
By Jay Leon Guerrero
The 2021 McDonald’s High School Pre-season Basketball Tournament wrapped up its pool play on Saturday with all teams headed into the single-elimination playoffs. The playoffs, which will take place on Sunday at the FD Jungle gym, will feature eight games in a win-or-go-home format.
In the girl’s division, the St. Paul Warriors finished undefeated in pool play and claimed the top seed heading into the playoffs.
In the boy’s division, the FD Friars (POOL A) and the JFK Islanders (POOL B) finished undefeated as well heading into the semi-finals. Both teams will play in the afternoon, awaiting the winners of the quarter-final round. (See schedule below).
Feature game
In the girl’s division, the Okkodo Bulldogs needed a win against the JFK Islanders to avoid being the lowest seed in the semi-final round. After a close battle in the first half, the Bulldogs pulled away in the third quarter thanks to the play of forward Amaiya Fontanilla.
The first half went back-and-forth with the Islanders maintaining a small lead until the Bulldogs went on a run just before halftime.
Erin Moldez made a driving lay-in and was fouled to give the Bulldogs a slim 16-15 lead by halftime after she sank the free throw.
JFK’s Hannah Gogue and Laila Smartt each had 5 points in the first half in a game that displayed good defense by both teams.
Okkodo looked like a different team coming out of the break and went on a run to capture momentum. Fontanilla was crucial in the run, recording two steals which turned into lay-ups to ignite an 8-0 run to start the third quarter.
The Bulldogs took advantage of poor Islander shooting to open up a 29-18 led after the third quarter.
Fontanilla continued to play aggressively and sank a pair of three-pointers in the fourth quarter to secure the game and a second seed for the Bulldogs. The Bulldogs ended up winning the game 43-29 behind Fontanilla’s 17 points.
“It’s been a year and half and we are all just glad to back,” said Fontanilla. The Bulldogs will now face the Academy Cougars in the first round while the Islanders face the St Paul Warriors.
Although it’s a goal to always win, Fontanilla hopes her team can gain experience in the pre-season tournament. “Some of the things we’ve learned is that we we need to work on our defense and communicate better. I think we will be ready by the season opener,” said Fontanilla.
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Here is the schedule for Sunday:
GIRLS VARSITY DIVISION
12:10PM
# 1 SPCS V #4 JFK
1:30PM
#2 AOLG V. #3 OHS
5:30PM
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
——————————————
BOYS SCHEDULE
POOL A
#1 FD
#2 SSHS
#3 OHS
POOL B
#1 JFK
#2 SPCS
#3 ND
930am GAME 1
A3 OHS V. B2 SPCS
1050am GAME 2
B3 ND v A2 SSHS
250pm
WINNER OF GAME 1 v FD
410pm
WINNER OF GAME 2 v JFK
650pm
Championship


GPS Sports Calendar
February 2023
- SU
- MO
- TU
- WE
- TH
- FR
- SA
Events for January
1st
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
2nd
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
ISA TRACK & FIELD MEET
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
Events for February
3rd
ISA TRACK & FIELD MEET
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
TRITONS BASEBALL INVITATIONAL PLAYOFFS
Events for February
4th
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
Events for February
6th
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
7th
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
8th
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
9th
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
ISA TRACK & FIELD MEET
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
Events for February
10th
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
ISA TRACK & FIELD MEET
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
TRITONS BASEBALL INVITATIONAL FINALS
Events for February
12th
MONSTER ENERGY MOTOCROSS ROUND 2
Events for February
13th
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
14th
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
15th
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
Events for February
16th
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
ISA TRACK & FIELD MEET
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
Events for February
17th
ISA TRACK & FIELD MEET
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
Events for February
18th
BLACK HISTORY MONTH 2K/5K
World Athletics Cross Country Championships
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
Events for February
20th
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
21st
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
22nd
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
23rd
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
Events for February
24th
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL QUARTERFINALS
Events for February
24th
Events for February
25th
Events for February
27th
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL SEMIFINALS
ISA GIRLS SOCCER SEMIFINALS
Events for February
28th
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL FINALS
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE SEMIFINALS
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL SEMIFINALS

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