MONTGOMERY LOSES TO STATE’S TOP-RANKED TEAM

Neither team expected to be playing in the fifth-place game at 1:45 in the afternoon before family and friends.

The goal was the Saturday 8 p.m. championship game of the National Division of the Torrey Pines Holiday Classic in a packed Torrey Pines High School gym.

But here they were: San Juan Capistrano Jserra, the No. 1-ranked team in California, and Montgomery, the No. 2-ranked team in San Diego.

Montgomery, a high-energy team, ran out of gas after cutting a 13-point deficit to five and lost 67-53.

“We’re beyond the point of playing good teams just to play them,” said Montgomery junior guard JJ Sanchez. “We’re disappointed we didn’t win.”

After back-to-back 7-9, 1217 seasons, Montgomery has become one of the top teams in the county, going 25-7 and 24-7 the last two seasons. The Aztecs (12-3) lost to St. Augustine in last year’s San Diego Section Open Division title game.

“Playing tough teams in December will only help us in the playoffs,” Sanchez said. “The goal always is to win our league, win a championship in

San Diego and make a run at a state championship.”

The consensus is there are four really good teams in San Diego this season: Carlsbad, St. Augustine, Montgomery and Torrey Pines.

“I’m not buying it,” Sanchez said. “I think there are 15 teams in San Diego that can play in the Open Division. We’re good, and we’re growing as a team. We need to accept our roles. Keep playing with energy.” The Aztecs play smothering defense. And the fourth game in four days took a toll. The defense forced Jserra into 16 turnovers. But the Aztecs had 18 turnovers.

“I’ve got a super-scrappy bunch,” Montgomery coach Ed Martin said of his top six of JJ Sanchez, Alek Sanchez, Xair Mendez, David Soto, Devin Hamilton and Xavier Guerrero.

“Asking these kids to bring that energy four straight games against the competition we saw in this tournament is a lot. So it’s up to us as coaches to develop our sixth, seventh and eighth players to save some legs. Because these are the kinds of teams you play in March.”

Jserra (15-1) is ranked No. 1 in the state and No. 34 in the nation. The Lions’ only loss was in this tournament to Faith Family from Texas, which played in the title game.

Mendez led Montgomery with 16 points, while JJ Sanchez had 14 and was named to the all-tournament team. He also had five rebounds. Alek Sanchez had nine points and six rebounds.

Torrey falls Santa Margarita 56, Torrey Pines 50:

In the consolation championship, Cameron Mcnamee led Santa Margarita (11-4) with 20 points and was named to the all-tournament team. Matin Madakar has 12 points for Torrey Pines (12-4) and was named alltournament.

Third-place game St. Augustine 57, Archbishop Mitty 55:

Isaiah Hasten’s put-back bucket at the buzzer was the difference as the Saints (13-3) rallied from eight points down after three quarters. Jayden Bailes led the Saints with 24 points — 13 in the fourth quarter. Lolo Rudolph added 11 — nine in the fourth quarter. Nathan Noronha led Mitty (6-4) with 21 points.