Jesuit gets a good look at Aaron Gordon

If it weren't for a few missed dunks, Aaron Gordon might have set a single-game scoring record at the Les Schwab Invitational Wednesday night at Liberty High.

Instead, he settled for 43 points as the Archbishop Mitty High from San Jose, Calif., beat Southridge of Beaverton 80-70 in boys basketball action.

Gordon, who is 6-foot-8 and among the best high school players in the nation, made 20 of 25 shots from the field, with four of the misses coming on attempted dunks, to lead the Monarchs to the quarterfinals of the 16-team holiday tournament, where they will face four-time defending Class 6A state champion Jesuit.

The Crusaders beat Sheldon 77-39 in their opener to improve to 8-0 on the season.
The tournament record is 46 points, according to tournament organizers.

"We got a chance to watch them play," Monarchs' coach Tim Kennedy said. "We don't expect Aaron to get so many good looks at the basket like he did today."

Southridge got 21 points from A.J. Monterrosi in the loss, which dropped it to 4-4.

The Skyhawks represented themselves well throughout the game inspite of Gordon's huge size
advantage. Scrappy play had the team within 56-54 late in the third quarter before a pair of turnovers turned into easy baskets for the Monarchs, who scored the first eight points of the third qaurter to take a 68-54 lead.

Gordon finished with 15 rebounds as well.

"We played okay today," said Gordon, who has publicly narrowed his college choices to Washington, Arizona and Kentucky, "but we gave up way too many points. We have to do a lot better job on defense."

On the day, the three out-of-state teams all won. Gonzaga Prep of Washington, D.C., beat Clackamas 90-51, and Neumann-Goretti of Philadelphia, beat Tigard. In other games, Century beat Columbia River of Vancouver, 58-47, Central Catholic beat Jefferson 84-67, West Linn beat Sprague 78-59 and Lake Oswego beat Sunset, 59-39.

In the quarterfinals, Jesuit and Archbishop Mitty meet at 5:30 p.m., following Century's battle with Gonzaga Prep at 4 p.m. Lake Oswego meets Central Catholic at 7 and West Linn faces Neumann-Goretti at 8:30 p.m.

State heads for tournament time

   Jesuit continued on its pace toward a fifth consecutive state title with an 88-55 win over South Salem Tuesday night, improving the team to 6-0 on the season heading into a game Firday at Silverton.

  The Crusaders narrowly survived a series of three games against Class 5A schools early in the season, including an overtime win over Jefferson, but have won their past two games by 33 points each time.

   They begin play in the Les Schwab Invitational Dec., 26 against Sheldon.

   Lake Oswego, which lost to Jesuit in the state final last year, is also set for the LSI and will play Sunset in its opener.

   In girls play, Oregon City won the Iolani Classic in Hawaii with a 49-44 victory over Dr. Phillips Academy, whch had been previously unbeaten, in the final.

   The Pioneers begin play in the Interstate Shootout Dec. 26 against Southridge, which it beat 79-38 two weeks ago.

   One team that is skipping out on the Interstate tournament is defending state champion South Medford, which is traveling out of state to to Maryland for an eight-team tournament. The Panthers will play in a four-team tournament in San Francisco in January as well.