LAGUNA NIGUEL, Ca. – It was a compelling Saturday night for Southern California high school basketball – including one game that was played in the northern part of the state.
*Chatsworth Sierra Canyon, just behind Chino Hills in the BurlisonOnBasketball preseason Top 25, frittered a second-half, 12-point advantage away and lost to Hayward Moreau Catholic, 60-59, during the Prep2Prep Tip-Off Classic at Newark Memorial High.
*Back in Southern California, proper, the host Redondo Union Seahawks pulled away down the stretch to knock off Long Beach Poly, 64-49, in a rematch of the 2014 finale (won by Poly) during the 64th Dijon Thompson/Pac Shores Tournament.
Cameron Williams (Redondo) and Zafir Williams (Poly) – no relation – were selected event Most Valuable Player and Most Outstanding Player, respectively.
It was just one of three high-profile matchups at the event Saturday, with Eastvale Roosevelt edging L.A. Westchester, 64-61, via a late 3-pointer from Alize Travis.
Roosevelt is a strong candidate to play in the CIF Southern Section’s Open Division in February while Westchester may be the best team in the L.A. City Section.
In another game pitting strong Southern Section Open candidates (ala Redondo-Poly), Compton edged Inglewood, 54-51.
*Further south in Huntington Beach, Torrance Bishop Montgomery rallied from 13 points down in the first half to edge Santa Margarita High, 58-56, in the last of the games played in the Coaches for a Cause event hosted by Ocean View High.
Ethan Thompson penetrated into the top of the key, stumbled on the dribble but kept just enough of his balance to feed a pass to Fletcher Tynen (coming from the left baseline) who converted the pass into a go-ahead layup with nine seconds remaining.
Kaden Rasheed missed a deep 3 from the left wing with three seconds to go and Jeff Muir snatched the win-securing rebound.
Like Sierra Canyon, Redondo, Poly, Inglewood and Compton, Bishop Montgomery and Santa Margarita are strong candidates to be part of the Southern Section’s 16-team Open Division field come February.
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