BRETT CALLAN TOURNAMENT: Tough times for local teams

The basketball was excellent. The sportsmanship was superb.|

The basketball was excellent. The sportsmanship was superb. The results were poor - at least as far as local teams are concerned - in the ninth annual Brett Callan Memorial Tournament played in Casa Grande’s Coach Ed Iacopi Gymnasium last weekend.

Host Casa Grande won just once in three tries, while Petaluma lost three straight.

Cardinal Newman won the tournament title, remaining undefeated on the season with a 68-64 win over Washington of San Francisco in the championship game.

By the game, here’s what happened over three action-filled days:

Game 1

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, losing, 61-39. Ben Sanderson continued his recent scoring surge for Petaluma, counting 15 points. The Trojans were unable to control Windsor guard Gabe Knight, who not only scored 19 points, but also pulled down 10 rebounds. Teammate Brent Tucker was a force in the paint, scoring 14 points.

Petaluma scored nine points in the second quarter. Sanderson accounted for seven of them and had nine points at halftime, but his team trailed, 34-17.

Things just never got much better for the Trojans.

Game 2

Connor Rubattino scored 16 points to lead Cardinal Newman to a 68-54 win over defending tournament champion Fairfield.

Fairfield stayed with the undefeated Cardinals during the early stages of the game, but trailed at the half 36-26, and Newman was able to maintain the advantage for the remainder of the game.

James Ryan added 13 points for the Cardinals. Robert Harrison carried the Fairfield offense with 20 points.

Game 3

George Washington made an impressive tournament beginning, dominating Miramonte, 70-47, and giving an indication of the exciting things to come from the Eagles.

Game 4

It was the Jon Christy show as Casa Grande opened with a 60-55 win over Analy in one of the most exciting games of the tournament. Christy scored a career best 31 points and pulled down 13 rebounds.

“It was a pretty cool experience. This is my last Callan Tournament, so I thought, ‘Why not go out with a bang,’” he said.

His point total put him in an exclusive 13-member club of players who have scored 30 or more points in a single Callan Tournament game.

Despite Christy’s big game, the Gauchos had to scramble to beat the hustling Tigers who received 25 points from Malcolm Jenkins, with teammate Chance Orgega adding 20.

Junior Robbie Sheldon had a big game for the Gauchos with 14 points and seven rebounds. JJ Anderson, less than a month removed from quarterbacking the Casa football team, filled in for injured all-leaguer Will Crain, and pulled down 11 rebounds. Crain has a broken hand and will be out until at least mid-January.

Despite Christy’s efforts and strong support from several other Gauchos, the game was an exciting back-and-forth struggle that saw Casa Grande clinging to a 55-53 lead in the final 30 seconds.

With time expiring, Sheldon and Colin McDonald hit five clutch free throws to clinch the win for the Gauchos.

“It wasn’t pretty, but it was gutsy,” said Casa Grande coach James Forni. “I was awfully worried about Analy. They are a good basketball team.”

Game 5

Petaluma out-scored Fairfield in three of the game’s four periods to start the tournament’s second night, but in the period Fairfield won, the Eagles blitzed the Trojans 29-10 to win by a deceptive 70-55 score.

Petaluma started the game with its best quarter of the season, blistering the net for 20 opening-period points. Ben Sanderson, Ryan Cox, Colin Stremlau and Ryan Perez all connected for 3-pointers in an impressive shooting display that gave the Trojans a 20-17 lead.

The Trojans cooled considerable in the second period, but another 3-point hit by Cox still had them in front, 28-27, at the intermission.

A driving basket by Drake Paretti had the game tied at 37-37 with 4:33 left in the third when everything changed. Petaluma scored just one more point the remainder of the period, while Fairfield, scoring inside and out, connected on three shots from 3-point land and a few shots from assorted other distances. By the end of the quarter, Petaluma trailed, 56-38, and its fate was sealed.

A late Trojan surge led by Zack Stromburg and Lucas Zedek cut what at one time was a 23-point Fairfield lead to 15 by game’s end.

Sophomore Uriah Benning led the Falcons with 19 points, while Cox scored 20 for the Trojans. Sanderson suffered a leg injury and left the game in the third quarter, but still scored 13 for Petaluma.

Game 6

Analy, perhaps showing fatigue from its tough match against Casa Grande the previous night, was surprised by Miramonte, 61-53.

The Tigers, led by Malcom Jenkins, led, 46-42, after three quarters, but couldn’t find the net in the final period as Miramonte surged for 19 points to pull out the win.

Eddie Ionescu led the Matadors with 15 points.

Game 7

Cardinal Newman held Windsor to just five points in the third quarter, winning a showdown between two top North Bay League games, 57-46.

