Ramel Lloyd had 20 points, including a clutch 3 with 1:10 left, as Sierra Canyon (Calif.) rallied for a 52-49 win over St. Paul IV (Va.) on Wednesday in the championship game of the ‘Iolani Prep Classic.
Lloyd was named the Classic’s most outstanding player. St. Paul IV’s Dug McDaniel, who led the Panthers with 17 points, was named the tournament MVP.
“I feel great. We came a long way over a four-, five-day period,” Trailblazers coach Andre Chevalier said. “We didn’t start off playing well but the guys came together and found a way to win, and that’s important. I’m super excited because we get all of our team back next week, so we’ll be fully loaded.”
Lloyd’s wing 3 on a feed from Dylan Metoyer boosted the Trailblazers’ lead to 52-47.
After a follow shot by Jojo Phillips sliced the lead to three, Bronny James missed the front side of a one-and-one and Mike Price traveled with the offensive board and 23.2 seconds remaining.
Panthers’ gunner Isaiah Elohim missed a potential game-tying 3 with 12.8 seconds left, but St. Paul VI got another chance after Price missed the front of a one-and-one with 10.6 seconds left.
McDaniel missed a contested 24-footer, and after Garrett Sundra hustled for the offensive carom, he fed McDaniel, who fired a tough runner from 3 at the buzzer that missed.
“Can we just get a rebound, is what my mind was saying. Can we rebound the ball so we can end this game,” Chevalier said. “(St. Paul IV) is good. They’re in one of the toughest leagues in the country so they’re always going to go to war. They’re always going to have great players and their coach (Glenn Farello) is a great coach, as well.”
Then there was mischief on the court after the final buzzer. Some Trailblazers at halfcourt did the same shoo-away wave at St. Paul IV that upset Pembroke Pines (Fla.) fans the day before.
That drew the ire of normally mild-mannered Farello, who questioned Chevalier near the scorer’s table. When the Blazers coach tried to bring his team to shake hands with the Panthers, Farello shook his head.
“After what you guys did?” he asked before turning away.
Chevalier was disappointed, but understanding.
“Sometimes a young team doesn’t know how to win,” Chevalier said. “We don’t celebrate on the floor. We celebrate after we get in the locker room. We’re in the middle of the rectangle, we go to war, but as soon as the clock hits zero, then it’s camaraderie amongst the players, right? They’re compadres. After the war, they shake hands out of respect and keep it moving, and we have to be better at that. It’s a learning process for it.”
Farello preferred to share his feelings about his team rather than discuss the post-game flare-up.
“I’m real proud of how we battled. We have a lot of freshmen and sophomores competing,” he said. We just missed some open looks and they hit four (shots) in a row. It’s fun to see that level of play. We had a championship effort.”
Price finished with 10 points and 6-foot-9 center Kijani Wright had 13 rebounds and five points for Sierra Canyon. James finished with nine points.
Darren Harris tallied 13 points and DeShawn Harris-Smith added 12, eight rebounds and two steals for the Panthers.
The game itself was a battle, one of the best title games in recent memory at the Classic.
The Panthers opened the game with a 1-2-2 zone that took Sierra Canyon some time to solve. McDaniel was unstoppable in transition and halfcourt, hitting three buckets in a row, then two 3-point bombs to sore all of his team’s points as St. Paul VI took a 13-6 lead after one quarter.
The Trailblazers chipped away and tied it at 12-all on Lloyd’s wing 3. McDaniel’s 3 helped the Panthers stay ahead, and the Panthers led 23-22 at halftime.
Sierra Canyon took its first lead, 34-33, on Bronny James’ layup with 6:33 left in the third quarter. The Blazers led 39-38 going into the fourth.
Price’s lefty layup opened the lead to 48-43 with 3 minutes to go.
Central Catholic (Ore.) 62, ‘Iolani 44
Isaac Carr scored 17 points, including three back-breaking treys in the fourth quarter, as the Rams pulled away for the win. Luke Johnson added 15 points and four rebounds for Central Catholic, which had quite the journey at the Classic.
Sophomore Aaron Claytor tallied 12 points and JJ Mandaquit had 11 points and four assists for ‘Iolani.
The Rams sped to an 8-0 lead and never trailed, opening the margin to double digits. With both teams in 2-3 zones, the pace was plodding at times, but the Raiders got a 3 and a mid-range jumper from Claytor, and a wing 3 by Akila Indalecio to get within 34-28 in the third quarter.
Carr then got hot, spotting up as Riley Williams and other teammates found him on drive-and-kicks. After a Carr 3 and a Jordan King 3, the Rams led 50-35 with 4:55 to go.
Central Catholic lost to Pembroke Pines (Fla.) in the quarterfinal round on Monday, but was invited to play in Tuesday’s semifinals when West Linn (Ore.) withdrew. The Rams gave St. Paul VI a battle before falling.
The Central Catholic-‘Iolani game was the only other game played aside from the championship on the final day.