Byline: George Vranau Special to the Daily News
LAS VEGAS - The Sylmar boys' basketball team was faced with a tall order Tuesday night if it was going to advance to the semifinals of the Las Vegas Powerade Holiday Prep Classic's Millenium Cup.
The challenge facing the Spartans was St. Mary's of Arizona, the No. 7 team in the West, according to USA Today, and its 7-foot center, Channing Frye. The Arizona-bound Frye had a big effort, totaling 27 points and 13 rebounds to earn game MVP honors as the Knights defeated the Spartans 85-69 at Durango High.
Frye wasn't the only weapon that Sylmar (2-7) had to face against St. Mary's (9-1). The Spartans also had to try and contain guards James and Jason Fontenet, twins bound for New Mexico State. James finished with 15 points and Jason scored 12 points.
Sylmar trailed 49-25 at halftime and by as many as 28 points in the second half before rallying behind John Valdez's 15 points, including three 3-pointers during a 19-5 run that cut the St. Mary's lead to 58-44 with 7:30 remaining in the game.
Earnest Williams and Jeff Morse added 14 and nine points, respectively, for Sylmar.
``We came out flat and played sluggishly in the first half and you can't do that against a team that has the weapons they do,'' Spartans coach Bort Escoto said.
--Valley Center 69, Montclair Prep 62: Eric Kaufman scored 17 points as the Mounties rallied but fell short and were narrowly defeated by the Jaguars (9-3) in a quarterfinal game of the Bronze Cup Division.
Trailing 58-39 with 8:24 remaining in the game, Montclair Prep (5-4) went on a 22-5 run and cut the deficit to two points with 1:13 left, when Derek Daniels was fouled while in the act of shooting.
Daniels went to the foul line with a chance to tie the game but made only one of the two free-throw attempts. Two costly turnovers by the Mounties in the final minute of play ended the comeback bid. Daniels finished with 16 points.
--North Hollywood 68, Cleveland 30: Josiah James scored a game-high 16 points and was named the game MVP as the Huskies (5-3) defeated the Cavaliers (0-8) in a Bronze Cup consolation game.
Richard Jenkins had 13 points with 14 rebounds and teammate David Danipour added 12 points for North Hollywood.
--Harvard-Westlake 71, Silverado (NV) 63: Game MVP Craig Weinstein scored 20 points to lead the Wolverines (3-4) past the Skyhawks (4-6) in a Silver Cup consolation game.
--Green Valley (NV) 73, Crescenta Valley 62: Chris Tarne scored 19 points and senior James Jenkins added 17 points for the previously unbeaten Falcons, who saw their 12-game win streak end in a loss to the host Gators (5-4) in a quarterfinal game of the Gold Cup Division.
Crescenta Valley (12-1) played without Jimmy Goffredo, who was out with a hip-muscle injury.
