REDONDO BEACH, Ca. – The Redondo Union and Long Beach Poly programs will hook up in the championship game of the Dijon Thompson/Pac Shores Tournament Saturday night at 7:30 at Redondo High – for the second year in a row.
The Jackrabbits knocked off the Seahawks – in overtime – last Nov. 29, 63-61.
Zafir Williams scored 28 points for Poly and was selected the event’s Most Outstanding Player.
The 6-foot-6 junior scored 26 to help his team knock off Eastvale Roosevelt, 55-48, Friday night to earn the Jackrabbits’ spot in the Saturday night finale.
But Coach Shelton Diggs’ club will be minus a key player in that game with the Seahawks – and, in a worst-case scenario, a lot longer.
University of Hawaii-bound Drew Buggs – one of the best guards and leaders in California – stepped in front of Roosevelt pass and sprinted into a dunk that put the Jackrabbits up, 14-7, with about a minute to go in the first quarter.
But, upon landing after the slam, his right leg appeared to buckle and he fell to the floor and almost immediately grabbed his right knee and writhed in discomfort.
After being examined by a trainer, Buggs – was helped off the floor and into the training room. He re-appeared 10 minutes or so later and watched the rest of the game from a chair that served as part of the Poly bench with his knee surrounded by a bag of ice.
He was walking with the aid of crutches as the team members and coaches left the locker room and headed to the parking lot.
“I felt something ‘pop’ when I landed (after the dunk),” Buggs said in as calm a tone as seemingly possible.
He is expected to undergo further evaluation of the injury early in the week – likely including an MRI examination that would determine the extent of any structural damage to the knee.
In the meantime, the Jackrabbits will be forced to attempt to win a second consecutive Pac Shores title (the event is in its 64th year) with one more degree of “short-handedness”.
Also in street clothes for the team are 6-9 juniors Myles Johnson (recovering from knee surgery in September) and John Duff (a transfer from Venice High waiting to be cleared for varsity eligibility by the CIF Southern Section office).
But Williams and his teammates such as Harrison Bonner – who scored all seven of his points after intermission – more than held up quite well with that extra-crowded Poly sideline.
Six-six junior Matt Mitchell did his best to keep Roosevelt close – his 3-pointer at the buzzer got his team to within 27-25 at intermission – as he scored all but four of his team’s first-half points.
He added seven in the third quarter but he was stuck on 28 for all of the fourth quarter while Williams and Bonner were combining for 12 of their team’s 13 points.
And multiple defenders – and defenses – helped bottle up another terrific junior as jump shooting-specialist Jemarl Baker was held to nine points via three of 14 shooting from the field.
In the first of Friday evening’s championship-bracket semifinals, the host Seahawks fell behind out of the chute, 12-3, and trailed by 11 points midway through the second quarter.
And they took a 10-point deficit into their locker room at intermission before ratcheting their defensive tenacity and offensive execution over the final 16 minutes to prevail over L.A. Westchester, 69-65.
The Comets were forced into 23 turnovers (seven more than committed by Redondo, many of which led to transition scores for Coach Reggie Morris Jr.’s team.
Tuesday night, in a 26-point second-round win over Oak Park, senior forward Cameron Williams led seven Seahawks in double-figuring scoring with 19 points.
He had a team-high 16 Friday, nine of those in first quarter that helped keep the Seahawks’ deficit becoming even more daunting.
Classmates Morgan Means (14) and Leland Green (11) combined for 25 points, 13 of those coming in the fourth quarter.
And, after consecutive turnovers had helped trimmed the Seahawks’ advantage from eight to four points, Green hit three of four free throws over the final 30 seconds to render Evan Council’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer moot.
It was Council who kept the Comets within striking distance with 11 of his game-high 22 points in the four quarter.
He hit nine of 12 shots from the field, including four 3s, with all but one of the buckets coming by way of mid- or deep-range jump shots.
Saturday’s complete schedule:
At Redondo High
Main Gymnasium: 9 a.m. (15th place), Lakewood Mayfair vs. North Hollywood Campbell Hall; 10:30 (13th), Harbor City Narbonne vs. Lynwood; Noon (11th), Woodland Hills El Camino Real vs. Newhall Hart; 1:30 (Seventh), Palos Verdes Estates vs. Oak Park; 3 (Fifth), Compton vs. Inglewood; 4:30 (Consolation championship), Temecula Rancho Christian vs. Encino Crespi; 6 (Third), L.A. Westchester vs. Eastvale Roosevelt; 7:30 (Championship) Redondo vs. Long Beach Poly.
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