SAN DIEGO - The 29th Annual San Diego Classic has concluded, and to no one’s surprise, defending CIF Open Division state champion St. Mary’s-Stockton was the 3A Division champion for the fourth straight year after a 71-50 victory over defending Division V state champion La Jolla Country Day-San Diego.
Prior to the St. Mary’s four-peat the Country Day girls were the last team to win the 3A Division when they snagged the 2011 title with a win against Long Beach Poly.
Just as they did in Pool 1 wins over Arlington (Washington) and Clovis West-Fresno, St. Mary’s took a little time to get rolling. However, once the vaunted all-out and constant full court pressure head coach Tom Gonsalves employs started to take its toll, Country Day just didn’t have the answers despite playing very well.
La Jolla Country Day head coach Terri Bamford went deep into her bag of tricks to try and deflect the effects of the press, and the local favorites actually led 17-15 midway through the first half.
At that point St. Mary’s turned up the heat and by halftime held a 32-24 lead. When first-team all-state junior selection Kat Tudor hit the second of four 3-pointers to open the second half, the Rams were firmly in control and continued to extend their lead until the final buzzer.
Tudor finished with a team-high 18 points and was a strong consideration for 3A MVP, however that honor went to Ms. Basketball State Player of the Year finalist and teammate Mi’Cole Cayton.
The rising senior had 17 points, six steals and three assists. State freshman of the year and USA U16 Team member Aquira DeCosta registered a double-double 10 points and 11 rebounds with five steals and two blocks.
Angel Johnson (2016) had 10 points, all-state sophomore Sierra Smith added seven points, Naje Murray (2017) had five points and Ariel Johnson rounded out the scoring with three points.
Country Day was led by rising sophomore Jayda Villareal. She hit four 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 22 points. Bianca Notarainni had 10 points and All State first team sophomore Alaysia Styles added eight points and seven rebounds.
There have been some good teams that have won the 3A Division. but San Diego Classic Tournament Director Wade Vickery made it clear he felt this year’s St. Mary’s team may be the finest to ever grace his tournament.
“The Mater Dei (Santa Ana) team in 2009 with Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis (now in the WNBA after graduating from NCAA women’s champion Connecticut) as a junior was pretty strong, Brea-Olinda has had some great teams, and the St. Mary’s teams that won the last three years are right up there too.
"But I really believe this year’s St. Mary’s team was the best ever at the San Diego Classic.”
St. Mary’s punched its ticket to the title game with a 50-28 semifinal victory over Bishop’s-La Jolla.
The game featured a match-up of two state Players of the Year for their class, DeCosta and sophomore selection Destiny Littleton of Bishop’s.
Littleton won the scoring battle after finishing with 20 points, but despite scoring only four points, DeCosta dominated the paint and had 10 rebounds and five blocks, with three coming against Littleton.
Cayton had a team-high 15 points and three assists, and Murray added 12 points with four rebounds and three steals.
Clovis West takes fifth
In the fifth-place game, Clovis West was a 44-39 winner over a very solid Arlington from the Seattle area.
Megan Anderson had nine points, Bre’yanna Sanders had eight points and nine rebounds, and Danae Marquez also had eight points.
Incoming freshman Madison Campbell hit two 3-pointers but left the game after a collision with one of the Arlington big girls. Campbell is the daughter of Clovis West head coach Craig Campbell.
In the semifinals, Country Day pulled off what many thought was the biggest upset of the tournament when it spoiled a rematch of last year’s title game with a 51-49 overtime victory against perennial national power Oregon City from the Portland area.
In that game Villareal made five 3-pointers and finished with 17 points. At one point in the first half she hit four straight treys that completely changed the momentum and turned an early deficit into a 29-25 halftime lead.
Vanderbilt-bound Cierra Walker (2016) led all scorers with 22 points including three 3-pointers - two coming from NBA range. Rising junior sensation N’Dea Flye added 13 points.
National power Oregon City settles for third
In the third-place game, Oregon City defeated an undermanned Bishop’s in a 47-25 victory. Flye led the way with 11 points and 10 rebounds and Jordan Kelly (2016) added 10 points.
Bishop’s got 18 points from Littleton but the team did not have outside shooter Alessandra Aguirre. After making a 3-point shot to beat Pinewood, 42-40 in the quarterfinals, Aguirre broke her wrist in the St. Mary’s loss.
Pinewood nabs seventh
The seventh-place game saw Pinewood take a 57-43 victory over CIF San Diego Section Open Division champion Mission Hills.
All-state junior Chloe Eackles led Pinewood with 16 points, Akayla Hackson (2017) had 11 points and Briana Claros (2018) had nine points. Pinewood played the tournament without all-state freshman Stella Kailahi.
All-state sophomore Kayla Rooks was the high scorer for Mission Hills with 13 points.
