MUNDIS’ MAD SCORING DASH FOR SFC BEATS BUZZER — AND MONTGOMERY

‘Pure instincts’ push No. 8 SF Christian past No. 3 Aztecs

Instincts. Pure instincts. That’s how Greyson Mundis described his fullcourt, mad-dash, buzzerbeating basket that gave Santa Fe Christian a 70-69 win over Montgomery in an early afternoon thriller during the Battle at the Bay at Mission Bay High.

Down by one after Nico Reyes’ basket with four seconds to to play put No. 3-ranked Montgomery up 69-68, Mundis took a pass from Jeremy Love, took two dribbles and launched a 12-foot floater that bounced twice off the rim before dropping through the basket.

“The defense was in deep, so it was going to be tough to get a layup,” Mundis said. “Plus, the clock was working against us.

“Jeremy did a great job getting me the ball, I pushed it up the floor, glanced at the clock, and shot it.

“I was in the moment. Pure instincts. Nothing else.”

The victory for No. 8-ranked Santa Fe Christian (24-4) is its ninth in a row and 15th in the last 16 games.

Montgomery (22-4) sees its 16-game winning streak come to an end.

“This is a statement win,” Mundis said. “Montgomery is a really good team. Really well coached.”

Santa Fe Christian led by 14 early in the third quarter, and still led by 11 at the start of the fourth.

But a JJ Sanchez basket with 2:29 to play tied the score at 62 and the lead changed hands on every score the rest of the way until Mundis’ basket decided it.

Drew Bickley led SFC with 26 points, including seven 3-pointers — five in the first half.

“The ball was going in, so I kept shooting,” Binkley said. “One or two go down, your confidence grows.

“We knew Montgomery is a great team. We knew it was going to be a hard-fought game.

“But we really wanted the victory.”

Brycen Mackenzie added 22 for SFC — nine in the fourth quarter.

“We want to beat every team we play by 20, but we didn’t play Friday, so we got to watch a lot of film on Montgomery,” he said. “They’re really good. That’s why this is a huge win.

“It was a crazy finish, but we managed to stay calm down the stretch.”

In addition to his 10 points, the deceivingly athletic Mundis had nine rebounds.

JJ Sanchez, who was ill all week, led Montgomery with 23 points.

Alek Sanchez, JJ’S twin brother, added 13 points, Devin Hamilton and Reyes each had 11. Xair Mendez finished with 10.

Montgomery had 19 turnovers, SFC had 17.

“No question, not playing Friday helped us,” Mundis said.

“We watched film, got a good night’s sleep and had fresh legs.”

Montgomery played Friday, a 73-51 win over Eastlake, which made the 1:30 p.m. tipoff Saturday a quick turnaround.

“This was two really good teams, two very similar teams, playing,” said Montgomery coach Ed Martin.

“We both have a star player (JJ Sanchez for Montgomery, Mackenzie for Santa Fe Christian) with great supporting casts.

“I wish we played a little later in the day. This was kind of a short turnaround after playing Friday, but that takes nothing away from Santa Fe Christian.” In other games:

No. 7 Lincoln 53, No. 10 El Camino 48: Kyelin King of Lincoln (23-2) led all scorers with 23 points and added 21 rebounds in a game that was tied at 48 with 2:13 to play.

Emmanuel Barnett added 11 for the Hornets, who have won 14 in a row.

Euan Davis paced El Camino (17-8) with 15 points. Logan Ardenit added 13 and Terrion Woodard contributed seven points and 10 rebounds.

No. 6 Torrey Pines 62, San Diego 54: JJ Bartelloni paced No. 6 Torrey Pines (18-8) with 32 points, including seven 3-pointers.

Matin Madadkar added 13 points and had seven rebounds. Zach Jackson finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Jayden Wade led San Diego (16-9) with 22 points and 13 rebounds.

Scripps Ranch 72, Del Norte 50: Kai Brown led Scripps Ranch (15-10) with 22 points while Micah Brickner added 15.

Otay Ranch 72, Hoover 67 (2 OT): Otay Ranch (1710) had four players in double figures, led by Keoni Enriquez’s 18.

Adam De La Cruz added 13 while Dion Harvey and Keian Spandonis both had 10.

Spandonis had five of his points in the second overtime, including a 3-pointer and a pair of free throws. Enriquez also had 10 rebounds.

Santiago Estrada of Hoover (12-14) led all scorers with 23 points, including five 3-pointers.

Diallo Ozzeno added 21 for the Cardinals. Hassan Anglo scored 12 and Mohamed Abdisalan had 10 rebounds as did Anglo.