Sabrina Ionescu showcase brings heavy-hitters
The top girls basketball teams in California will duke it out – again – on Saturday afternoon in the premier matchup of the annual Sabrina Ionescu SI20 showcase at Carondelet.
Archbishop Mitty, the Bay Area News Group’s top team, will face the same Ontario Christian program that the Monarchs walloped 59-34 in the Nike Tournament of Champions two weeks ago.
Five-star junior McKenna Woliczko, highly-touted guard Devin Cosgriff and the rest of Mitty’s multitude of future college players are 8-0. They will face 18-1 Ontario Christian at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday.
ESPN has tabbed Mitty as the country’s best team, two spots better than Ontario Christian.
The headliner Friday will be the host school — Carondelet — facing two-time defending state Open Division champion Etiwanda at 6:30 p.m.
Carondelet (11-2) is led by Ionescu’s former high school coach Kelly Sopak, who at that time was at Miramonte.
Etiwanda got off to a slow after graduating superstar Kennedy Smith (now at USC) but has won four in a row to improve to 8-4.
The Ionescu field will also include teams such as Piedmont, Los Gatos, St. Mary’s-Stockton, Acalanes, Pinewood, University-San Francisco, St. Francis, Pinole Valley, Salesian, Archbishop Riordan, Oakland Tech and McClatchy.
The full schedule can be found here.
What happened at Damien
The Bay Area was well represented at the Classic at Damien, one of the premier holiday boys basketball tournaments on the West Coast.
After winning the Gold Division two years in a row, San Ramon Valley was moved up this season to the top Platinum Division, where the Wolves were dispatched in the first round by powerhouse Roosevelt and then Los Alamitos in the consolation bracket. But SRV rebounded to defeat host Damien and Sunnyslope-Arizona to return home from Southern California with a 2-2 record.
Dublin took down Etiwanda 46-41 in the first round of the Gold Division, but lost to Derek Fisher’s Crespi team 64-59 in the second round. The Gaels beat Village Christian Prep and Rolling Hills Prep after that to improve to 14-1.
Ygnacio Valley reached the semifinals of the Diamond bracket by defeating Pacifica Christian and Murrieta Valley before dropping a game to Rancho Verde. California took down Fairmont Prep in the first round but lost to Foothill-Santa Ana in the second round.
St. Mary’s-Berkeley went 2-2 in the Silver Division, and Alameda made it to the semifinals in the Bronze Division before bowing out to Glendora.
West Coast Jamboree results
Oakland Tech was the only Bay Area program in the top Platinum Division of the West Coast Jamboree, a tournament featuring many of California’s top girls basketball programs. The Bulldogs were routed 91-25 by eventual champion Mater Dei-Santa Ana in the first round.
Priory captured the Diamond Division crown, defeating St. Francis 53-47. Tournament MVP Vienn Sheng scored 13 points and all-tournament selection Adelaide Chan put in 10 points in the final.
Monte Vista defeated Carlsbad in the third-place game after taking down Tamalpais in the first round and losing to Maria Carrillo in the second of the Amber Division.
Other tournament results
Archbishop Riordan, coming off a tournament victory at Gridley, reached the final at the Torrey Pines Holiday Classic, losing to JSerra 52-47 in the title game to finish 3-1.
Riordan defeated Washington powerhouse O’Dea 91-60, along with St. Augustine and Father Judge in the next two rounds to advance to the final.
Salesian’s boys went 3-0 at the Hawaii Grind Session Invitational Showcase, dominating each opponent as the Pride won every game by at least 25 points.
Dougherty Valley had an eventful time at the Santa Barbara Holiday Classic. After crushing Hillcrest Christian 103-76, the program received news that highly-touted transfer Jalen Stokes was eligible to play.
The Wildcats defeated host Santa Barbara 73-70 in overtime and then lost a 54-50 nailbiter to Bryce James and Sierra Canyon the next night. Dougherty Valley rebounded with a 57-49 victory over Oxnard.