Sierra Canyon doesn’t have sophomore standout Marvin Bagley this weekend. When Cody Riley picked up his fourth foul midway through the third quarter, the Trailblazers didn’t have their powerful 4-star junior forward, either.
An all-guard lineup? No problem for the Trailblazers, who feature a roster stacked with speed and quickness in the backcourt.
Sierra Canyon’s small-ball style paid off, as the undersized Trailblazers battled back sans-Riley to defeat Chaminade 66-58 in the Tournament of Champions semifinals.
PHOTOS: SIERRA CANYON VS. CHAMINADE
“It’s a testament to the resiliency and team chemistry we have,” said Sierra Canyon coach Ty Nichols. “We had to go all guards. And if you noticed, nobody took a bad shot, nobody put it on their shoulders and said, ‘I gotta do this and take over.’ They were just patient and waited for the right opportunity. When it came, (we) were able to hit layups and free throws.”
Devearl Ramsey (18) and Remy Martin (17 points, 8 rebounds) combined for 35 points to lead Sierra Canyon. Chaminade shot 2-for-15 on 3-point attempts in the game and was led by Jayson Tatum’s 20 points (7-for-19 shooting) and 12 rebounds, with Tyler Cook adding 19 points.
The victory puts Sierra Canyon into Saturday night’s title game against defending champion Oak Hill Academy at 9 p.m.
“We have a lot of respect for (Chaminade’s) program and school, that’s why it was a big deal for us,” Nichols said. “We know how good they are.”
When Riley – who had 30 points and 13 rebounds in Thursday’s win over Kickapoo – committed his fourth foul and headed to the bench midway through the third quarter, Sierra Canyon soon found itself trailing by eight points.
But the Trailblazers persevered, going on a 19-4 run to go up seven (54-47) with just over five minutes remaining in the game, the spurt capped with a tip-in by Martin.
When Riley returned about two minutes later, Sierra Canyon still led 54-51. The Trailblazers went 8-for-12 at the free throw line in the final two minutes to seal the victory.
With Riley in foul trouble, Nichols elected to go with a spread-the-floor and attack style in the second half to negate Chaminade’s size advantage inside.
“We wanted to make them have to guard us,” Nichols said. “We tried that in the first half and slowed down too much, and it allowed (Chaminade) to get back into the game. Second half, we kind of stayed in attack mode. But nobody took a bad shot. That was the key.”
Between Martin and Ramsey, who has committed to Nevada, the Trailblazers feature a pair of 4-star guards as their primary ball-handlers.
Add in all-around “glue” guy Adam Seiko – who at 6’3” guarded 6’9” forwards Jayson Tatum and Tyler Cook for much of the game– along with rising junior prospect Terrance McBride, and promising sophomores Joe Wallace and Michael Feinberg, and the Trailblazers have the talent to go guard-heavy when needed.
“Not having Marvin (Bagley) playing and having Cody (Riley) out with foul trouble, we dug in and that shows a lot of fight in us,” Martin said. “We just did our full-court press. We work harder in practice so we can just translate it to the game.”
Sierra Canyon 66, Chaminade 58
Chaminade 11 14 20 13 — 58
Sierra Canyon 15 14 17 20 — 66
Chaminade – Jayson Tatum 20, Tyler Cook 19, Reggie Crawford 8, Mike Lewis 7, Jericole Hellems 2, Will Gladson 2
Sierra Canyon – Devearl Ramsey 18, Remy Martin 17, Adam Seiko 13, Cody Riley 13, Joseph Wallace 3, Terrance McBride 2
Oak Hill advances to second straight TOC title game
Few teams in the history of the Bass Pro Tournament of Champions have been as dominant as Oak Hill Academy.
On Friday night the Warriors advanced to their second straight championship game with an 83-62 win over Rainier Beach.
After knocking off Bishop Gorman on Thursday, Rainier Beach gave Oak Hill all it could handle in the opening eight minutes, knocking down three 3s and trailing by one possession, 24-21, thanks to 11 points in the quarter by Arizona State signee Sam Cunliffe.
Oak Hill then shifted its defense in the second quarter in order to challenge shooters, which limited Rainier Beach’s looks and forced the Vikings to shoot 4-for-17 in the quarter. The Warriors outscored Rainier Beach 20-10 in the second quarter.
“We went to our 1-3-1 defense and that seemed to bother them a little bit,” said Oak Hill coach Steve Smith. “We were able to limit them from the 3-point line and that seemed to help us. We went back to our man defense in the second half but going to that 1-3-1 threw them out of kilter and took them out of their rhythm.”
Oak Hill won the second half 39-31 and was never threatened in the second half. The Warriors trailed for a total of 63 seconds in the game.
Devontae Shuler led five players in double figures with 18 points, coming on 6-for-7 shooting from the field. Lindell Wiggington added 14, Matt Coleman scored 12 and Braxton Key and Khadim Sy both chipped in 11.
Oak Hill shot 54% from the field as a team, outrebounded Rainier Beach 40-29 and scored 44 points in the paint compared to Beach’s 22.
Key added eight rebounds and five assists, while Coleman contributed six assists.
Cunliffe finished with a game-high 26 points for Rainier Beach. Kevin Porter added 10. The Vikings shot just 40% from the field, including 6-for-26 3-point shooting.
The win gives Oak Hill a perfect 5-0 record all-time in the tournament and four of those wins have come by 20 or more points.
Up next is a date with No. 6 Sierra Canyon. The two met in February of 2015, a 64-60 Oak Hill win.
“We’re excited,” said Smith. “We played last year and it was a great game. They pretty have the exact same team now that they did last year. They have a marquee player in Cody Riley. “We know that we have to play well to win.”
Oak Hill 83, Rainier Beach 62
Oak Hill 24-20-17-22 – 83
Rainier Beach 21-10-12-19 – 62
Oak Hill: Shuler 18, Wiggington 14, Coleman 12, Sy 11, Key 11, Alexander 4, Miller 3, Nwuba 2, Mathis 2.
Rainier Beach: Cunliffe 26, Porter 10, Smith 8, Nelson 7, Shabazz 5, Roberson 3, Gurski 3.
