Montgomery, Casa Grande to play for Brett Callan Memorial Tournament title

Montgomery is one win away from clinching consecutive championships in the Brett Callan memorial boys basketball tournament hosted by Casa Grande High School. The Vikings defeated Del Campo 60-55 on Friday night and will play the host Gauchos Saturday at 6 p.m. in the championship game of the 13th annual competition.

“Casa Grande is playing very well. They have five guys that can shoot, so we are going to have to defend well,” Montgomery coach Zac Tiedeman said. “The tournament and what it means to Casa Grande and the community is pretty important, so Casa Grande will out come out with a lot of energy and fight.”

Against a tough Del Campo squad, the Vikings (6-3) were losing by a point with two minutes to play but rallied in the end with defensive stops, free-throw conversions and a few hard-fought baskets to pull out the victory down the stretch.

“Our defense was pretty solid in the end,” Tiedeman said. “Del Campo has a couple of good athletes and they shot the ball well. The game before, Del Campo was packing the paint and getting to the rim so we tried to take that away.”

While the Cougars (4-4) didn't have the inside muscle, they did hit from outside, converting 13 3-point shots. Montgomery had eight 3-pointers.

Harvey Rouleau led the Vikings attack with 23 points, four rebounds and four assists. Teammate Brandon Lucas chipped in 15 points.

Del Campo, of Fair Oaks, was led by Isaiah Thomas with 14 points.

Del Campo will play Washington of San Francisco in the third-place game Saturday at 4:30 p.m.

Casa Grande 72, Washington 52

The Gauchos (6-3) easily put away the Eagles (2-7) to make it to Saturday's championship game against Montgomery. Casa Grande has not won its own tournament since 2010 and has been runner-up five times in the 12 years of the tournament's existence.

“It's going to come down to defense and rebounding for us,” Casa Grande coach Jake Lee said. “Montgomery is always a good shooting team and has a very precise offense. It is going to be a good matchup.”

Perhaps the 13th version of the eight-team tournament will be the lucky number for the Gauchos. The matchup is intriguing given that the Gauchos are coming in hot in their bid to knock off the favored Vikings. Lee is 0-7 in his 3-plus years coaching the Gauchos against Montgomery, but said his team is playing inspired ball right now.

“We are playing smart, playing a team game and getting the best shot each possession. Our tournament gives us a little extra fuel to play hard,” Lee said. “The players have really taken the Brett Callan story to heart and it shows.”

Casa Grande was led by Garret Siebels with 14 points and Noah Bailey with 12 points.

Washington's Jackie Luong paced the Eagles with 21 points but scored below his average. Da'Jon Aranas added 14 points.

“We threw a bunch of different defenders at Luong. Maybe he got tired,” Lee said. “Our defense in the first half set the tone for us. In the second half, we ratcheted it up on offense.”

Windsor 73, Analy 59

The Jaguars (7-4) handily defeated the Tigers (3-6) to move on to the consolation championship game against Northgate of Walnut Creek Saturday at 3 p.m.

Analy will play in the seventh-place game against Napa Saturday at 1:30 p.m.

“Offensively, our guys were working really well without the ball. We were shooting the ball well from the free-throw line,” Windsor coach Jared Greninger said. “It was a nice bounce-back game for our guys; they stepped up to the challenge.”

Windsor defeated Analy 62-42 on Dec. 1 at the Fred Iten Invitational tournament in Ukiah, but Friday's game was more competitive.

“The rematch was a lot closer. Analy battled a lot harder this game,” Greninger said. “They brought more hustle than they did the first time we played them.”

Windsor's Jordan Merical led all scorers with 27 points (five 3-pointers). Teammate Christian Jernigan added 25 points and 15 rebounds.

“Jernigan is a double-double machine. He was pretty dominant,” Greninger said. “He has a great nose for the rim.”

Analy was led by JJ Fain and Quinn Vermeulen, each with 16 points.

“Defensively we kept their guys in front of us; they had no blow-byes,” Greninger said. “It was a good defensive effort. Against Northgate, we have to defend the three and not let them get second-chance shots.”

Northgate 69, Napa 61

In a consolation bracket game, the Broncos (5-2) defeated the Grizzlies (5-4) after taking a 42-29 lead at halftime and holding on in the second half.

Northgate was led by Brayden Greenlee with 20 points.

Napa was led by Nick Gearing with 17 points.