Barefield Family has quite the Saturday at Cathedral

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LOS ANGELES – Calling it “The Greatest Showcase on Earth” might have been a more than just a tad hyperbolic.

But the last of the major regular-season high school hoops “one-day events”, played host to by Cathedral High Saturday, was a day well-spent by those who participated and watched the action.

The finale proved “grand”, indeed, as an undermanned Corona Centennial club rallied from seven points down at intermission to knock off the host team, 72-63, handing the Phantoms their first loss to a California club this season.

The Huskies (22-2) played their second consecutive game without Long Beach State-bound Deontae North (he was forced out of Friday night’s game with Corona Roosevelt because of the two Ts he received two nights early against Riverside MLK, and Coach Josh Giles decided to hold him out Saturday, as well).

But more than enough of his teammates stepped up to make up for the absence of the team’s leading scorer and rebounder.

Point guard Sed Barefield continued his terrific junior season, scoring 29 points.

But classmate Khalid Ahmad and senior Marcus Ford also hit numerous critical shots, the latter’s 3 putting his team up to stay, 65-63, with 1:09 to go. He followed with a steal and layup 15 seconds later.

The Huskies’ full-court pressure helped them overcome the deficit early in the third quarter and their half-court defense – limiting the touches and effectiveness of 6-foot-10, 260-pound, Cal-bound Idrissa Diallo (limited to just one bucket, an uncontested dunk) and 6-8 sophomore forward Lucas Siewert (just a free throw in the second half after hitting four jumpers early).

Giles’ team is CIF Southern Section 1AA-classified but is expected to be a top four or five seed in the Section’s new “Open” division for the playoffs.

Cathedral (19-3) is classified 3AA in the Southern Section but is also a strong candidate to be a part of the Open playoff bracket.

It was quite the day, in general, for the Barefield Family.

Sed’s dad, Ray Barefield, is the head coach at Temecula Rancho Christian.

The Eagles edged Santa Maria Righetti, 54-52, behind the exceptional jump shooting of sophomore guard Jamal Brower, who knocked in six 3s en route to a game-high 23 points.

Junior forward Cameron Walker (a key member of the Compton Magic program, along with Sed Barefield) scored 19 points for Righetti but only four came after intermission.

The most entertaining game of the event was the L.A. Price vs. El Cajon Foothills Christian clash, won by Price in overtime, 86-83.

Chris Martin puts Price up by two points on a layup with six seconds to go in regulation but sophomore forward T.J. Leaf, after an exceptional push on the dribble and then pass by Caleb Hoffman, converted a reverse lay-in at the buzzer to put it into a four-minute OT.

Ultimately, Price had too many ways to score and create plays (at both ends of the floor) and was able to overcome Leaf (33 points and 13 rebounds) and his teammates (most notably much-improved 6-8 Dane Norman, who had 18 points).

Price (19-7) has an exceptional junior class, and two of those class members – 6-5 Roderick Williams (26 points) and 6-1 James Washington (18) – came through in a big way Saturday afternoon.

In another game, La Canada Renaissance Academy built a comfortable lead early in the second half against San Diego Morse.

But the Tigers created some nervous moments down the stretch for the Wildcats, trimming their deficit to five points (mostly behind the play of senior point guard Jah’Mere Mitchell and freshman post Brandon McCoy) before the Wildcats calmed things and prevailed, 59-49.

Junior guard Marquise Mosley led all scorers with 24 points for the Wildcats, getting into the lane at the rim just about any time he so desired.