CULVER CITY, Ca. – Nine games – several of them involving some of the best teams in California – were on the menu for the second Ryse-Up Fall Classic Sunday at Culver City.
As compelling and well-played as some of those nine clashes were, notably Bishop Montgomery vs. Taft and Sierra Canyon vs. Veritas Prep, the focus of the event was to continue to celebrate very special young man who died so tragically just a day before he was to graduate from Redondo Union High in June of 2017.
Ryse Williams was a two-time all-CIF Southern Selection who had signed a national letter of intent with Loyola Marymount University.
But, just a few days after a tumor was discovered, Williams passed away from a rare and aggressive form of cancer known as “Renal (kidney) Medullary Carcinoma”.
RMC affects one in 20,000 to 30,000 people with the sickle cell trait.
The event attracted good crowds throughout the date, notably for the 3 o’clock Sierra Canyon-Veritas Prep clash.
Proceeds from the Ryse Up Fall Classic go to bring awareness to the disease and support research to find a cure.
Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth) and Bishop Montgomery (Torrance) met in both the CIF Southern Section and State Southern Regional Open semifinals last March, with Sierra Canyon winning both meetings and ultimately winning the State Open championship.
Those teams may not have hooked up Sunday but Coach Andre Chevalier’s and Doug Mitchell’s squads demonstrated why they could meet up with both sectional and state Open crowns at stake this spring.
Versitas Prep is an “academy/club” basketball program formed late in the summer and now being run by former Cantwell Sacred-Heart Coach George Zedan.
And Zedan has assembled a strong squad that includes 6-foot-4 Oscar Lopez (who was set to be a senior this season at Bishop Montgomery), 6-7 Ahmad Brown (who would have been a junior at Damien) and 6-7 Kirk Smith (who played as a senior last season at Fairfax).
And Zedan’s squad jumped out to a 30-18 advantage Sunday afternoon but was outscored, 16-1, down the stretch to fall behind by three points at intermission.
Over the final 22 minutes (the games were played with 22-minute halves, running clock), the “Juniors” – point guard Scotty Pippen (pictured) and forward Kenyon Martin, who combined for 52 points with their former NBA standout-dads looking on – helped Chevalier’s Trailblazers pull away for a 74-58 victory.
Pippen was near-flawless in both his floor leadership and decision making and was the most impressive player on display Sunday.
Each team played without a key element, Sierra Canyon minus Cassius Stanley (visiting Kansas) and Versitas Prep going without Iverson Molinar (who was at Mississippi State over the weekend).
Bishop Montgomery needed strong performances by guards Gianni Hunt (13 points) and Josh Vazquez (15) to hold off one of the better L.A. City programs, Woodland Hills Taft, 58-55.
Hunt (Oregon State) and Vazquez (Montana) plan to sign national letters of intent next month.
Other scores:
Crossroads 70, Cleveland 50; Culver City 58, West Torrance 40
St. Anthony 61, Westchester 50; Long Beach Poly 60, St. Bernard 47
Brentwood 63, Leuzinger 52; Loyola 41, Serra 33
Redondo 66, View Park 43
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