For much of the game it looked like Hollywood was going to pull an upset on the way to winning its own Hollywood Classic championship. But the Sheiks ran out of gas and lost a little focus under the intense effort at both ends by the Inglewood Sentinels. Tournament MVP Jonathan Joshua came alive to lead Inglewood from a 23-14 halftime deficit.

5’10 junior PG Gevork Nersisyan set the tone for Hollywood early by pushing the ball upcourt fast and hitting some baskets. His 3-pointer gave the Sheiks a 5-3 lead and they would never trail again until late in the game. Hollywood led 13-10 after the first quarter and maintained it with the help of 6’7 junior All-tournament Arturas Lazdauskas who had a nice tip in to make it 15-12, followed shortly by a drive and thunderous slam dunk that brought the house down. DJ Edwards drove in for a layin at the halftime buzzer and Hollywood led 23-14.

Inglewood wasn’t hitting their shots and weren’t particularly aggressive on defense. That would soon change, although Hollywood kept pace in the third quarter. Nersisyan fed a dime to David Rencher for a nifty bucket and the Sheiks still had a 9-point lead at 27-18. But signs of momentum change were in the wind. Gabriel Oghenekohwo hit a three to make it 27-23 and Joshua soon followed with one of his own. Ahead only 27-26, Hollywood responded as Lazdauskas finished off a nice post move and followed with a block at the other end, which led to two Rencher FTs. Nersisyan polished off the 6-0 run with a J and the lead was seven (33-26). Nersisyan hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer and Hollywood led 38-32 after three quarters.

Then Inglewood really went to work and Hollywood had no answers. Joshua hit a three, Brandon Richard followed with a steal and layup, and All-tournament Sean Draper hit a three. Just like that Inglewood was ahead 40-38. The Sentinels were pressing all over the court and it was taking its toll on Hollywood. Nersisyan drove in for a layup to tie the game at 42-42 but Inglewood pulled away and steamed home with a 16-4 run for the victory.

Inglewood: Jonathan Joshua (MVP) 25 points (2 threes), Sean Draper (All-tournament Selection) 11pts, Jamel Ward 2 pts, Adeloa Dagunduro 5 pts, Brandon Richard 4 pts, Jaron Kinsey 2 pts, Chris Bell 2 pts, Gabriel Oghenekohwo 5 pts.

Hollywood: Gevork Nersisyan 16 pts (2 threes), Arturas Lazdauskas (All-tournament Selection) 13 pts (6 blocks), DJ Edwards 10 pts, David Rencher 5 pts. Robert Wright (All-tournament Selection) was hurt with an ankle sprain.

Roosevelt went into the halftime lockerroom with a 29-26 lead but the tide turned quickly after that. The Huntington Park Spartans ran off a 12-2 run to open the third quarter and they never lost the lead again. All-tournament Jose Perez tried to rally Roosevelt back but they never got closer than five points the rest of the way. Alex Cervantes hit a three for Roosevelt to make it 43-38 but the Park’s Jimmy Leal got hot and his team soon pulled away for good.

Leal scored the game’s next eight points on a 3-pt play, a jumper, and a three-ball. The third quarter ended at 51-38 but the run wasn’t over. Adam Brewer capped the 12-0 run with a layup (pictured in photo) and Huntington Park was ahead 55-38. They coasted the rest of the way.

Huntington Park - Leal 14, Brewer 12, Sal Garcia 11 (3 threes), Armando Salazar 9.

Roosevelt - Perez 23 (5 threes).

You gotta figure that any game that goes into two overtimes has got to be a wild and crazy game. Well, this was that and then some. The two teams might still be playing were it not for a controversial technical that was called in the second overtime. Leuzinger’s All-tournament Khelcey Barrs sank the two technical FTs with 41 seconds left in the second overtime and they turned out to be the winning points. Leuzinger would probably answer any cries of “foul” with a howl of their own because of a foul at the end of regulation that gave Venice two FTs with no time left and down by one point.

