RIVERSIDE – The Sierra Canyon High boys’ basketball team took a big step Saturday night on its road to a second consecutive CIF State Open Division championship.
And the Trailblazers of Coach Andre Chevalier did it by win their first-ever Southern Section Open title.
Led by the scoring of senior guards Cassius Stanley (a game-high 29 points on 10 of 15 from the field, including three 3s, while perfect on six free throws) and Scotty Pippen Jr. (12 points, eight in the fourth quarter), they led wire-to-wire while knocking off Bishop Montgomery, 64-57, at Cal Baptist University.
Sierra Canyon (28-3) scored the first 10 points and was up by as many as 12 points in the first quarter as the Knights missed their first seven shots from the field before Nick Schrader scored on a jump hook with 2:14 to go.
Led by University of Montana-bound guard Josh Vazquez (three 3s and 11 points in the first half), Coach Doug Mitchell’s team finally starting into an offensive rhythm, cutting the deficit to four points before the ended with Sierra Canyon up, 34-27.
Vazquez was still cooking in the third quarter (eight points, including two 3s) as his team got to within three points in the closing seconds only to go down by six after Stanley’s buzzer-beating 35-footer.
The Knights got as close as within three points (at 58-55 on a Gianni Hunt 3) before the Trailblazers secured things with buckets by Stanley (PICTURED) and Pippen and a couple of free throws by Stanley.
Sierra Canyon lost to Lonzo Ball-led Chino Hills in the 2016 SS Open final and to Mater Dei last season in the SS Open championship game.
But the Trailblazers recovered in the Southern Regionals with wins over Foothills Christian, Bishop Montgomery and Etiwanda to earn a trip to Sacramento, where they beat Sacramento Shelton in the finale.
The Southern Region’s Open eight-team bracket will be unveiled Sunday afternoon, with play beginning Wednesday night and The Trailblazers a lock to be the top seed.
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