MC hands Immanuel first loss to reach Holiday Hoop finals

On some nights, the shots don’t fall. On others, the offense just doesn’t flow the way it should and no easy baskets can be found.

But in those cases, at least the way Modesto Christian prioritizes the way it plays basketball, it shouldn’t matter. Because for the Crusaders, the constant is defense.

Immanuel High from Reedley entered the gym unbeaten, averaging better than 75 points per game and shooting better than 50 percent from the field, and walked away with none of those stats intact after a 56-54 Modesto Christian victory.

“For me, the empahsis is always defense, so I’m really proud that tonight we were a tough team and we defended well and we made everything difficult for them,” said MC coach Richard Midgley, whose team held the Eagles to 39 percent shooting.

The Crusaders (8-1) will be looking for theit first Modesto Christian Holiday Hoop Classic title since 2005 when they battle Campolindo tonight in a 7:45 tip. Campolindo stunned El Cerrito, the state’s No. 14-ranked team, 67-63 in the late semifinal.

Modesto Christian, behind the 25 points and 15 rebounds of Anthony Townes, was able to pull away to an 11-point lead, 42-31, with 2:46 left in the third quarter. Even then, points were hard to come by, especially since the Crusaders’ perimeter game was misfiring.

“I did feet a little pressure to score, but we were trying to get the ball inside a lot to get easy shots, and when they collapsed on me we were able to get open looks outside.”

But MC converted only two of eight 3-point attempts, and so never was able to deliver the knockout blow against the Eagles (10-1). That left just enough room for the talent guard tandem of Colin Slater and R.J. Horn to bring Immanuel back into the game.

Slater had 10 of his game-high 28 points in the fourth quarter, and his free throws with 1:39 left tied the game 50-50.

“I had Christian (Ellis) and Jeff (Wu) on their guards Slater and Horn and they battled the whole way through,” Midgley said. “Slater’s an excellent player, so he got some points, but I thought we made it difficult for him.”

On the ensuing possession, perhaps because MC was not hitting from the outside, Immanuel collapsed three players on Townes inside, leaving WU alone. The senior had time to measure the go-ahead 3-pointer that gave MC the lead for good with 1:08 left.

“Give credit to Jeff, because his shots weren’t falling, but when it mattered the most they left him open,” Midgley said. “He hit that one and hit his free throws.”

The game still came down to the final 6.8 seconds, with Slater grabbing the rebound after a missed free throw and dribbling to the left side. But facing a trap from Ellis and Townes, Slater mishandled the ball as time expired.

“I didn’t knock it away,” Ellis said. “I think he was going for a crossover and he tried to pull it back when he saw Anthony trailing the play. It was too late and he lost the ball.”

Horn had 17 points for Immanuel, which got all but nine points from its starting guards. Wu had 14 points and Ellis 12 for the Crusaders.

Townes was a sophomore and Ellis a freshman the last time MC reached the title game of its own tournament, so they know what’s at stake tonight.

Said Ellis: “If we get this next game, it would be a big win for MC.”

Turlock 66, Gregori 56 – The Bulldogs rode an early 16-2 scoring run to grab early control, and while the Jaguars were able to slice the margin to six points twice early in the fourth quarter Turlock was able to escape with its first win in the tournament.

Both teams placed three players in double figures. Turlock (6-7) got 19 points from Devan Bains, 17 from Demsen McFadden and 13 from Will Hilgen, while Gregori (3-8) got 16 from Alex Badillo, 12 from Matt Vargas and 11 from Tyler Janitz.

Salesian 71, Patterson 48 – The Tigers’ first visit to the Holiday Hoop Classic has not been kind, as they followed two 28-point defeats with this 23-point loss to the Pride.

Salesian (7-3) placed 11 players in the scoring column and should be well-rested for its final-round game against Turlock. James Akinjo had 13 to lead the Pride. Damarrio Hammonds had 13 points and Kevin Phelps 12 for Patterson (5-6).

Weston Ranch 80, Chavez 51 – In leading the Cougars to two wins in three games and into the fifth place final against Inglewood, junior guard Jaelen Ragsdale might be the tournament’s breakout player.

His 26 points against the Titans, including 14 in the first quarter, give him 80 points for the event, one off the tourney lead of 81 by Pleasant Grove’s 6-10 center Marquese Smith, a University of Washington signee.

The tournament record appears safe for another year. In 2008, Merced guard Allen Huddleston had a 50-point opener in a loss to Modesto Christian and finished with 150 over four games. In that loss to MC, Crusader forward Reeves Nelson had 39 points and 21 rebounds.

This story was originally published December 29, 2014 at 10:07 PM with the headline "MC hands Immanuel first loss to reach Holiday Hoop finals."