NEWARK, CA -- In a day of five upsets at the ninth annual seven-game Prep2Prep Tip-Off Classic it was Moreau Catholic-Hayward that provided the biggest shocker of them all.
The Mariners overcame a 14-point third-quarter deficit to pull out a 60-59 victory over nationally-ranked and defending CIF Division V state champion Sierra Canyon-Chatsworth.
Trailing 59-58 with 5.1 seconds left, Moreau Catholic (1-0) inbounded the ball at midcourt to Terrell Brown. The San Jose State-committed senior guard drove all the way to the basket and scored as the buzzer sounded.
Pandemonium broke out as the Moreau fans stormed the court, but the officials ruled that 1.2 seconds should be put back on the clock.
After order was restored, Sierra Canyon inbounded the ball, but a desperation shot by Cody Riley came up short and this time the fans could not be contained.
Before the final wild sequence, there were two frantic scrambles in the final 55 seconds. Sierra Canyon got the ball on the second one in their backcourt leading 59-58 with eight seconds left, but rather than cradle the ball and absorb a likely foul, the Trailblazers tried to advance it up court and lost it to set up Brown’s heroics.
Brown, who loves to take it to the rack, knew just what to do.
“They gave me the lane and I had the green light to go,” said Brown, who finished with 14 points.
Damari Milstead finished with a game-high 20 points and six rebounds and was named the MVP of the game. Given the game-long success Milstead had, most thought he would get the ball in the final seconds.
“The last play was designed for Damari but when they doubled him it left it for Terrell,” said Moreau Coach Frank Knight. “Tonight proved they are two of the best guards in the state.”
Sierra Canyon (0-1) came into the game ranked as high as No. 1 in the nation by PrepNation.com. Ballislife.com had them at No. 13 in its national pre-season FAB 50 while Cal-Hi Sports had them at No. 2 in its pre-season state rankings.
Moreau was No. 11 in the Cal-Hi Sports pecking order and only the No. 3 team in Northern California behind a Modesto Christian team that was a victim of one of the upsets on Saturday, as well as De La Salle team not involved in Saturday's event.
Part of the reason Moreau Catholic might have been rated a bit lower than expected is the way the Mariners ended last season, losing 79-51 at Chabot College to a hard-hat Serra team with no blue-chippers. That shocker, after the Mariners had only lost to Bishop O'Dowd 70-61 in the CIFNCS D3 title game, came in the NorCal Regional opener for both teams. .
In the end none of what happened last season mattered. Despite trailing 33-25 at halftime, the Mariners weathered the storm and fought back.
“Going into the locker room at the half Damari told me ‘we can beat them,” Knight said.
“When we got down 14 (points) I felt like if we could just keep chopping wood we could be there at the end,” said Milstead, who came out of a boot last week after suffering a strained ligament. “Winning a game like this shows maturity. We wouldn’t have won this game last year. ”
Moreau 6-6 senior wing Oscar Frayer, who recently de-committed from Cal, finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds. He was a huge factor in helping contain the big 6-8 junior duo of Cody Riley and Ira Lee.
Riley finished with 16 points and eight rebounds, and Lee had six points and 12 rebounds, but the scrappy defense of Frayer and his mates caused them to take difficult shots and had them out of their rhythm down the stretch.
The highly regarded Trailblazers' backcourt duo of junior Remy Martin (10 points, four assists) and Nevada-committed senior Devearl Ramsey (eight points, three assists) looked good at times, but they, too, were outplayed at the end by Milstead and Brown. Adam Seiko led Sierra Canyon with 17 points (3-of-5 on 3-pointers) but he fouled out and wasn’t around at the end when Coach Ty Nichols needed someone to hit a shot.
“There were a lot of naysayers because of the way our season ended last year, but we knew we were good,” Knight said.
What makes Moreau even scarier for Northern California foes is the Mariners will welcome back six players from the football team that lost in the CIF-NCS Division IV semifinals on Saturday afternoon to Marin Catholic.
Before they square off locally in Mission Valley Athletic League action, Knight has them playing as rigorous a non-league schedule in December as any top team in the state. They are off until December 11 when they go to Northern Nevada for two games. After that the Mariners are at the Lahainaluna Maui Classic (Hawaii) and then the Maxpreps Holiday Classic in Palm Springs.
The stands were full for the headline game of the day. Besides the paying customers, 35 college coaches and 20 media/scouts were in attendance at the end of the 12-hour event. Bay Area four-year coaches Cuonzo Martin (Cal), Johnny Dawkins (Stanford) and Randy Bennett (St. Mary's) were all in the house for the pulse-pounding finale.
