Centennial’s underclassmen come through, big time, Monday at Ribet Academy

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LOS ANGELES – Monday night one of Southern California’s youngest boys’ varsity basketball teams showed once more why it is also one of the region’s best basketball teams.

The Corona Centennial Huskies, after navigating the nearly 55-mile stretch of west-bound stretch of freeways to arrive at the Ribet Academy gymnasium, rallied from 10 points down with a little less than five minutes to go in regulation and prevailed in overtime, 79-75, over the host Fighting Frogs.

It ended up being all that could be expected – and more – in a showdown of the teams ranked No.’s 6 (Centennial) and 2 in the most recent BurlisonOnBasketball “21 for 2021” SoCal team ratings.

The Huskies (13-1), trailing by as many as 10 points with about five minutes to go in regulation.

But they sent things into overtime behind a perfectly executed sequence that started with a rebound (off a missed Ribet free throw with 7.9 seconds to go) and dribble hand off by junior Donovan Dent to sophomore Kylan Boswell and, after a screen by Aaron McBride kept Mike Price from challenging the shot, Boswell’s buzzer-beating 3.

Boswell’s left-handed layup to start the OT gave the visitors their first lead since the first minute of the contest.

Back-to-back buckets by Ribet junior Tre White (who scored a team-high 21 points) tied the score at 75 with 1:10 remaining before Boswell’s two free throws with 38 seconds to go put his team ahead to stay.

Boswell (pictured) missed the front end of a 1-and-1 but, after a timeout with 18 seconds remaining, White’s penetration into the lane was cut off and, after taking a pass from White, junior guard Barrington Hargress couldn’t hit a floater from the left baseline.

Guard Jared McCain – one of four sophomores in the starting lineup for Centennial Coach Josh Giles – soared well above the rib to grab the rebound, was fouled and converted the final two points for the free-throw line six seconds before the clock expired

Ribet Academy (4-1), which got a relatively late start – compared to most other of the elite teams in the region – because of COVID-19 issues, exploited the strength and skill of Seton Hall-bound senior Tyler Powell (who finished with 18 points and nine rebounds), White (a team-high 21 points and 10 rebounds) and Hargress (14 points and 10 assists) early and often against the Huskies.

Those appeared to be matchups that were going to be too much for the visitors to overcome, although the dandy duo of Boswell and McCain combined for 13 points to keep the Huskies deadlocked after the first quarter at 17.

Dent, Boswell and McBride scored all 16 of the Huskies’ points in the second order as Giles’ team was able to stay within four points (at 37-33) at intermission.

The Frogs returned three starters (Hargress, Powell and White) from their State Southern Regional D1 championship run last spring.

Each time they appeared to be about to create an even greater gap between themselves and the Huskies, the visitors got soaring rebounds, blocked shots or finishes from the fourth of those sophomore starters (McBride, McCain and Boswell are the others), 6-9, 180-pound Devin Williams, who was at Corona High as a freshman.

Williams scored all six of his points in the third quarter, and grabbed 10 rebounds with five blocks in the second half and OT.

The 6-2 Dent also helped keep his team withing distance of the hosts, scoring 10 of his eventual 22 points in the third quarter.

Boswell (a standout as a freshman at Colony last season and, probably, the top point guard prospect in the California Class of 2023), scored a season-high 29 points – including five 3’s.

The Huskies strengthened their hold on one of the eight CIF Southern Section Open Division playoffs spots with the win. Their only loss was to San Diego County’s top team, unbeaten Torrey Pines.

Ribet Academy plays at Heritage Christian Saturday at noon in another game pitting teams contending for a spot in the Open field.