SoCal High School & Prep Report

San Diego's Nike Prep Holiday
Classic: A Second Day Report--(December 27, 1997)

Patrick McKinney, who also maintains the University of San Diego High School Basketball website, has agreed to act as our sometime-correspondent and he had this report on the second day's games at the San Diego Nike Prep Holiday Classic:

Second Day's Results-- Nike Prep Classic

By Patrick McKinney

San Diego's big tournament, the Nike National Prep Classic, was in it's second day Saturday, December 27, 1997, and it brought record breaking performances to San Diego as well as a match-up between two of San Diego's top five. Many local teams are complaining that they don't get to face the tough national teams (like St. Anthony's) because of the way the tournament is organized, and that the bracketing and seeding isn't quite geared to giving the local teams the best competition. Despite that feeling, there have been some great games and a few of them have involved these mythical "national" contenders. We'd like to see the brackets opened up to really determine who the best team is in this tournament, but for now we will have to settle for the current structure of separate divisions.

Charlie Mercado of Vista scored 47 to lead his squad to a 94-79 victory over Centennial of Bakersfield. Mercado's total was just 6 points short of cracking the top ten for individual performances in the CIF San Diego Section. Mercado, however, connected on 26 of 26 free throws to break the old mark of 21 set by Mt. Carmel's Mike Wasserburger in 1987. Over the past three games, Mercado has hit 42 of 44 free throws. The win was important for Vista because it snapped a 5 game losing streak. We're not certain about Mercado's college plans, or who's recruiting him (if anyone) but if he's capable of performances like this, then somebody ought to be looking a bit closer.

In a highly anticipated contest, #3 Rancho Bernardo slipped past #5 St Augustine 69-64. RB, paced by 24 from Rei Rivera, took a 42-37 halftime lead and held on for the victory. Saints got 14 points each from Andre Porter, Terrence Terrell, and Jim Hill.

Fourth ranked and defending Division I SDS Champ Rancho Buena Vista (9-1) took a 47-14 halftime lead against Tokay of Lodi and cruised to a 77-44 victory. Aaron Abrams (16 pts) scored 8 in the first as RBV went up 16-0 and finished the first leading 22-4. CJ Fellars also scored 16 for RBV.

Other scores and highlights:

#9 Poway 89, South Lake Tahoe 70: Notable: John Insley (P), 27 points.

Australian Cap. 75, Santa Fe Christian 50

Granite Hills 65, Red Bluff 55

Torrey Pines 53, Capistrano Valley 43

Reno 64, Santa Fe Christian 48

#10 Bishop's 55, Scripps Ranch 53

#2 Horizon 76, John Muir 73

#7 El Camino 73, Australian Cap. 66

Mountain View 63, South Lake Tahoe 47

Bonanza 98, Canoga Park 57

Upland 66, Robert McQueen 43

JW North 88, Crenshaw 76

Fremont 92, Jesuit 71

Ocean View 94, Bonanza 56

St Dominic 78, Chaparral 74

St Pius X 49, St Mary's Hall 45

St Anthony's 66, Garfield 59

Play resumes on Monday. If you're in the area, then come watch the action, which will continue through December 31. If you can't be there, then check back here or over at the USDHS website for updates and news.

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