NORTHRIDGE, Ca. – Coach Andre Chevalier’s Sierra Canyon High boys’ basketball team handled its final “pre-CIF Southern Open Division playoffs” challenge in admirable fashion Saturday afternoon in a non-league contest at Heritage Christian High.
The Trailblazers, behind by as many as seven points a couple of times in the second quarter and by four early in the final quarter, turned on the Amari Bailey-sparked afterburners to pull away from the host Warriors, 88-66.
Chevalier’s team will take a 12-0 record into the CIF Southern Section’s eight-team Open Division playoffs, scheduled to begin Friday evening.
The Trailblazers won the past two Open sectional titles and have been the top team in the state for the past three seasons.
Coach Paul Tait’s team (18-6) is expected to be one of the top two seeds in the Southern Section’s Division 1 playoff bracket – games for which are expected to tip on Wednesday evening (except for those teams with byes).
The left-handed, 6-foot-4 Bailey led his team’s superb “Class of 2022 Threesome” by scoring 10 of his 26 points in the decisive fourth quarter, during which the Trailblazers outscored the hosts, 26-10.
Bailey (pictured) wasn’t accurate from beyond 15 feet-and-out – he didn’t hit a 3 and missed four of his eight free throws – but dominated every other facet of the game with 11 rebounds and nine assists.
Six-foot-five Shy Odom – with Bailey, a returning starter from last season’s 30-4 squad – returned Thursday night against Beverly Hills after being sidelined a few weeks with an ailing knee.
But he was in peak, kick-ass-in-the-lane form Saturday, with 26 points (11 of 17 from the floor and four of four on free throws) with 10 rebounds.
And that third junior, Ramel Lloyd Jr., scored eight of his 18 points in the fourth quarter and also grabbed nine rebounds with three assists.
The “X-factor” for Chevalier’s crew, though, was senior guard Ryan Grande, a 6-1 transfer from La Canada.
Grande spread his five 3s over each quarter – two of those in the second quarter when the hosts were threatening to extend those seven-point leads – while consistently finding gaps in the Heritage Christian zone and his teammates rewarding him for doing so with on-target passes into his shooting pocket.
Six-five Isaiah Elohim continued to justify the stance of those who believe he’s one of the elite freshmen anywhere in high school hoops, scoring a team-high 22 points for the Warriors with an “efficient” (eight of 10 from the field, six of seven on free throws) 22 points.
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