Tesoro boys basketball team holds on and captures championship of So Cal Elite Gary Raya Classic with 59-52 victory over CdM

Tesoro players celebrate after winning the Gary Raya Classic Saturday night.

Tesoro’s boys basketball team had to survive another last quarter run Saturday night.

To see the slide show, please click on the first photo.

But in the end, the Titans had too much firepower and held on for a 59-52 victory over Corona del Mar in the championship game of the So Cal Elite Gary Raya Classic at Woodbridge.

“We held on a little better tonight,” said Tesoro Coach Steve Garrett. “I’m really proud of the guys. We’re just really dialed into us. It’s all about us. We’re not watching a ton of film on other teams.”

In the semifinals on Friday night, the Titans saw JSerra overcome a 20-point halftime deficit to take the lead in the final minute before Tesoro held on for a 55-54 victory.

In the finals of the 10-team tournament Saturday, Tesoro (8-1) held a 13-point lead at halftime and led by 10 going into the final quarter before CdM cut the lead to 53-49 with 4:19 left in the contest.

But Tesoro, led by 6-8 center Noah Honetschlager, who made four key free throws down the stretch and wound up with a game-high 24 points, helped Tesoro seal the title.

“We’ve been in this tournament championship three other times and we were really fortunate and we just never had a team that was the best team so we played some really good teams,” Garrett said.

Tesoro point guard Matt Jones was named the tournament MVP.

“Every night he’s guarding and denying other team’s best player and just wearing those guys out,” Garrett said. “It doesn’t show up on the stat sheet. There are things that probably only five people in the gym know what he’s doing. And he did it for four games, he’s our guy.

“He just does everything for us. He controls the game on both ends of the court.”

Honetschlager and senior guard Triston Broughton, who had 13 points and seven rebounds, were named to the all-tournament team. Matt DeAngelo added 12 points and Tyler Broughton grabbed nine rebounds.

In the end, Honetschlager, who also had 14 rebounds, provided lift the Titans needed.

“I’m so excited, I feel that we really kind of blew a chance the other week in the Coyote Classic (Tesoro lost to Cypress 61-58 in the finals) so it feels really good to be on top,” Honetschlager said. “We have all the components, but the biggest change from last year, we had all the components too, but this year we’re such a tight-knit group. We’ve been playing together for four years and this is our year to play.”

CdM (7-4) was represented on the all-tournament team by Jack Stone and Connor Schim.

Jake Hamilton (16 points) and Stone and Jack Garza (14 points each) led the Sea Kings, who went 3-1 during the week. CdM was without forward John Humphreys, who was on a football recruiting trip for the last two games.

“I’m really proud of the effort the guys put forth this week, especially the last two games without John Humphreys,” said CdM Coach Ryan Schachter.
“Tonight, we gave ourselves a chance but it just didn’t work out. A couple shots here, a couple free throws there and who knows?

“But overall, I’m very pleased with the progress that our team has shown, having played three top 10 teams in Orange County to competitive games will definitely get us ready for league.” 

-Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com