But we’ll get to that after summarizing what led to the ending fireworks. Barrs provided his own fireworks by scoring 50 points for the game; he was virtually a one-man show for Leuzinger. Venice was up to the task though as Chris Lopez converted a rare 4-point play to give the Gondoliers a 7-5 lead. All-tournament Walter Thompson hit a three to make it 11-8 Venice enroute to a 32-point scoring performance. Maurion Henderson hit two free throws and Venice led 31-26 midway into the second quarter. Then Leuzinger got on a roll.

R. Westbrook made a three-point play to tie it at 32-32, then Barrs got hot. He scored the quarter’s last ten points on a variety of slams, tip-ins, FTs, and steals. Leuzinger maintained control the entire third quarter and it looked like the trend would play out to the end. David Kane found an open lane and drove in for a layup to put Leuzinger ahead 62-51 with about 6 minutes left in regulation. Then Venice made things fun again. Larry Johnson joined Thompson as a scoring threat and they engineered a comeback. Thompson’s three cut the gap to four (66-62) with 2:10 to play. Johnson hit a huge three with 18 seconds left to leave Venice one point shy at 68-67.

But Venice had only three team fouls to that point and had to fouls 4 times before Leuzinger would be in the one-and-one. They accomplished that in 11 seconds and Leuzinger’s Jamel Tolliver was at the line with 7 seconds left. He missed the first and Venice rebounded and went for the winning basket. Henderson went in for a layup and was fouled at the buzzer. It didn’t appear to be much of a foul but the game was on the line now. Leuzinger protested that some time should be put back on the clock. None was, and Henderson hit the first free throw to tie the game at 68-68. Leuzinger then took three straight timeouts to try to ice Henderson. It must have worked because his second (and potential winning) free throw clanked off the front rim. Overtime.

Venice jumped out to a 74-69 lead but couldn’t hold it. Tolliver’s putback tied it at 76 with 18 seconds left and that’s the way it ended. Second overtime.

Barrs scored 7 of Leuzinger’s 8 points in the second overtime, five on FTs. With Venice ahead 81-80 (1:27 left) Barrs was at the line for two. The Venice bench and their fans made all the noise they could to rattle him. He made the first and turned to the Venice folks and made a “shoosh” gesture with his finger to his lips. Then he made the second FT for an 82-81 lead. When Venice’s Lopez found himself at the line for two FTs with 41 seconds left, the Leuzinger bench gave him the same nerve-rattling noise. He calmly sank his first attempt to tie the game, then served up the same “shoosh” gesture as repayment . Well, apparently the refs didn’t see the first “shoosh” because they t’eed Lopez up for the gesture. He went on to sink his second FT but Barrs then hit the two T’s for the victory. Leuzinger retained possession because of the T. But they turned the ball over and Venice had one last chance after calling time out with 10 seconds left. They were unable to get a good shot off and that was the end of an exciting game.

Leuzinger - Barrs 50 (12 rebs, 4 blocks), Patrick Cleveland 8, Chris Jackson 7, Tolliver had 10 rebunds.

Venice - Thompson 32, Johnson 13, Henderson 7.

Christian Melendez had 19 for LACES. Kryston Tillet led all scorers with 22 points for Foshay.

Dominique Cooper had 17 points for Hawthorne. Tony Williams scored 23 for Birmingham.

Ryan Stephens scored 14 points for San Pedro, playing for the 3rd consecutive game without PG Tyquan LeeChris Johnson in the win.

Jonathan Joshua - Inglewood - Most Outstanding Player

Sean Draper - Inglewood

Arturas Lazdauskas - Hollywoood

Robert Wright - Hollywood

Walter Thompson - Venice

Khelcey Barrs - Leuzinger - Tournament and career high 50 pts in 2OT vs Venice

Jose Perez - Roosevelt

Sal Garcia - Huntington Park

Winter Slam Jam at Cleveland HS

We didn't see this game but we saw Hart earlier in the tournament and it was no surprise to see them win the title. Here's what the Daily News had to say: "Adam Rich cemented himself as one of the region's best players this past week, scoring 127 points in four games and leading Hart High of Newhall to the Cleveland tournament championship with a 67-56 victory over El Camino Real of Woodland Hills on Saturday.

