Brandi) in the starting lineup.
“We’re comfortable with him and trust what he says,” said Hanna Cavinder, who already has a 34-point game to her credit.
Gilbert (9-5) took an early 6-0 lead on consecutive treys by Hanna Cavinder in the opening 76 seconds. Liberty (6-8) never led until scoring its final points, on a breakaway by Anissia Hughes, which created a 38-36 lead with 3 minutes, 50 seconds remaining. Hanna Cavinder’s final three-pointer, which came 27 seconds later, sent Gilbert ahead to stay.
With the community of Gilbert serving as tournament host for the five-day event, Pedersen said, “we wanted to represent Arizona well and show off a little bit of Arizona.
“We’re a young team (with one senior starter) and we’ve started to hit our stride.”
Tiffany Hurd scored four points for Gilbert. The Tigers received three points each from Haley Cavender (on a three-pointer) and senior Lucy Guerrette. Madelyn Benavidez led Liberty with 15 points and Hughes hit 12. The Lions will get a chance for revenge in January when the two schools meet in a regular-season conference game.
Fairmont Prep had four games to get accustomed to a new style of basketball. After winning the Gold Division of the 19th Nike Tournament of Champions event with a convincing 60-37 conquest of Chaparral on Tuesday at Mesquite High School, coach David Esparza is ready to return to what’s familiar.
“I’m more comfortable in California,” said Esparza, whose school is located in Anaheim.
In his state, high school girls’ basketball is played with a 30-second shot clock. Throughout the five-day TOC extravaganza, there were no shot clocks in use.
‘We need to be able to defend when other teams stall with the lead,” Esparza said.
Gold Division Most Valuable Player Cierra Hall scored 19 second-half points for Fairmont (8-1), which overcame a halftime deficit to earn the win. The 6-foot junior, who ended with 25 points, will schedule official visits to Princeton, Utah and California-Davis. She wasn’t bothered by the variance in rules.
“It’s definitely something to think about,” Hall said, “but it’s the same (format) as travel ball, so it was only a little transition.”
What required more of an adaptation, she said, was the type of defense the Huskies ran into.
“A lot more teams (in Arizona) played zone,” she said.
As for the recruiting process, Hall is enjoying it.
“Some say it’s overwhelming, but for me it’s a blessing,” she said. “This is what I’ve worked for my whole life.”
Esparza said Hall is much more than a scorer.
“She’s our go-to person and has stepped in to be our emotional leader,” he said.
The first half featured two ties and eight lead changes. Hall converted a three-point play six seconds into the third quarter and there was no looking back for the Huskies.
Esparza was pleased that his school, with an enrollment of 500, made such an impact in its tournament debut. Fairmont won by 26 points in the semifinal round.
“This means a lot, playing teams we’ve never scouted before,” he said. “It means our girls can adapt.”
Junior Tristen Rollon scored 17 points for Fairmont, 10 coming in the second half. Maddie Vick and Addie Buzas each had 11 points to lead Chaparral (10-5), which hails from Scottsdale, Ariz.
For more than a dozen years, Mullen High School, from Denver, has participated in the annual Nike Tournament of Champions event. For more than a dozen years, the parochial school fell short in its quest for a championship.
“We were second twice,” said head coach Frank Cawley, the admissions director at Mullen.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Mustangs made history, rallying in the second half to defeat Rosary Academy, from Fullerton, Cal., 39-24, in the title game of the Diamond Division at Mesquite High School. Junior Whitney Jacob led the way with 11 points.
“We’ll gain a lot of respect in our school and in Colorado,” Jacob said. “It’ll push us far this season.”
Cawley is in his first year back with the program following a three-year absence. Overall, he has coached high school basketball for 22 years. The Mullen program has dropped under the radar, but he let his squad know they could make folks take notice.
“I told the girls they need to earn respect,” Cawley said. “Hopefully with our performance here, we’ll gain some of that.”
The Mustangs had played only three games before travelling to Arizona. Cawley was still learning about his team.
“This was an intense workout (four games in five days),” he said. “We don’t have an all-star that college coaches look at, but we get it done.
“I knew we needed to get better on defense and (Monday) we held a team to zero points in a quarter. If that can be our identity, we’ll be OK.”
Mullen limited Rosary to 10 second-half points and kept the Royals (7-3) scoreless the first 6 1/2 minutes of the fourth quarter. Mullen junior Tori Galvan was selected the MVP in the Diamond Division. The 5-foor-6 point guard had two points in the finals.
“She is the heart and soul of the team,” Cawley said. “It’s not about points. It’s about making those around her better, which she does.”
Rosary was led by senior Nikki Miller with a game-high 13 points. Teammate Allison Lou added nine points to the Royals’ total. Rosary led, 14-13, at halftime.
