LAKE FOREST – Cypress got some revenge Friday with a 66-61 win over host El Toro in the final game of the two-day Orange County North/South Challenge.
No. 8 El Toro had beaten Cypress, 66-44, in the Grizzly Invitational at Godinez on Dec. 3.
“We kind of got our clocks cleaned,” Cypress coach Derek Mitchell said of the teams’ first meeting. “So our guys had some revenge on their minds. They came out with good focus for this one and played well.”
Erik Pape led Cypress with 20 points, including eight in the fourth quarter. Michael Hyun and Myles Jones added 12 points apiece for the Centurions (7-5).
Maxx Hazely paced El Toro with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Noah Aguilar scored 14 points for the Chargers (9-3).
Cypress took a three-point lead into the fourth quarter and expanded it to seven points in the final period. El Toro made it a three-point margin again with 15 seconds remaining when Hazely scored on an offensive rebound of his own miss.
Hyun made two free throws with 11 seconds left to secure the win.
It was the 18th North/South Challenge that was started by El Toro coach Todd Dixon, in his 21st and final season coaching the Chargers. Dixon will be at Santiago Canyon College next basketball season when the community college launches its men’s basketball program.
Also at the North/South Challenge:
Tesoro 51, El Dorado 33: Justin McCallop scored 33 points and was named player of the game for the Titans (8-2).
Tesoro scored eight of game’s first 10 points and took a 17-6 lead into the second quarter. The Titans opened the second quarter with a 13-0 run to make it 30-6.
The Titans opened the season by going 3-1 in the Coyote Classic at Buena Park and last week advanced to the SoCal Elite Sports/Gary Raya tournament championship game in which Tesoro lost to El Toro, 58-49.
Tesoro coach Steve Garrett likes the progress of the young team – five sophomores are playing prominent roles — and the players’ determination to keep improving.
“We have 10 guys who average between 2 and 9 points a game,” Garrett said. “They love playing for each other and they just want to win. They’re a dream to coach.”
Godinez 49, San Juan Hills 46: Ramon Lopez-Felix scored 27 points to guide the Grizzlies (9-2). Cory Barker scored 14 for San Juan Hills.
Saddleback Valley Christian 101, Pacifica Christian 64: Tom Lewis said this is the deepest team he has coached in his six seasons at Saddleback Valley Christian. The Warriors put that depth on display against Pacifica Christian.
All 10 players on the roster scored, led by senior Trey Smith’s 25 points. The Warriors got plenty of points off of turnovers as they had a 30-13 lead after one quarter and a 50-26 lead at halftime.
Pacifica Christian’s Dominick Harris, a freshman point guard, fought through double- and triple-teams to score 21 points.
Pacifica Christian, a small private school in Newport Beach, has no seniors among the 10 players on the roster. The Tritons have one junior, three sophomores and six freshmen.
Dana Hills 63, Orangewood Academy 38: Devan Garland’s 17 points led the Dolphins (4-7).
Zach Stirtz and Cole Slagle scored 11 and 10 points, respectively, for Dana Hills. Uriel Bautista paced Orangewood with 12 points.
Contact the writer: sfryer@scng.com
