BELLFLOWER – A year or so after winning CIF Southern Section 4A and State D-IV championships, the Ribet Academy program is showing it is more than capable of holding up to the “big boys” of high school basketball in Southern California.
Two nights after smashing long-time L.A. City powerhouse and Open champion Westchester by 24 points in a State Southern Regional D-I opener, the Fighting Frogs went into the St. John Bosco gymnasium Thursday night and toppled the bracket’s top seed, 61-58.
Six-foot -five sophomore Tre White – a transfer from Dallas who wasn’t cleared to play until Feb. 9’s regular-season finale against Rancho Christian at Cerritos College – scored a game-high 21 points with 10 of those coming in the fourth quarter.
Senior guard Snookey Wigington and junior forward Tyler Powell (pictured) – who combined for 33 points in the 52-49 Southern Section 2A title win against Hesperia Saturday at Azusa Pacific University – went for 14 and 15, respectively, Thursday night against the Braves.
The Frogs went ahead to stay, at 50-48, via a 3-pointer from the left corner – after a dish from White – by sophomore guard Barrington Hargress with 4:50 remaining.
They followed that with a layup by Marcus Reedy (off a Hargress pass) and dunk from White (via a lob pass from Wigington) for a six-point advantage.
The Braves (23-9), who had a bye in the first round and went 1-2 in Southern Section Open pool play, were led by senior guard Josh Camper’s 12 points (all after intermission) and 10 apiece from senior forward Wynton Brown, junior guard Lamaj Lewis and sophomore post Jeremiah Nyarko.
Coach Reggie Howard’s team earned a slot opposite host Windward (a 60-55 winner in San Diego against Torrey Pines Thursday) in a Saturday night semifinal.
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