St. Pius X-St. Matthias (Downey, Calif.) knocks off Desert Mountain (Scottsdale, Ariz.) behind its fast start to capture the Platinum Division championship at the 2023 Tarkanian Classic. San Francisco-bound Tyrone Riley gets team going early against a club that started its previous three games with a bang, only to quickly fall behind at the beginning of the title game. St. Augustine (San Diego, Calif.) takes third place in the event's top division.

The title game of the 11th Annual Tarkanian Classic pitted two teams that took different approaches to reaching Thursday afternoon's championship game. St. Pius-St. Matthias (Downey, Calif.) came into the game knowing it could play with Desert Mountain (Scottsdale, Ariz.) and could play from behind, if necessary. The Warriors preferred not to play from behind against a Desert Mountain club that was the Platinum Division's most explosive offensively and an ideal scenario transpired. The Southeast L.A.-based club got off to the fast start it needed and posted a wire-to-wire victory over a youthful club that played with no fear but could never overcome its own rocky start.

Desert Mountain star guard Kaden House, a 6-foot-3 sophomore who came into the title game averaging 34.7 ppg through the tournament's first three games but hurt his hamstring in the 78-65 semifinal victory over Branson (Ross, Calif.), did not start the game. He took some extra time to warm-up behind the bench, but by the time House entered the game with 6:03 remaining in the first period, St. Pius X-St. Matthias was already cooking. The Wolves trailed 8-0 by that time and eventually went down 10-0 and Desert Mountain's slow start was essentially the difference in St. Pius X's 89-79 victory.

With the victory, St. Pius X-St. Matthias (8-1) becomes the sixth program from the massive CIF Southern Section in California to win the event's top bracket. CIFSS teams have now won seven of 11 tournaments, as Stanley Johnson-led Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) captured the first two championships in 2012 and 2013.

Even with House in the game, the Warriors remained hot, particularly senior 6-foot-6 wing Tyrone Riley, one of California's best players whose confident demeanor brings out the best in his teammates. Riley had 10 points in the first period as the Warriors led 27-17 after eight minutes and he was up to 24 points by the time St. Pius X-St. Matthias took a 51-43 halftime lead. He only missed three field goal attempts at that point.

"The energy we had in the locker room...I still felt it during warmups and it carried over to our 10-0 start," said Riley. "After we won our first game, we said to ourselves 'we can win this'. We knew if we could speed them up, they'd get tired."

Desert Mountain (9-2), in reality, never got too tired, House was just somewhat bothered by the hamstring and the Wolves' other shot-makers were harassed by the best and most committed defenders they saw in the tournament, particularly 5-foot-8 senior (2024) David Mack and then 5-foot-8 2025 Saul Anaya off the bench. That defensive duo kept constant pressure on House and his brother Kalek House and the team's third all-tournament player, 6-foot-4 freshman Javon Bardwell.

"We knew it was going to be hard, but that they were going to get tired eventually, said Mack, who was named all-tournament and finished the title game with six points. "It was a hard job, but we stayed with it."

Shots around the rim also didn't fall quite like they did in the first three games for Desert Mountain, thanks to the presence of 2025 forward Doug Langford, who had seven points, five rebounds and three blocked shots in the first half. Langford also forced Desert Mountain to play a big lineup and go just a bit deeper in its bench than it perhaps wanted to.

St. Pius X led 72-59 after three periods, but Desert Mountain wasn't done yet. It eventually cut its deficit to 77-73 as Langford (who finished with 13 points, 10 rebounds and four blocked shots) fouled out with 2:54 remaining. The Wolves, however, could get no closer as St. Pius X hit a few timely shots, continued to keep up the defensive intensity and hit just enough free throws to return to Southern California with its tourney title in tow.

Senior Tylon Williams scored nine points, all in the first half, and senior Dayvon Gates netted 11 points, all in the second half, to provide a big lift for St. Pius X. The unsung play of junior (2025) Tariq Bridges was also key throughout the tourney, and he finished the championship game with 16 points.

Riley scored seven points after intermission to finish with 31 points, but his impact on the game never wavered. He had two key putbacks in the second half, contested shots, jumped passing lanes and battled on the boards to finish with six rebounds, and four steals. The lefty wing was named the Platinum Division's Most Valuable Player, averaging 22 ppg for the tourney.

St. Pius-St. Matthias head coach Donte Archie flashed a proud grin for Riley for the showing his star senior had at Tarkanian after a somewhat injury plagued summer. "It's nice to see him bounce back after his injuries, as some people wrote him off," Archie said. "I'm especially happy for Tyrone because I know how good he is."

Sophomore Kalek House (17.3 ppg in four tourney games) led Desert Mountain 24 points. Bardwell (15 ppg) finished with 13 points. Before fouling out with 35.5 seconds remaining, Kaden House finished with 16 points, four rebounds and three assists. For the tournament, he averaged 30 ppg and was one of two serpentine sophomore guards among the Tarkanian Classic's scoring leaders. The other superb tenth-grader, Jason Crowe of Lynwood (Calif.) actually did lead the tourney in scoring competing in the Ball Dawgs Division. He had two 50-point performances to finish with an event record 157 points, while averaging 39.3 ppg.

Desert Mountain will get some much-needed rest before playing in the VisitMesa.com Tournament in Arizona after the holiday. As for the Warriors, they are in the Gold Division at The Classic at Damien and now are the prohibitive favorites to win that tourney's second division.

St. Augustine (Calif.) coach Mike Haupt is known as one of the best coaches in the CIF ranks and that point was reiterated when he coached up his undersized club to a third place finish in Tark's top division, recording a 56-55 victory over The Branson School.

