High school boys basketball: Montgomery bests Petaluma 46-35 to reach Callan tournament final

Montgomery's boys basketball team, competing in the Brett Callan Memorial Tournament for the first time, will play for the championship Saturday.

The Vikings took care of Petaluma 46-35 in a semifinal on Friday and will face Miramonte for the trophy. The Matadors dispatched host Casa Grande 69-32 Friday.

Montgomery had the previously unbeaten Petaluma squad on its heels early as the Vikings drained four 3-point shots to jump out to a 12-0 lead. Hayden Lee and Lane Young each made two. Young added another later in the first.

The Trojans never recovered. They trailed 28-15 at halftime and got the lead down to five in the third quarter. However, Montgomery then bumped the advantage back to double figures.

Young finished with 19 and Lee wound up with 17.

Meanwhile, the Vikings' defense held Petaluma to its lowest score of the season. The Trojans' previous low was 51 in a nine-point win at San Rafael on Dec. 8.

Petaluma coach Scott Behrs gave credit to the Vikings.

'They shot well and we couldn't get to their shooters,' he said. 'They were hot, we were not.'

Montgomery coach Zac Tiedeman singled out reserve Abraham Rodriguez as one of the keys to the defensive effort.

'He came off the bench and made it tough on Petaluma's perimeter players,' the coach said.

Montgomery will take a 5-3 record into the title game, while the Trojans will carry a 5-1 record into the third-place game against crosstown rival Casa Grande. This will be the second meeting of the season between the Petaluma schools. On Dec. 1, the Trojans won 61-49.

Tiedeman has scouted Miramonte and knows his young Vikings are in for a tough game.

'They'll be the best team we've seen,' the first-year coach said. 'They are really good athletes. It's going to take our best effort. To be successful, we'll have to take care of the ball and all five guys need to rebound.'

MIRAMONTE 69, CASA GRANDE 32

The visitors from Orinda ruled the boards en route to the win against the Gauchos.

Casa was limited to one shot on most possessions and didn't score more than 10 points in a quarter.

Miramonte was up 13 after one quarter and pushed the advantage to 21 by intermission.

Eddie Ionescu led the visitors with 20. Robbie Sheldon had 15 for Casa.

ANALY 77, WASHINGTON 48

The offense-minded Tigers will play for the consolation championship Saturday at 3 p.m. against Cardinal Newman.

Analy will come into that game averaging 72 points per game.

Against Washington, the Tigers scored 23 points in both the second and fourth quarters.

'We push it on offense all the way,' coach Brett Page said.

The defense also played well while holding the San Francisco school to only 16 second-half points.

Aidan Toner-Rogers, who scored 31 in the opening-round loss to Miramonte, led all scorers with 21.

Nick Fujii had 19 and Dominic Tripodi finished with 10.

CARDINAL NEWMAN 53, NORTHGATE 42

The Cardinals had a difficult time with the Broncos.

At halftime, Newman was clinging to a four-point lead.

'We played solid and we played hard,' coach Tom Bonfigli said. 'We could've been sharper.'

Cody Baker, fully recovered from a fractured collarbone suffered in September during football season, led all scorers with 17. He drained three shots from behind the arc.

Gavin Dove added 10 points for the Cardinals.