Rubattino led the Cardinals with 19 points with James Ryan adding 14 and Gunnar Walker eight.

The Cardinals held Windsor’s Knight to 16 points, but Brent Tucker picked up the scoring slack with 17.

Game 8

Casa Grande got into a deep hole early and could never dig out against Washington’s hot-shooting Eagles, losing, 51-36.

A muscle shot inside by Christy and a 3-pointer by point guard Tommy Buickerood gave Casa Grande a quick five-point lead, but the next 11 points were scored by Washington and the Gauchos never really recovered.

Casa Grande scored just eight points in the period, with Buickerood adding a second 3-pointer. Meanwhile, Washington scored in just about every way possible, from muscle shots inside to drives to the hoop by Darren Ho to long range bombs from Minkyu Park.

Before Casa could get its act together, the Gauchos trailed, 24-8.

It was a more even game the rest of the way, with Christy having another big game for Casa, while the Eagles continued to make scoring difficult for the rest of the Gauchos.

Christy led the Gauchos with 19 points and eight rebounds. Buickerood hit three of five distance shots for nine points. Ho and muscular center Ernest Moore led a multitude of Washington scorers with 10 points apiece.

Game 9

Petaluma got a look at how its Sonoma County League might be shaping up when it faced Analy in the match for seventh place on the tournament’s final night. For awhile, that look was pretty rosy, but then the Trojans hit what seems to be an almost mandatory rough spot, and were beaten by the Tigers, 70-57.

The Trojans hit four 3-pointers in the opening quarter - two by Johnny Molinari and one each by Kelly Garber and Paretti­ to jump out to a 15-11 advantage. The Trojan defense forced five Analy turnovers in the quarter.

Then came Trojan trouble. After Petaluma scored the first basket of the second quarter, Analy, led by Dominic Tripodi, rolled off nine straight unanswered points, and Petaluma never regained the lead.

Petaluma managed to hang with the Tigers until midway through the third period, when the Tigers charged again, scoring 15 unanswered points to put the game out of reach.

Jenkins, who was held to just a pair of free throws by the concentrated Petaluma defense in the first half, finished with 19 points and finished off the Tiger triumph with an emphatic slam just before the final buzzer.

Molinari, who missed the previous night’s game resting sore knees, led Petaluma with 12, while Garber added nine.

Game 10

Fairfield, leading by just five at the half, rallied in the second half for a 60-43 win over Miramonte in the consolation championship game.

Bryant concluded an impressive triumph for Fairfield with 21 points. Benning added 11.

Jackson Wegener led Miramonte with 15.

Game 11

When you’re hot (and Windsor was hot) you’re hot and when you’re not (and Casa Grande was not) you’re not.

“They hit shots and we didn’t,” summed up Forni after the Gauchos lost the battle for third place to Windsor, 51-43. “We have to start hitting our mid-range and long-range shots.

Casa continued to be able to work the ball inside where Anderson scored 15 points and Christy added 13. However, the Gauchos had no one to match the Jaguars’ Knight who scored inside and out, recording 21 points.

The game was evenly contested through the first half, with the Gauchos managing to slip in front, 25-20, at the break on five points from Christy, two from Anderson and a short jumper by Sheldon.

Windsor started the second half with 3-point hits from Knight (two) and Brent Tucker and finished the period on distance connections by Jonah Thomas and Knight. That gave the Jaguars a 42-37 advantage, and although the Gauchos stayed within hopeful distance through the final round, they were never able to drive to within four of the Jaguars, who were pulling away at the finish.

Game 12

An excellent tournament had an exceptional finish with Cardinal Newman rallying from six points down in the final two minutes to force overtime and then beating George Washington’s Eagles, 68-64, for the tournament title.

The title game was really a game of three parts, with Cardinal Newman winning the first half, 34-25, Washington turning things around to take the second half, 35-24.

The third portion of the game actually started two minutes prior to overtime when Cardinal Newman charged from six points back to take a one-point lead on a basket and follow-up foul shot by James Ryan. Washington tied it at 58-58 when Armani Hall hit one of two offered free throws.

The Cardinals had a chance to win in regulation, but Rubattino’s shot was short.

Cardinal Newman proved the more productive overtime team, outscoring Washington, 10-6, to not only win its second tournament, but to run its season-starting win streak to seven.

Rubattino was the main man for the Cardinals, scoring 26 points, with Justin Botteri adding 14 and Ryan 12. Hall led Washington with 18, with Ho scoring 15.

All-Tournament

Rubattino was chosen the tournament Most Valuable Player. He was joined on the all-tournament team by teammates Ryan and Botteri; Washington’s Hall, Ho and Moore; Knight and Tucker from Windsor; Casa’s Christy; Bryant from Fairfield and Jenkins from Analy.

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