About a month ago, the Mira Mesa High School boys basketball team beat Mission Hills by 40 points.

“The game was in their tournament,” Mission Hills coach Curtis Hofmeister said, “and they destroyed us.”

Monday night, bolstered by two players who didn’t suit up for the first game, Mission Hills turned the tables. The Grizzlies beat the Marauders 55-45 in the championship game of the 16-team Mt. Carmel Holiday Hoops Classic, handing Mira Mesa (13-1) its first loss.

San Marcos transfer Vincent Giglio scored 17 points, had nine rebounds and hit a crucial 3-pointer in the fourth quarter that started tied at 34-34. He wasn’t yet eligible to play when the teams last met.

Jake Vandervorste, who had 12 points Monday, sat out the first meeting with Mira Mesa due to illness.

Mission Hills (10-6) beat Coronado 60-48, Mission Viejo Trabuco Hills 56-55 and La Habra Sonora 67-55 en route to the title game. The Grizzlies needed a buzzer-beater by Mykah Simmons to beat Trabuco Hills, who had nine points and nine rebounds Monday and played great defense against Mira Mesa.

“This was a really good tournament for us,” Hofmeister said. “We won it last year, so we defended our title. And we found out we can play with some good teams, and gained a little confidence.”

Hidden big man

With scouting reports on every team, there are few secrets in high school basketball. But one big-time player flew under the radar at The Holiday Classic at Torrey Pines High School.

Brannon Martinsen, an agile, 6-foot-7, 4-star junior who was All-CIF Southern Section last season at Santa Ana Mater Dei, is at San Juan Capistrano JSerra now.

He sat out the first game at Torrey Pines, a 70-49 National Division win over Eastside Catholic of Washington. But when JSerra and Montgomery were introduced before a quarterfinal game, Martinsen was in the starting lineup, having completed the CIF Southern Section transfer sit-out period.

“We had no idea he was eligible,” Montgomery coach Ed Martin said. “We were totally unprepared. And it’s not like he’s just some average guy. The kid is a great player.”

Martinsen, who averaged 17 points and six rebounds per game at Mater Dei last season, has drawn interest from Cal, Creighton, Illinois, Iowa, Stanford, USC and UCLA, among others.

He was a major factor in JSerra’s 61-57 win over Montgomery, a game the Aztecs trailed 36-20 at the half.

“We made some major adjustments and made a game of it,” Martin said.

JSerra went on to beat Carlsbad 91-77 in the semifinals and San Francisco Archbishop Riordan 52-47 in the championship game.

JSerra (14-3) is ranked No. 14 in the state and No. 86 in the nation. Riordan is 9-1 and ranked No. 7 in the state and No. 26 in the nation.

County champs

Francis Parker ran its winning streak to seven games and its record to 11-4 with an 81-56 win over Cypress in the championship game of the Governor’s Division of The Holiday Classic. Parker beat Westmont 70-42, El Camino 68-52 and Olympian 60-56 en route to the title game. Olympian beat Vista 52-37 in the third-place game.

• San Diego won its sixth in a row and improved to 8-2 with a title-game win over El Segundo Wiseburn Da Vinci in the Mayor’s Division. The Cavers beat Tri-City Christian 63-39, Bakersfield Liberty 69-43 and Bishop’s 64-44 on the way to the championship game. Bishop’s beat Riverside Norte Vista 79-66 in the third-place game.

All-tournament teams

Pablo Balderas (Mission Bay), Jake Hall (Carlsbad), JJ Sanchez (Montgomery) and Jalen Williams (San Marcos) were the local players who made the all-tournament team at The Holiday Classic. Tavid Johnson (Francis Parker) was named MVP of the Governor’s Division. Trey Degrate (San Diego) was MVP of the Mayor’s Division.

Cyrus Sadri-Ahwazi (Rancho Bernardo), Max Mowrey (Escondido Charter), Anthony Reavis (Eastlake), Diego Ortiz (Mira Mesa), Tim Dorn (Mira Mesa) and Mykah Simmons (Mission Hills) were named to the all-tournament team at the Holiday Hoops Tournament at Mt. Carmel. Vincent Giglio (Mission Hills) was named MVP.

Firebird Classic

Pacific Ridge is hosting an eight-team, bracket-play tournament starting Thursday.

Host Pacific Ridge is 11-0 and plays El Capitan at 4 p.m.

Other Thursday games are Grossmont vs. Calvin Christian at 1 p.m., West Hills vs. Mission Vista at 2:30 p.m. and St. Joseph’s Academy vs. Morse at 5:30 p.m.

The championship is Saturday at 5:30 p.m.

5 teams head to Nike TOC

Cathedral Catholic, Central Union, Sage Creek, Steele Canyon and Victory Christian will travel to Arizona for the 100-plus team Nike Tournament of Champions.

The event starts Thursday and will take place at seven high schools in the Phoenix area.

Originally Published: December 31, 2024 at 2:06 PM PST