REDONDO BEACH, Ca. – The only piece missing for a figurative – if not literal – set of 2017 L.A. City championship semifinals Friday night at Redondo Union High is the Fairfax High Lions.
But the Lions – if they are so inclined – can only be spectators during the championship semifinals since they are not one of the teams in the 65th Dijon Thompson Pacific Shores Tournament.
Three of their L.A. City brethren, Westchester (77-72 in overtime over Long Beach Poly), Narbonne (64-57, also in OT, over the host Redondo Seahawks) and Birmingham (76-73 over Santa Margarita), won their quarterfinal tilts Tuesday.
They will join Southern Section member Eastvale Roosevelt (a 62-50 winner against Oak Park in the first quarter played Tuesday evening) in the semifinals Friday night, as Narbonne takes on Birmingham at 6:30 followed by Westchester and Roosevelt at 8.
Westchester trailed by five minutes Tuesday night with just five minutes to go in regulation before sending things into a four-minute OT period via a 3-point from the right wing by left-handed sophomore Jeremiah Turley.
Turley added five more points in the OT to propel the Comets to the semifinals against Roosevelt.
Coach Ed Azzam also got a terrific performance from another sophomore as 6-foot-2 Jordan Brinson led the squad with 23 points.
Six-five Zafir Williams of Poly – who was the event’s Most Outstanding Player as a sophomore and junior – led the Jackrabbits with 25 points (23 in the second half) while playing in front of his future college coach, Mike Dunlap of Loyola Marymount.
Roosevelt pulled away from Oak Park over the final five minutes behind two more strong efforts from their college-bound standouts as Matt Mitchell (Cal State Fullerton) and Jemarl Baker (Cal) scored 26 and 17 points, respectively.
Riley Battin of Oak Park continued to show why he is one of the most skilled junior posts in California as he scored 30 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.
Another future LMU Lion, guard Ryse Williams, hit a 3 at the buzzer to send Redondo into overtime with Narbonne later Tuesday night.
But Narbonne, which led by as many as 20 points in the first half and was up 17 at intermission, had too much balance for the host SeaHawks as junior Kendal Frey led the way with 25 points and senior Psalm Maduakor scored 14 points and grabbed 15 rebounds.
Williams scored 19 of his team-high 21 points in the second half.
The nightcap featured perhaps the most well-played and entertaining game of the first two days of the tournament, as Birmingham held on against Santa Margarita as the Eagles’ Kaden Rasheed was just short from behind the arc in the closing seconds.
Rasheed scored 17 points while 6-7 sophomore Jake Kyman had 16 points, eight rebounds and four assists for the Eagles.
Devante Doutrive (23) and Deschon Winston (19) – first-team all-L.A. City choice as juniors – combined for 42 points for Birmingham while Doutrive’s junior brother, Devonaire Doutrive, added 16 points.
Senior Mark Boland hit a couple of big 3s down the stretch for Birmingham.
Action resumes on Friday.
The complete schedule: (consolation bracket; auxiliary gym) Noon, Peninsula vs. Harvard-Westlake; 1:30 p.m., Mayfair vs. Dominguez; (main gym) 12:30, Lynwood vs. Inglewood; 2, Rancho Christian vs. Gahr; (fifth-place semifinals; main gym) 3:30, Poly vs. Oak Park; 5, Redondo vs. Santa Margarita; (championship semifinals; main gym) 6:30, Narbonne vs. Birmingham; 8, Roosevelt vs. Westchester.
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