Central Catholic beats Davis to win Modesto City Classic

MODESTO -- The Davis High Spartans collided headlong into Central Catholic's law of physics.

Simply, he who is larger wins.

The Spartans scrapped like worker bees Saturday night, but they just needed bigger bees. The Raiders campaigned in the paint and captured the biggest trophy from the Modesto City Classic after their emphatic 79-65 victory at Downey's Lyle Iverson Gym.

CC (4-0), even without a few of its football championship teammates, relied on raw muscle: 6-foot-9 John Fenton with 22 points, 6-7 Johnathan Boddie with 22, 6-6 Jake Bland with 16 and 6-5 guard Joe Hamilton with 15.

"I was worried because we were missing some of our guards," Fenton said. "But we used our size. After halftime, my coach (Mike Wilson) calmed me down."

Power defined: The Raiders totaled eight points alone after missed free throws.

"We're getting that special feeling with this group," Wilson said. "The next step is keeping that cohesiveness."

Their patience was tested by a blue-collar Davis team (3-2) that gave up inches and muscles but didn't retreat an inch. Guard Brennan Shearer-Pope netted five triples en route to 29 points and fellow backcourt mate Tre Sommers bombed for 22.

When Davis' quickness keynoted a 15-4 run at the end of the first half — bringing the Spartans to within 32-28 at the break — CC knew it was in a fight. Never mind the fact the Spartans' 6-2 Matt Christensen was locked in a thankless duel in the paint with Fenton and others.

"We had to fight. We couldn't box them out," Shearer-Pope said.

Davis' feisty coach Dan Pacheco liked what he saw. Davis pulled to within 7 points early in the fourth period before CC muscled home.

"They (the Spartans) fit my personality," Pacheco said.

Shearer-Pope, Sommers, Fenton and Boddie filled out the all-tournament team.

Other all-tournament selections included Christian Carroll of Golden Valley, Travante Richard of Merced, Branson Garcia of Pitman, Zack Porterfield of Beyer, Blake Hauser of Downey and Dashawn Holcombe of Turlock.

• TURLOCK 60, DOWNEY 43 — The Bulldogs (4-1), smarting from their semifinal loss to Central Catholic, gained the upper hand late in the second quarter and captured third place from the tournament-host Knights. Turlock drained five triples, two by Devin Bains, compared to only two by Downey's Aaron Zwahlen.

Kevin White topped Downey with 14 points.

• BEYER 48, PITMAN 36 — A fast start by the Patriots (3-1) set them on course for their third straight win and the consolation title. Julian Orozco picked up all 11 of his points during the first half while Beyer pulled away 30-16 at halftime.

Beyer stabilized after failing to score during the first 4:40 of the second half. A layup and a triple by Porterfield (16 points) stabilized the Patriots, who were not seriously threatened in the final period.

Junior guard Jullian Carrera topped Pitman with 10 points.

Beyer fourth-year coach Brandon Hellstrom was encouraged with his team's performance after an opening 7-point loss in overtime to Merced.

"It speaks to the culture we're trying to build," Hellstrom said. "We set our goals high. We want the playoffs and we want to make a bigger mark in the (Modesto Metro) conference."

• MODESTO 69, GREGORI 63 — A young Modesto team (2-3) rolled behind Norvon Howard's 23 points and five triples. Junior Darius Nuttall had 15 points for the Jaguars (1-4).

• LOS BANOS 72, JOHANSEN 33 — Isaac Ruiz tossed in 15 points, 10 during the second period of the Tigers' easy win. Chantz Sababiano paced the winless Vikings with 11. Jason McDonald followed with 10.

• MANTECA 52, ENOCHS 49 — Curtis Porter's contested 3-pointer from the top of the key missed with 1 second left and the Buffaloes (2-3) held on for the win. Manteca broke open a close game and led by nine late in the game before the Eagles rallied. Porter finished with 20 points and Jozeph Whitehurst had 10 for Enochs. Austin Haro hit two important free throws with 11.5 seconds left en route to 21 points for Manteca.

• ATWATER 67, LATHROP 59 (OT) — Atwater junior Ben Peterson scored 37 points, four of them during overtime of the Falcons' victory. Josh Heller of Atwater (2-3) forced the extra period by nailing a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 8 seconds left in regulation. Robert Orantes paced Lathrop (1-4) with 17 points.

• GOLDEN VALLEY 43, MERCED 33 — In a rare early-season meeting of Central California Conference rivals, Golden Valley (3-1) outscored Merced (2-2) 11-3 in the final three minutes. Richard was the game's leading scorer with 11 points.