Rich scored 20 first-half points and then got help from his teammates as Hart (5-0) turned a four-point halftime lead into a 56-42 advantage going into the final quarter. All-tournament selection Brandon McQueen hit a baseline jumper to put Hart up by eight midway through the third quarter and junior Corey Chefalo nailed a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 2:15 remaining to give Hart a comfortable 12-point lead.

Hart extended the lead to 18 early in the fourth quarter before El Camino Real, which was a surprising 7-1 coming into the game, mounted a rally to cut the deficit to nine. El Camino Real could get no closer as Hart made 9 of 14 free throws in the final quarter. Rich scored 29 points [27 in first half] against Sherman Oaks CES of Reseda, 34 against Granada Hills, 33 against Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks and 31 on Saturday night.

All-tournament selection Rai Colston scored 16 points to lead El Camino Real. The team's two losses this season are both to Foothill League teams. It lost to Valencia last week in the Simi Valley tournament."

All-tournament selection Orlando Baeza had 33 points to lead Notre Dame (4-1). Agoura is 4-4.

All-Tournament selection Sean Mayer scored 21 points for Newbury Park (5-3). Dominique Lewis scored 30 points for Kilpatrick (4-4).

Monroe started the game with four starters on the bench (coach’s decision) for the entire first half including star guard Dawin Whiten and forward/center Brandon James. Rio Mesa took advantage by jumping out to a 15-5 lead after the first quarter and extending it to 21-5 in the second frame. 6’6 junior Josh Deanne was scoring well, and was aided by the fine play of Aaron Kashola and senior guard Andrew Cronin. Monroe’s sharpshooter Rolando Nunez tried to stem the tide with a three-pointer (making it 21-8) but Rio Mesa kept the heat on and sprinted out to a 32-14 halftime lead.

Monroe’s first team came out for the second half but it took them a while to get warmed up. Rio Mesa was maintaining its 18-point lead at 37-19 when the game began to shift the Vikings’ way. Nunez drained another three to start an 8-0 run for Monroe. Whiten capped the run with a three-point play on a putback to make it 37-27. Just before the end of the third quarter Whiten struck for three more via the long bomb. Rio Mesa’s lead was then only 8 points (40-32) and they were beginning to show the strain of holding off the tremendous Vikings challenge.

Well, maybe not… R.J. Martin raced back to beat Monroe’s defense after a change of possession and scored on a layup. Kashola soon followed with a free throw and, when Rio Mesa got the next bucket, the lead was suddenly up to 13 (45-32). With 6:30 left in the game Nunez hit a jumper to make it 45-36. Greg Murray responded with a three and it looked like Rio Mesa had weathered the storm with a 48-36 lead and under 5 minutes to go. But Monroe was just getting its second wind and proceeded to mount a ferocious assault on the lead.

Twelve points later the game was tied at 48-48 with 1:33 to go. Whiten started the run with a trey at the 4:20 mark; he also contributed a beautiful drive and dish to James for a layup, but the run was capped by a reserve, Dwayne? Jones, who hit a huge 3-pointer for the tie. Rio Mesa didn’t fold up shop though and came back with a nice attack to the hoop as Kashola cashed in a dime from Deanne to regain the lead 50-48 with 58 seconds left. James had a chance to knot up the score again with 39 seconds left but he hit only one of two free throws and Monroe still trailed 50-49. Monroe got the ball back and ran a nice play for James who took the ball to the hole and scored. He was fouled and converted on the 3-point play with 15 seconds left. Rio Mesa couldn’t get a good shot off and Monroe escaped with a win.

Monroe - Nunez 14 (2 threes), James 14, Whiten 12 (2), Jones 8.

Rio Mesa - Deanne 16, Kashola 11, Cronin 7, Jacob Manuel 7, Murray 5.

Chad Meehan had 21 points and Jonathan Aiwazian added 16 points to lead Moorpark (2-1). Mike Schindler had 15 points to pace Granada Hills (3-4).

