Christy powers Casa to Callan win; Petaluma beaten

Jon Christy, Casa Grande’s 6-foot, 6-inch center, had a big, big, big game for the host Gauchos on the first night of the Brett Callan Memorial Tournament Thursday night. Christy was unstoppable inside, scoring 31 points and grabbing 13 rebounds to lead his team to a 60-55 win over Analy’s Tigers in a tight contest that wasn’t decided until the game’s final minute.

In other first-round games, Petaluma was cold from the floor in a 61-39 loss to Windsor, Cardinal Newman rallied in the second half to defeat Fairfield, 68-54 and George Washington from San Francisco defeated Miramonte, 70-47.

Petaluma begins today’s second round with a game against Fairfield at 3:30 p.m.. Miramonte meets Analy at 5 p.m., Windsor faces Cardinal Newman at 6:30 p.m. and Casa Grande tries to earn a spot in the championship game against Washington at 8 p.m. The tournament concludes Saturday with games at 1:30 p.m., 3 p.m., 4:30 p.m. and the championship game at 6 p.m.

While Christy carried the load for the Gauchos in the win over Analy, it was clutch free throws by Robbie Sheldon and Colin McDonald that clinched the game for Casa in the final 30 seconds. With last year’s all-tournament choice Will Crain out with an injury, Sheldon stepped up for the Gauchos, scoring 15 points and pulling down seven rebounds. Malcolm Jenkins with 25 points and Chance Ortega with 20 provided the majority of the Analy scoring.

In the tournament’s first game, Petaluma’s cold-shooting Trojans fell behind Windsor, 18-8, in the first period and were never really in the game. Ben Sanderson continued his recent scoring surge for Petaluma, scoring 15 points. The Trojans were unable to control Windsor guard Gabe Knight, who not only scored 19 points, but also pulled down 10 rebounds.