With Aaron Gordon in the house to have his jersey retired at halftime, the Orlando Magic star may as well have been playing for the Monarchs, considering how dominant they were in an 85-39 victory over St. Ignatius on Friday night.
"I cannot say thank you enough to everybody who came out," Gordon said, as he addressed a packed house which included spectators standing along the railing to get a closer look at the NBA star. "It means so much to see my old teammates, my coaching staff out here for this. I really love all of you guys."
Mitty (13-2, 4-1) jumped out to a 24-0 lead, held a 33-5 advantage after a quarter and led 57-17 at the break when Gordon was joined by many of his NBA teammates and high school coaches on the floor for the ceremony. The big Mitty lead made it easy for the crowd and the program to make the night about Gordon's recognition, on a weekend when the Magic were in town to face the Golden State Warriors on the following night.
"What makes it so special getting my jersey retired is the community. I remember running around here at nine years old, being inspired by guys like Chris Jackson, learning the fundamentals from the coaches here," continued Gordon, who is the first player in the storied history of Mitty basketball to have a number retired. "This is just such a big, beautiful thing to come full circle and come back to my high school and this community which has shown me so much love and shaped me as a man. I really can't say thank you enough. This is an honor and a privilege."
The pairing of Gordon and head coach Tim Kennedy resulted in CIF titles during Gordon's sophomore and junior seasons, when the Monarchs compiled 63 wins in two seasons, culminating in a 53-50 victory over Summit-Fontana in the 2011 CIF Division II championship game to cap a 20-game winning streak which included the CCS Division II title, and a 78-57 victory over La Costa Canyon-Carlsbad in the 2012 CIF Division II title match-up to cap a 19-game winning streak which also included the CCS Division II crown.
Gordon's senior year included another WCAL title and a victory over Serra in the CCS Open Division title game, the fourth section title in four seasons for the Monarchs with Gordon on the court. Mitty was then placed in the first-ever CIF Open Division, where the Monarchs defeated Newark Memorial, Modesto Christian and Sheldon to capture the NorCal title and make their third straight CIF final.
Gordon's fantastic prep career ended with a hard-fought 50-45 loss to Mater Dei in the state final, a Monarchs' team led at the time by current Toronto Raptor Stanley Johnson, who ended up following Gordon to Arizona, though they never played together at that level since each left college after just one season to become top NBA draft picks. Gordon had 22 points and 20 rebounds in that game, going head-to-head with Johnson, who was Gordon's teammate on the Oakland Soldiers, their AAU club team.
Gordon's high school career was capped by receiving the California Mr. Basketball of the Year for the second straight season, just the second player in state history at the time to earn the award in back-to-back seasons; Onyeka Onkogwu of Chino Hills has since joined Gordon and Tyson Chandler in that elite club.
The recognition of Gordon at Friday night's game was the highlight a sparkling night for the Mitty basketball community. Mikey Mitchell scored 17 to lead the Monarchs, spearheading another balanced scoring attack, as has often been the case for Mitty over the past two years. Owen Browne and Mason Ryan scored 13, Arrish Bhandal and Marcus Greene eached finished with 11 and Nigel Burris added nine, including a thunderous dunk on one of the rims that Gordon had punished for four years.
Ryan Conroy scored nine off the bench to lead St. Ignatius (5-10, 0-5), losers of five straight for the first time since 2012.