San Fernando improves to 2-6. USC-MAST is 0-8.

Cameron Nash led SOCES (3-3) with 18 points. Lancaster Desert Christian falls to 0-7.

Adam Rich tourney MVP

Brandon McQueen - Hart

Devin Fly - Agoura

Orlando Baeza - Notre Dame

Macario Ruano - Moorpark

Rolando Nunez - Monroe

Sean Mayer - Newbury Park

Rai Colston - El Camino Real

Josh Valentine - Wilson

Dominique Lewis - Kilpatrick

By Jack Nelson

In a clash of titans the Mater Dei Monarchs squeezed out a 91-88 victory over the Dominguez Dons in what surely was a preview of an upcoming CIF IIAA championship in March as it appears these two teams are head and shoulders above the rest of the teams in this division. Tonight’s game was a close battle throughout and left both players and fans exhausted at the final buzzer.

The Monarchs drew first blood in the game with Chris Henry 6'9" center scoring on a bank off the glass. Seconds later 6'6" freshman Taylor King scored on nice tip in off missed shot by Marcel Jones and the Monarchs led 4-0. AJ Tolbert 6'5" soph fwd was fouled by King in act of shooting at other end and made one of two foul shots for the Dons’ first point; Michael Boyd scored the dons first basket to cut the Monarchs lead to 4-3. Later, a steal by Jones and assist to King for a slam dunk made the score 13-6 Monarchs before DJ Wright and Boyd hit back-to-back treys for the Dons to close it to 13-12.

A pair of free throws by Henry extended the Monarchs lead to 7 once again at 25-18. A bucket by Marcus Malone and a three-pointer by Wright cut the lead to 25-23. Mater Dei led 29-25 at the end of the first qtr. as King had 14 of those points, Gerrity 6, Jones 5 and Henry 4. For the Dons it was Wright and Boyd that carried the load with 13 and 9 respectively. Bryan Harvey failed to score in the quarter.

Being in the double bonus proved to be a savior for the Monarchs in the second period when they scored only three field goals including one three-pointer (all by Jones) but converted 15-16 free throws in the period to keep them in the game. Harvey heated up for the Dons and scored 12 in the quarter but the Monarchs didn’t give up the lead until 1:21 remained in the half when Jason Murdock was fouled by Henry and made both free throws for 47-45 lead. After a tying bucket by Jones, Tolbert was fouled underneath by Henry and made the bucket and free throw for 50-47 lead and they kept a 52-51 lead at the half.

Both teams had foul problems with two starters on each team having 3 - Harvey and Michael Shelton for the Dons and King and Austin for the Monarchs. Staying out of foul problems in second half would be crucial factor for both teams. The halftime stats showed the Dons shooting 15-33 for 45.5% but were 50 percent with 7-14 on three point shots and also shot 15-19 from line for excellent 83.3 %. Boyd led the Dons in first half scoring with 15 including 3-4 from behind the 3-point line. Harvey and Wright were also in double figures with 12 and 10 respectively. Harvey had 5 rebounds and three blocked shots to lead in those departments. The Dons handled the ball unbelievably well during first half and turned the ball over only two times while the Monarchs were sloppy in the ball handling dept, making 13 turnovers but Monarchs made up for that difference by outrebounding the Dons 24-14 and scoring 15 second chance points to the Dons 2. King with 18 and Jones with 13 led the Monarchs in first half scoring. Austin and Markus led in rebounds with 5 each and Gerrity had 4 assists.

The second half opened with a short jumper by Austin and another three-pointer by King and Monarchs were up 56-52. Harvey made a putback to close it to 56-54 and then the Monarchs went on a 9-0 run which started with bucket by Gerrity, a putback by Austin, a long pass from King to Henry for layin and a 3 pointer by Jones from the left wing. Mater Dei looked like they were ready to put the game away but instead of slowing the game down and using the clock the defensive quickness of the Dons paid off with a couple of fast steals and buckets and a thee pointer and in the space of two minutes the lead was gone and Monarchs trailed 69-67. Rahbie Haynes made a nice putback underneath to tie it at 69. The Dons took 71-69 lead but a free throw by Haynes and a quarter-ending drive by Gerrity for a bucket at the buzzer gave the Monarchs a 72-71 edge going into the final quarter.

