LA HABRA, Ca. – Junior guard Jeremy Dent-Smith scored 23 of his game-high 25 points after intermission Tuesday night to help his Gardena Serra High team overpower the host La Habra Highlanders, 74-60, in a CIF Southern Section Division 2AA opening-round playoff contest.
Coach Bernard McCrumby’s team, which improved to 9-8, made a 27-mile drive on its chartered bus to La Habra High for the contest.
The drive will twice as long Friday — 54 miles, east-bound, to Ontario – and the competition, in theory, considerably tougher by way of the Cavaliers’ second-round opponent.
That would be top-ranked and 18-1 Colony, whose Gerry DeFabiis-led coaching staff was in the bleachers getting an up-close and in-person look at the Titans’ first playoff opponent Tuesday.
The Freeway League-champion Highlanders, whose season wrapped at 12-4 under Coach Aaron Rickenberg, hung tight through the first three quarters behind superb jump shooting (nine 3s in that stretch) and the high-wire active of extremely bouncy, 6-foot-1 senior Kai Smith.
Smith closed his high school career with a game-high 27 points (on 10 of 17 shooting, including two 3s, and five of six free throws). He was three of three from the field in the decisive quarter when his teammates were a combined zip for eight.
The 6-foot Dent-Smith (pictured) picked up his second personal foul late in the first quarter and didn’t get back onto the floor until the start of the third quarter with his team up, 36-33.
He didn’t waste a moment getting into attack mode, scoring-wise, with 16 points via a couple of 3s, three pull-up jumpers and two layups in the third quarter.
Dent-Smith scored seven more points in the fourth quarter (including a 3) and finished 10 of 19 from the field.
But the guy the hosts couldn’t at least counter was a junior who is, at about 6-9, at least seven inches taller than any player Rickenberg could put on the floor.
The aforementioned player, Duke Gipson, was beyond “productive”: 19 points (nine of 11 from the field and one of two on free throws), 13 rebounds, four blocked shots and two assists.
And Rickenberg has to be pumped knowing he should have Eric Castillo in his lineup for another three seasons.
Castillo, as good a jump-shooting freshman as I’ve seen this season, scored 19 of his 21 points over the first three quarters by hitting six of 12 shots from the floor – all of those buckets coming from behind the arc.
Your article helped me a lot, is there any more related content? Thanks!
Thanks for sharing. I read many of your blog posts, cool, your blog is very good.