St. Augustine (10-2) led 33-22 at halftime, but Branson (which fell to eventual runner-up Desert Mountain in the semis) kept chipping away. Branson (7-3) even took a 34-33 lead with 3:44 remaining in the third period after trailing 31-17 late in the second period. The game went back-and-fourth from there, with the Bulls in position to tie the game on their last possession with a 3-pointer. After a 3-point miss in the closing seconds, all Branson could muster with a two-point field at the buzzer.

Branson's Semetri Carr, a 6-foot-1 junior guard who finished with 11 points, was joined on the 2023 Platinum Division All-Tournament team by Illinois-bound teammate Jase Butler, who finished the third place contest with 21 points. For St. Augustine, Cal-St. Fullerton-bound LoLo Rudolph (six points) made all-tourney for the second consecutive year. He was joined by sophomore Jaden Bailes, who had a breakout tournament and netted 20 points in the third place victory.

The following is the complete all-tournament team in the top division.

2023 Tarkanian Platinum Division All-Tournament Team

MVP: Tyrone Riley, St. Pius-St. Matthias (Calif.) 6-6 2024 G (USF) 22.0 ppg

Doug Langford, St. Pius-St. Matthias (Calif.) 6-8 2025 PF (15 ppg)
David Mack, St. Pius-St. Matthias (Calif.) 5-8 2024 G
Javon Bardwell, Desert Mountain (Ariz.) 6-3 2027 G (15 ppg)
Kaden House, Desert Mountain (Ariz.) 6-3 2026 G (30 ppg)
Kalek House, Desert Mountain (Ariz.) 6-2 2026 G (17.3 ppg)
Jase Butler, Branson School (Calif.) 6-4 2024 G (Illinois) 22.3 ppg
Semetri Carr, Branson School (Calif.) 6-1 2025 G
Jaden Bailes, St. Augustine (Calif.) 6-2 2026 G (19 ppg)
LoLo Rudolph, St. Augustine (Calif.) 6-2 2026 G
Shon Abaev, Calvary Christian (Fla.) 6-8 2025 PF (18.8 ppg)
Pharaoh Compton, Arbor View (Nevada.) 6-7 2024 PF (San Diego St.) 16 ppg
Josiah Cunningham, Coronado (Nev.) 6-3 2024 G (18 ppg)
Eric Freeny, Centennial (Calif.) 6-4 2024 G (UCLA) 18.5 ppg
Aliaun Iscandari, Campbell Hall (Calif.) 6-4 2024 G (20 ppg)
Nick Jefferson, Bishop Gorman (Nevada.) 6-1 2025 G (20.3 ppg)
Jaxon Johnson, Alta (Utah) 6-8 2024 F (Utah) 19.8 ppg
Jordyn Kee, Sagemont Prep (Fla.) 6-4 2024 G
Christian Reid, Mater Lakes (Fla.) 6-5 F (Southern Miss)
Kendyl Sanders, St. Bernard (Calif.) 6-6 2024 F (16 ppg)
D.J. Stickman, Clovis West (Calif.) 6-1 2024 G (11.7 ppg)
Bryson Tucker, O’Connell (Va.) 6-7 2024 G (24.5 ppg)

MORE TOURNEY TILE GAME ROUNDUPS

BallDawgs Division Championship:
Liberty Magnet (Baton Rouge, La.) 59, Weston Ranch (Stockton, Calif.) 49
The Patriots did a great job defensively and broke the game open in the second quarter, outscoring Weston Ranch 17-4 in that stanza to take a 33-19 halftime lead. Weston Ranch got within 49-42, but two missed free throws followed by a Liberty Magnet 3-pointer set forth in motion the Patriots' victory. Jaylen Peters, a 6-foot-6 forward was a big difference all tourney for Liberty Magnet (13-2), earning division MVP honors and finishing the title game with 11 points. The Louisiana club also limited Cornell-bound sharp-shooter Mateen Rafiq of Weston Ranch (6-2) to eight points and two 3-pointers. He finished the tournament with 20 made 3-pointers and averaged 20 ppg.

Spalding Division:
Carlsbad (Calif.) 53, Poly (Riverside, Calif.) 50
In one of the best championship games at Bishop Gorman, it was a nip-and-tuck affair in the second half after Carlsbad led by two points (39-37) at halftime. Carlsbad (10-1) led 48-45 with 30 seconds remaining when Poly's J-Rob Croy (19 points) made a twisting lay-up to cut its deficit to one. Carlsbad's Jordan Garner then made two free throws, but with seven seconds remaining, Croy tied the game for Poly (10-4) at 50-50 on his fifth 3-pointer. The Lancers' Tony Duckett, however, answered right back by hitting a straight-away 3-pointer at the buzzer to give his team the title. Duckett, an unsigned senior who helped himself tremendously at Tarkanian, was name division MVP after scoring 21 points.

Orleans Division:
Brentwood (Los Angeles) 71, Higley (Gilbert, Ariz.) 58
Jordan Houegban, a 6-foot-3 senior, had a terrific performance when his team needed it the most, knocking down six 3-pointers and finishing with 38 points. Houegban is one of California's best shooters. The Eagles start two freshmen and play three extensively.

BallerTV Division:
Vista Murrieta (Calif.) 81, Desert Oasis (Las Vegas, Nv.) 40
The Broncos moved to 13-1 with a romp of a local club. The division MVP was 6-foot-6 senior Donovan Ford, who netted nine points in the title game but was steady all tournament long. Nine players scored in the easy victory for the Broncos. The key win was their 68-46 semifinal win over previously unbeaten Pasadena (Calif.), a team that came into the game ranked No. 22 in California, according to Cal-Hi Sports.

Ronnie Flores is the national Grassroots editor of Ballislife.com. He can be reached at [email protected]. Don't forget to follow him on Twitter: @RonMFlores