The final quarter was a nail biter all the way with lead changing back and forth .A ticky tack foul, the fifth on Henry hurt the Monarchs’ chances at the 4:41 mark of the final period. Tolbert made both free throws to tie the score at 78. Tolbert hit a 3 for the Dons with 3:45 left in quarter to tie the game at 81 and the Dons scored the next two buckets on a bank by Malone from 18 ft and a short jumper by Harvey to give the Dons their largest lead of the game at 85-81 with 2:25 to go. But with 2:14 to go Jones was fouled on a 3-point attempt and made all 3 FTs so the Monarchs were back within 1 at 85-84. With score 87-86 Dons and 47 seconds left in the game Gerrity made a nice drive thru the lane and got the basket and was fouled and made the free throw and the Monarchs had the lead at 89-87.

On the Dons next possession, Austin fouled out when he fouled Malone who went to the free throw line with a chance to tie the game but missed the first and made the second to leave them a point short at 89-88 with 34 seconds left. Mater Dei had the ball but with 15 seconds left the refs made a 5 second call on Jones and the Dons had possession with chance to go ahead. The ball went to the Dons’ star Harvey and he backed in and went for a shot off the glass that rimmed in and then out. Hayes grabbed the rebound and was fouled by Harvey with 6 seconds left. Dominguez fans tried to rattle him with noise but he coolly knocked both of them in and the Monarchs had 91-88 lead. Dons took ball out and got it to frontcourt and called time out with just over 3 seconds left but their play went awry. Harvey got his 3 pointer off but it was late and off the mark and the Monarchs players and fans breathed a sigh of relief as they had held on for the win. The fans gave both teams a standing ovation for the great game and are looking forward to seeing the rematch when it counts for all the marbles in March.

The shooting stats were pretty even as the Dons hit 27-63 Fg and Monarchs 27-60 with Dons 9-19 from behind the 3-point arc while the Monarchs hit 6-16 the Monarchs made 31-37 free throw attempts while the Dons were 25-31. The Monarchs outrebounded the Dons 43-30 with Austin, Jones and King all having 7 boards. Point guards Gerrity and Wright led their teams in assists with 7 and 6 respectively. The Dons played an excellent game turning the ball over only 7 times to the Monarchs 20 but the Monarchs big edge came from second chance points where they scored 24 points to the Dons 6. This was a game between two great high school teams coached by legendary coaches Russell Otis of Dominguez and Gary McKnight of Mater Dei who won his 649th game in his 22nd year of coaching the Monarchs and will reach another milestone with his 650th next Tuesday night in the opener of the Irvine World News tournament.

Marcel Jones and Mike Gerrity were named co-mvp's of the tournament and Austin, King and Henry were also named to all tourney team as were Harvey, Boyd and Wright of Dominguez. Chris Fields of Poly, Jeff Pendergraph and Darren Collison of Etiwanda, Matt Sargeant and Greg Okwudibonye of Ocean View and Vince Oliver of Loyola rounded out the team.

Mater Dei - King 22, Jones 21, Gerrity 19, Henry 12, Haynes 9, Austin 6, Markus 2.

Dominguez - Harvey 22, Boyd 22, Malone 17,Tolbert 13, Wright 10, Murdock 2, Shelton 2.

Matt Sargeant had 29 points and seven rebounds to pace Ocean View.

All-Tournament selection Darren Collison scored 19 points and fellow All-Tournament selection Jeff Pendergraph added 14 points and 10 rebounds for Etiwanda. Loyola was led by Connor Whitman who scored 13 points.

All-Tournament selection Michael Pillar scored 20 points and Jeff Martin added 16 points for Chaminade. Kelvin Wilson led Gardena Serra with 14 points.

11th place: Silverado 93, Paramount 64

Jaimie Lester had 23 points, six assists and five steals for Silverado.