COMPTON – Considering that it hadn’t played a game in exactly 14 months, it should come as no surprise that the Long Beach Poly Jackrabbits initially struggled in its Moore League game with Compton Wednesday night at Centennial High.
The hosts (the game was moved to the other Compton Unified School District high school because the Compton campus is undergoing reconstruction) led the Jackrabbits, 24-21, after a turnover-plagued first 16 minutes of action.
“We’ve only had nine practices,” Poly Coach Shelton Diggs said afterward, echoing what a lot of coaches are saying since the return to the “new normal” of COVID-19 high school hoops.
“The first half looked like we were playing in a summer league game.”
Things were a lot crisper in the third quarter, as the Jackrabbits went on a 21-4 blitz and cruised to a 62-37 decision.
The Watson Brothers (pictured) – not surprisingly at all, of course – led the way.
UCLA-bound Peyton Watson scored 20 points with nine rebounds and four blocked shots.
And Christian Watson, a junior, added 16 points with 10 rebounds and four assists.
Since they last took the floor in Poly uniforms (during the Feb. 14 CIF Southern Section D1 playoff loss at Riverside Poly), the brothers have picked up a couple of inches apiece, Peyton now going about 6-8 and Christian 6-4.
Peyton’s reputation as one of the region’s and nation’s best in this class – he’s the only California resident to be a 2021 McDonald’s All-American – was already in place last season.
And his brother put everyone on notice Wednesday night that he may be climbing to that rarified air as a player, too, noticeably by way of his aggressiveness on the dribble and getting into the lane and scoring in a variety of fashions.
“It was so weird (to be back on the court again),” Peyton said afterward. “It took us a little while to get our legs under us to start playing like we know we can.”
With the Monday announcement that the CIF Southern Section will hold playoffs, Watson’s high school career could extend into June before he moves on campus in Westwood.
“That’s super,” he said. “I want to keep wearing this green and gold jersey as long as I can.”
An already veteran roster (besides the Watsons, senior Anthony Robinson and junior Gabe Cummings often started or playing significant minutes last season) will keep even deeper, bigger and more skilled Friday night when the Jackrabbits play host to Jordan.
That’s when 6-8 Jalen Pitre (who signed with Pepperdine in November) and 6-5 Lorenzo Marsh – from Gahr and St. Anthony, respectively – become eligible.
I don’t think the title of your article matches the content lol. Just kidding, mainly because I had some doubts after reading the article.