The San Jose City College Tipoff Tournament (Saturday)

The Saturday version of the San Jose City College Tipoff Tournament was comprised of three matchups.

The consolation game:

Cosumnes River College took an 87-86 overtime win over Monterey Peninsula College. With eight seconds remaining in the extra period, MPC led 85-84 after CRC guard AJ Bridges made one of two free throws. A quick foul resulted in the Lobos also sinking one of two at the charity stripe -- MPC led 86-84 with four ticks showing on the clock. Bridges then went the length of the court, scoring on a dribble drive layup to tie the game and he was fouled. He nailed the free throw giving Coach James Giacomazzi's Hawks a victory.  Bridges finished with 30 points -- here's a link -- and Velasco post a double-double-double.

Notes: The sophomore Bridges is simply ultra quick and he's also strong for his 6-foot-1 size. His ability to create space for shot attempts on his dribble-drives is remarkable. Why wasn't CRC's 6-foot-7 Jaycob Velasco a tight end instead of a lineman in football? He has glue for hands. MPC's 6-foot-3 backcourter Donavan Salvant showed by outside-shooting and dribble-drive scoring prowess. Watch for 6-foot-6 Lobo freshman Will Burkett as he enjoyed a couple of streaks --  one where he was on the receiving end of passes in the paint and subsequently scored and he also buried three treys during the game, two right in a row.

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The third place game:

Then Lassen College paired up with Riverside City College and the former was able to get and keep a decent lead throughout much of the game. The former led 35-30 after the initial 20 minutes then expanded the point differential to win going away 82-65 for Coach Devin Aye.

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The championship game:

This Merritt College - San Jose City College contest began as the Anthony Knight DI Audition Show because the former El Camino backcourter was unstoppable for Merritt, scoring from outside and on dribble-drives. Then Andre (San Leandro High) Russell became 'en fuego' for the Jaguars. SJCC's point Bobby Gray was next via canny drives and excellent range on his shots with Thunderbird guard Denzel (McClymonds High) Bellot performing likewise. Merritt led 60-59 at the half.

In the end, it was Speed City bested by Speedier City, 115-105, and the remarkable element is that hard-nosed defense was on display throughout. The quickness both teams displayed was simply too much to contain.

Anthony Knight was named the tournament Most Valuable Player.