Sierra is playing for the Robert & Mary Fuchs Memorial Holiday Classic championship for a third year in a row today.

On Friday, the Timberwolves routed Escalon 60-39 at Columbia College behind an aggressive defensive effort in the second half. Guard Guillermo Nunez, the MVP of this tournament two years ago as a sophomore, accounted for nearly half of Sierra’s points with 28 of his own.

“Guillermo obviously had a great game for us,” Sierra coach Scott Thomason said. “He was scoring in a variety of ways.”

Eric Melgar added nine points and tallied the only 3 for Sierra (9-3), which was 15 for 20 from the free-throw line. Jonnythan Munkholm chipped in eight. Ryan Gregorio led Escalon (8-6) with 12 points, while its top shooter, Alex Von Alvensleban, was limited to 10 after pouring in nine in the first half.

Sierra was up 29-21 at halftime before a 20-point outburst in the third expanded the lead to 14. In the fourth, Escalon was held to just five points.

“We had a really good defensive effort in the second half and controlled the tempo,” Thomason said. “We just wore them down with our intensity on defense. We have work cut out (today) because Central Catholic is very good.”

Sierra takes on 6-foot-9 center John Fenton and the Raiders at 4:30.



Bruin Shootout

East Union 58, McNair 43

At Bear Creek, the Lancers improved to 11-0 thanks to a strong second-half effort. Leading 22-19 at half, they outscored the Eagles (6-7) by 12 over the final two quarters.

Jake Danhoff and Jordan Kron each had 15 points, and Justin Nieto chimed in with 14.

East Union’s perfect record will surely be threatened in tonight’s championship game, scheduled to tip off at 7:30, against Alameda powerhouse St. Joseph Notre Dame. The Pilots, are coming off two straight CIF Division V state championship-game appearances and won the title in 2011.

“St. Joe’s is one of the best around and they are coached by a legend,” East Union coach Brett Lewis said. “We’re definitely going to see what we’re made of. They’re a very good basketball team with a lot of quality players.”



Oakdale Rotary Tourney

Ripon Ch. 54, Oakdale 40

Ripon Christian (8-2) meets Riverbank for a second time this season tonight in the championship game. They previously squared off in Riverbank’s Ron Peterson Tipoff Tournament finale, with the Bruins claiming a 52-42 victory.

On Friday, freshman Travis Vander Molen led an early comeback charge for the Knights by scoring seven of his 17-points in the second quarter. Oakdale (3-5) jumped out to a 16-6 first-quarter lead before RC outscored the Mustangs 15-5 in the second. Ripon Christian put them away with a 13-6 run in the final period.

Clayton Blankers added 15 points, and Dan Vos vanished with 11.

The title game is set to tip off at 8.