Flying Tigers take two of three in Sacramento tourney

The Flying Tigers continued to soar in pre-season hoops last
week, posting two wins in three outings at the highly competitive
St. Hope Classic Tournament hosted by Sacramento High School.
Analy notched victories over Burbank, 63-34, and Capital
Christian, 80-56 before dropping an 80-74 overtime thriller to
Sacramento in the tourney title game. It was the first loss of the
season for the Tigers after starting the year with seven straight
wins. 
The Flying Tigers more than passed the litmus test in
Sacramento, displaying a potent combination of outstanding
defensive play with deadly perimeter shooting.
Senior guards Max Fujii and Eli Alcantar were each named to the
all-tournament team.
Alcantar played arguably his best all-around game of the season
in Thursday’s rout over Burbank, pouring in a team-high 24 points,
adding four assists and four rebounds. Other top scorers for the
Tigers were Fujii (18 points, 4 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals), Geddy
Dukes (6 points, 4 rebounds), Mohanned Halaweh (5 points, 6
rebounds, assist), and Nathan Molony-Benjamin (4 points, 6 boards,
2 blocks).
It was the Max Fujii show in Friday’s tournament semifinal win
over Capital Christian, as the reigning SCL MVP exploded for a
season-high 35 points, including eight shots from beyond the
three-point arc. Also turning in standout efforts were Alcantar (15
points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals), Malony-Benjamin (9
points, 7 boards, 4 blocks), Jalen Gilbert (5 points, 3 rebounds, 6
assists, 4 steals), Raffi Dick (4 points, 4 rebounds), Halaweh (4
points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 assists), Dukes (4 points, 7
boards, 2 blocks), and Michael Myers (3 points, 3 rebounds). 
Saturday’s meeting with host Sacramento for the tournament
championship was the stuff of legends, as the teams waged a battle
that was knotted at 62-apiece at the end of regulation. The Dragons
outscored the Tigers, 8-2 in the extra frame to emerge with a 70-64
win.
Leading the way for Analy were Fujii (24 points, 4 rebounds, 3
assists, 2 steals), Alcantar (19 points, 7 boards, 4 assists, 2
steals), Halaweh (8 points, 4 boards), Gilbert (2 points, 5
rebounds, 6 assists, steal), and Malony-Benjamin (2 points, 9
boards, 3 blocks, assist, steal).
The Tigers will resume pre-season action on Dec. 22 (after press
time) against visiting Cardinal Newman and travel to the highly
competitive ESPN ISCORE tournament in San Diego next week. 
Lions fall to Carrillo, Piner
The El Molino round-ballers continued their struggles in
pre-season losses to Maria Carrillo (no score reported), Piner,
53-39, and Piedmont, 52-45. 
Senior guard Jordan Nordby led the offensive attack in the Dec.
17 loss to Piner, contributing a team-high 11 points.
Top scorers against Piedmont were Joe Douglass (15, season
high), Nordby (9), Tyler Elderkin (6), Kyle Brinson (6), Calvin
Sandeen (3), Will Plaugher (2), and Mike Crowder (2). 
The Lions (1-8) hope to right the ship this week when they
travel to San Marin on Dec. 22. El Mo will participate in the
Sonoma County Classic Tournament at Piner beginning next Tuesday,
Dec. 28 when they open up against JFK of Richmond at 4 p.m.