ANAHEIM, Ca. – The Corona Centennial High boys’ basketball team had to dip deeply into its extraordinary sophomore class to come from 12 points down and pull out a win Friday night.
Coach Josh Giles’ Huskies (No. 11 in the BurlisonOnBasketball 21 for 2021) improved to 6-1 by knocking off host Fairmont Prep, 58-53, in a non-league game.
The visitors struggled against the hosts (also nicknamed Huskies) and their half-court zone defense most of the first half, often settling for deep – and unsuccessful – jump shots without achieving much of the way of dribble or pass penetration into the lane.
Fairmont Prep (3-2), which plays at Mater Dei Monday night, got the bulk of its first-half (which ended with Centennial trailing, 34-24), by way of junior forward Chol Deng and sophomore guard Myles Che.
The duo provided scored 14 of their team’s 17 second-quarter points while one of those Centennial sophomores, 6-foot-2 Jared McCain, scoring half of his squad’s points.
The visitors’ first-half deficit would have been even more significant if Fairmont Prep had not missed five of its eight free-throw attempts – including the front end of a 1-and-1 – in the second quarter.
Centennial came out in the third quarter and did a much better job of player and ball movement against the zone, with McCain and juniors Donovan Dent and Ramsey Huff working inside for short runners.
But Che – a 6-2 transfer from Diamond Bar – nailed a 3 near the end of the quarter to put his team back up by seven points.
The visitors took their first lead, at 50-49, on a 3 by McCain with 3:05 to go before the hosts answered with consecutive layups by Cory Johnson – via a nice pass from Che – and Deng (who finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds).
Those proved to be the final points scored by Coach Joedy Gardner’s team.
Another sophomore, point guard Kylan Boswell (a standout last season at Colony High), tied the score with a 3 front right baseline with 1:56 remaining.
Yet another 10th grader, 6-6 Aaron McBride, blocked a layup attempt by Deng but Boswell couldn’t convert on a jumper from the left side and Fairmont cleared the rebound with 1:23 to go.
Boswell jarred the ball away from Deng at the other end and, in the ensuing scramble for the loose ball, the officials called a “held ball” – with the possession arrow in the visitors’ favor with 49.8 on the clock.
McBride was fouled trying to convert a layup with 42 seconds remaining but converted just the front end of the 1-and-1.
Boswell came up with an even bigger rip, stripping the dribble away from Che as he attempted to get by him on the drive, and then picking up the ball at near full speed and converting a layup to go by 3 points.
Centennial then did a nifty job of pressuring Che and shadowing other potential 3-point shooters, forcing Che to finally pass to Johnson who was well short on his attempt with three seconds to go.
McCain (pictured) was fouled with just .2 second on the clock and sank both free throws for the final score.
McCain scored a team-high 19 points with Dent adding 13, Boswell nine and McBride all seven of his points in the fourth quarter.
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