EL MONTE – Chris James remembers all-too-well the fourth quarter of his St. John Bosco High basketball team’s State Southern Regional Division I final with Chino Hills in The Pyramid on the Long Beach State campus on March 17.
In fact, it’s been pretty much one of the very first things on the minds of he and his teammates upon waking ever morning since – including Monday, just hours before the 2018-19 season opened for the Braves at El Monte High against St. Paul.
Uh . . . those are anything but pleasant memories, by the way.
“Honestly, 27-2 haunts us,” the 6-foot-4 senior said Monday night, after scoring 10 points with three rebounds and three assists in barely 16 minutes of playing time during an 82-32 bopping of the Swordsmen. With the lead having grown to 45 points after three quarters, the final eight minutes was playing with a running clock do the “40-point edge at any time during the fourth quarter rule”.
For those of you scratching your heads – which you’re not doing if you’re related to any of the St. John Bosco players and coaches, or if you just happened to be in the Pyramid for the game or watched it on television – 27-2 is what the Braves were outscored by against the Huskies after taking a 49-40 advantage and seeming control of things into the final stanza.
James (PICTURED) and his buddies – including now fellow-starting seniors Jonathan Salazar, Joshua Adoh, and Jalen Mansen, and now-junior guard Josh Camper – seemed well on their way to trip to Sacramento for a state title contest with that seemingly stout advantage.
But the Braves started turning the ball over with regularity and missing the same shot attempts the were drilling over the first 24 minutes.
And the Huskies, led by eventual State Player of the Year Onyeka Okongwu, seemingly converted all of those SJB miscues and missed shots into dunks, layups and jump shots.
Once the carnage was cleared, Okongwu and the Huskies were the one leaving the building with reservations for Sacramento by way of the 67-51 win.
But the same excruciating memory also helped launch the Braves (No. 2 in the BurlisonOnBasketball SoCal Top 25) into what has all the ingredients in the mix for what should be a terrific season for Coach Matt Dunn’s crew.
“It definitely motivated us,” James explained, “from the spring and thru the summer and fall and into tonight.
“You can see that in how our guys have responded. It used to be that only four or five guys might show up (in the gym) to work out early in the morning (beyond “regular” practice). Now it’s everyone showing up early.”
Whether the Braves prove to be the caliber of squad capable of pushing ahead of a plethora of gifted teams – notably defending State Open champion Sierra Canyon as well as fellow Trinity League programs in Mater Dei and Santa Margarita – as ultimately the state’s best won’t be determined until early March.
But it’s a reasonably well-supported statement to declare the Braves’ the deepest squad in Southern California.
Dunn had called on seven reserves by the five-minute mark in the second quarter and at least nine or 10 players pretty much got equal playing time.
University of Pacific-bound Jonathan Salazar – among the most physically dominant “bigs” in the region – scored all 15 of his team-high 15 points in the first half to join James in double figures.
And one of those reserves, 5-6 sophomore Boogie Evans, had six points, six steals and five assists.
The Braves’ next game in the tournament comes Wednesday against L.A. University, which dropped an 82-66 decision to Leuzinger earlier Monday night in a “showcase game” (it’s the only game Leuzinger is playing in the event).
Coach Arturo Jones’ Leuzinger program has advanced to quarterfinals of the Southern Section playoffs the past two seasons and could make an even deeper run this spring.
Six-three junior Amound Anderson, who scored 38 points in his team’s season-opening win over Compton Friday night, had 28 points Monday night while senior point guard John Clausell and sophomore Bryan Mex scored 18 apiece.
The trio combined for 10 3s (four apiece by Mex and Clausell).
University, which suffered its first loss after winning four times in its bracket of the Ryse Williams/Pac Shores tourney, got 28 points from 6-3 junior David Cheatom, who was all-L.A. City as a sophomore.
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