Montgomery Wins; Southwest’s Tate Does It All

Montgomery High School, which leads the Metro-Mesa League, held Hilltop to one field goal and seven points in the fourth quarter to rally for a 70-65 boys’ basketball victory at Hilltop Wednesday night.

Montgomery (11-6, 8-1), trailed by six after one quarter and 10 at halftime, 39-29. It closed the gap to eight points, 58-50, after three quarters, then outscored Hilltop, 20-7, in the fourth.

Paul Ssaly scored 26 points and had 19 rebounds for Montgomery. Mark Dirksen led Hilltop (9-12, 5-3) with 21 points and 16 rebounds.

In other Metro Conference games:

Southwest 84, Bonita Vista 59--Will Tate had a quadruple double to lead Southwest (12-6, 5-3) to a homecourt victory over Bonita Vista (0-17, 0-9). Tate had 28 points, 13 assists, 11 steals and 11 rebounds.

Sweetwater 37, Chula Vista 32-- Carlos Campbell, a 6-foot 3-inch sophomore, had 19 points, 13 rebounds and 4 blocks to lead Sweetwater at home. Sweetwater (10-10, 7-2) led, 26-25, entering the final quarter, then built a four-point margin and maintained the lead. James Shaw led Chula Vista (6-16, 2-6) with 12 points.

Mar Vista 53, Marian 43--A strong defensive effort helped host Mar Vista (6-11, 3-6). Mar Vista held Marian (4-12, 3-5) to 13 points in the first half. Tim Nicolis of Mar Vista led all scorers with 23 points.

Castle Park 115, Coronado 56--Castle Park set a school scoring record to defeat Coronado (5-12, 3-6). John Stanton led Castle Park (13-7, 7-2) with 24 points. Coronado’s Jay Mallot, the third-leading scorer in the San Diego Section, was held to seven points.

AVOCADO LEAGUE

El Camino 80, Ramona 60--After a slow start, El Camino (13-4, 6-1) rallied for a road victory over Ramona (9-12, 4-3). Scott Oatsvale led the winners with 20 points. David Hill added 14, including two three-pointers.

San Pasqual 75, San Marcos 71--Trailing by 18 in the third quarter, San Marcos charged back to within 1 with 3 minutes left, only to lose at San Marcos. The victory was the first for San Pasqual (1-14, 1-6). Eric Meek, a 6-10 freshman center, led San Pasqual with 28 points, and Andy Loveland added 17. Each of those players hit two free throws in the final minutes to secure the victory. Sean Sweitzer led San Marcos (2-9, 2-5) with 19 points, Matt Barrick added 15 and Jay Kitti had 13.

Briefly--Rancho Buena Vista 65, Carlsbad 51.

PALOMAR LEAGUE

Vista 49, San Dieguito 36--Art Simantal scored 19 points for Vista at San Dieguito. Jeremy Scott had 9 rebounds for Vista (10-7, 3-3) and Bill Faraimo added 8 as Vista outrebounded San Dieguito, 30-13. Jack Minger had 14 points for San Dieguito (7-11, 1-5).

Fallbrook 57, Mt. Carmel 54--Todd Adamson scored 20 points and Mike West added 17 for Fallbrook at home. Rich Donovan made a layup for Mt. Carmel with 13 seconds to play to close the gap to 55-54. Adamson responded with a layup with 3 seconds to play. Eric Olander led Mt. Carmel (11-7, 3-3) with 16 points, and Chris Conrad added 11. Fallbrook is 11-8, 4-2.

Poway 94, Orange Glen 56-- Sixth-ranked Poway had all five starters score in double figures at home. Dave Delaney led Poway (13-4, 4-2) with 24 points. Adam Jones added 20 points on 10-of-15 shooting.