The opening matchup in the MLK Day Showdown at Providence High School featured the Mission Prep Royals from San Luis Obispo against the Renaissance Academy Wildcats of La Cañada.
Mission Prep entered the contest with a 13-7 record while Renaissance Academy came in with a 12-6 mark.
Both teams came out of the gates strong in a competitive first quarter. Renaissance Academy was led in the first half by junior Karl Vaskys who scored 15 points.
Sophomore Quinton Adlesh responded for the Royals, dropping 16 points to give Mission Prep a 34-30 halftime advantage.
Adlesh continued his hot shooting in the second half as the Royals jumped out to a 40-33 lead with five minutes left in the third quarter.
Renaissance Academy point guard Marquise Mosley kept the Wildcats in the game but Mission Prep held a 48-42 advantage heading to the final quarter.
Mosley knocked down a pair of mid-range jumpers to start the fourth and cut the deficit to 49-46 with 6:35 to play.
The Wildcats picked up the defensive intensity but the Royals withstood the pressure and proceeded to knock down clutch free throws to maintain their lead.
Sophomore guard Brandon Jones made some key shots from downtown for Mission Prep to help stave off the Wildcats charge.
Trailing 63-54, Renaissance Academy sophomore Clark Thomas drilled a three pointer to cut the lead to six with two minutes to go.
Mission Prep withstood the rally and secured an impressive 68-61 victory to kick off the MLK Day Showdown.
Leading scorer for the Royals was Quinton Adlesh with 25 points, earning him CLA and Further Player of the Game honors.
Game 2 Recap: St. Francis vs. Servite
The second matchup at the MLK Day Showdown featured the Servite Friars from Anaheim against the St. Francis Golden Knights of La Canada.
Servite came into the game with a 13-8 mark while the Knights sport an 11-9 record entering the contest.
Servite began the game playing stifling pressure defense, holding St. Francis scoreless early and forcing turnovers to take a 7-0 lead with three minutes left in the first quarter.
St. Francis got off the snide and got back into the game but trailed 11-7 after the first quarter.
Servite junior Neil Pauu and sophomore Trevor Treinen led the Friars from behind the arc as they extended to a 17-9 advantage with six minutes to go in the first half.
Both Neil Pauu and sophomore Travis Waller play quarterback on the Servite football team.
Pauu and company continued to play well and built a 27-13 halftime lead.
In the second half, St. Francis sophomore Noah Willerford knocked down some long range jumpers to cut the deficit to 29-22 before picking up his third foul.
Heading to the fourth quarter, Servite led St. Francis 33-28.
St. Francis junior Evan Crawford's excellent defense helped the Golden Knights spark their run as they scored the first four points of the fourth to cut the deficit to 33-32 with seven minutes to play.
Sophomore Kyle Leufroy scored 10 straight points to give St. Francis a 40-37 lead with under five minutes remaining.
With 18 seconds remaining St Francis led 43-41, until Servite guard Louis Juego hit a cold-blooded game-winning three-pointer with just 5.4 seconds on the clock. St. Francis last second attempt went awry and Servite pulled out a dramatic 44-43 victory.
For his stellar all-around performance, Servite's Neil Pauu was named CLA and Further Gen Player of the Game.
