INLAND FIELDHOUSE

Covering the Woodcrest Christian-Riverside Hillcrest varsity boys basketball game today, Saturday, Dec. 31, 2016, for The Press-Enterprise and @HSGametime. It’s the Championship Game of the ‘King of the Hill’ tournament.

Tipoff is set for 4:30 p.m. at Riverside Hillcrest High School.

BOTH TEAMS…
Woodcrest Christian (11-3 overall) battled through tough matchups in its first two games at ‘The Hill’, narrowly defeating Murrieta Mesa, 58-56, on Monday before squeaking past Hemet West Valley, 63-31 on Tuesday. The Royals’ last two games, however, have been easy by comparison, defeating Bloomington, 75-35, Thursday in the quarterfinals, and Hemet, 51-31, last night in the semifinals. A first-year coach doesn’t seem to have the program missing beat, with the team reaching the consolation final at the Perris Citrus Hill Big Daddy Tournament and the semifinals of another tournament before today’s game.
HEAD COACH: Eric Strano

Riverside Hillcrest (10-5 overall) has won six consecutive and shows no sign of slowing after a big win over Murrieta Mesa to reach the championship game of their tournament for the first time. This may be the Trojans’ best chance at a league title and a deep-ish playoff run in the programs’ four seasons. Their first senior class is stepping to the fore, and a good group of underclassmen are willing to play big roles. 6-foot-7 junior center Victor Ohia Obioha is a raw but potentially dominating talent, but shares time on the low block with 6-foot-7 senior center Garrett Barth, one of the team’s three captains and a force all his own.
HEAD COACH: Jackson Wood

ON THE ROSTER…
Woodcrest Christian — Jordan Flye, Sr. (5-foot-11); Ryan Christensen, Sr. (5-11); Jonny Tillman, Sr. (6-foot); Miles Ward, Jr. (5-7); Grant Dacus, Jr. (6-foot); Ethan Melvin, Jr. (6-4); Darin Reynolds, Soph. (6-1); Johnny Danfifer, Jr. (6-foot); Andrew Quaid, Jr. (6-1); Payton Webb, Jr. (6-foot); Alex Wright, Sr. (6-4); Jacob VanHaaster, Jr. (6-1)

Riverside Hillcrest — F Chris Magdaleno, Sr. (6-foot); G Osman Mansaray, Jr. (5-7); G D.J. Molett, Sr. (5-10); F Cam Vollmer, Jr. (6-1); G Dominic Fernandez, Jr. (5-10); F Marco Alvaredejo, Jr. (6-1); G Gio Marquez, Sr. (5-11); G Brian Mendoza, Jr. (5-11); C Victor Ohia Obioha, Jr. (6-7); G Javaughn Nolen-Pledger, Sr. (5-11); F Sebastian Mendoza, Fr. (6-1); C Garrett Barth, Sr. (6-7)

ONE THING IN PARTICULAR…
Well, two actually. Hillcrest’s twin towers, Garrett Barth and Victor Ohia Obioha, are both 6-foot-7 and probably scare the daylights out of most high school players.

IT’S ANYONE’S GUESS BUT…
Hillcrest 58, Woodcrest Chr. 53