CHATSWORTH, Ca – The Sierra Canyon High boys’ basketball team got its first serious test Saturday afternoon in its effort to be California’s best for a fourth consecutive season.
All things considered, the Trailblazers should have been something awarded close to an “A” for their performance over the final five minutes or so of that examination.
And, appropriately, the program’s only two players, in uniform, who were part of 2019-20’s 30-4 campaign were Professor – eh, Coach – Andre Chevalier’s most apt students in the 72-59 victory over St. Joseph.
Six-foot-four and oh-so-dynamic left hander Amari Bailey was a key reserve as a freshman when the Trailblazers rolled to a 32-3 record and second consecutive State Open title over Sacramento Sheldon.
And he was a key scorer, playmaker, rebounder and defender as a sophomore last season when a third victory over Etiwanda in the State Southern Regional Open final made them the de facto state champion since the COVID-10 pandemic deprived them of a fourth consecutive State title showdown in Sacramento.
Saturday the Trailblazers – who crunched their first four opponents by an average margin of 44 points – needed pretty much everything Bailey has at his disposal in a well-stocked hoops tool box to help his squad dispatch with a team likely to represent the Central Section in the Southern Open or Division I Regional playoffs in June.
Bailey led all scorers with 28 mostly-spectacular points – 22 in the first half – to go with eight rebounds, eight assists, three steals and three blocked shots.
And, if you wonder if it’s possible that he’s capable of being even more impactful en route to, and during, the Southern Section Open playoffs that are set to begin on May 28 when the sledding may be even tougher than it was Saturday, my response is yep.
Bailey committed eight turnovers (albeit just one, early, in the fourth quarter), missed four of nine free throws and was “limited” to a single bucket in the third quarter in which his team was outscored, 25-17.
But he seemingly had as many eye-popping positive plays as turnovers, notably in his high-wire scoring finishes, dishes to teammates, offensive rebounds and open-court steals.
His spin along the baseline for a reverse layup while being fouled, and ensuing free throw, pushed his team’s advantage to six points with 7:05 remaining, some 30 seconds after Steven Vasquez’s 3 from the left wing had gotten the visitors from up the coast in Santa Maria as close as they’d been since a few possessions into action.
After the teams exchanged turnovers, senior forward Jinco Rivera’s scored on a left-handed drive got the Knights (suffering their first loss in 12 games) to within four points.
That second veteran from last season, junior forward Shy Odom, cut behind St. Joseph’s zone and Bailey rewarded his crisp away-from-the-ball movement with a base leading directly to a layup and six-point edge.
The 6-5, 215-pounds-ish Odom, picked up his fourth foul – via a technical for hanging on the rim a tad too long and emphatically after a dunk with 3:17 to go – and Chevalier pulled him to the bench for the rest of the third quarter.
He was back on the floor to start the fourth quarter and he more than rewarded his coach’s trust that he would keep his hands from making to much more contact with Knights – and the rim – the rest of the way.
Odom had two more in-tight buckets and six rebounds in the fourth quarter to finish with 20 points and 12 rebounds.
Rivera’s jumper got St. Joseph to within 61-57 with 5:08 remaining in the KDOC-televised contest.
But Odom muscled in a layup 30 seconds later and the Knights’ offense – with perimeter scoring threats Vasquez, Angel Ortiz (all 13 of his points over the first three quarters) and Dre Roman (a team-high 22 points but didn’t get a shot in the fourth quarter) shadowed and the lane taken away by the Trailblazers’ multitude of shot blockers – came up empty, by my count, on seven consecutive possessions.
In that stretch, Odom had his final two buckets, junior transfer reserve Ramel Lloyd Jr. hit both ends of a 1-and-1, Bailey and junior transfer starter Chance Westry dropped in one of two free throws apiece and senior transfer starter Ryan Grande flicked in a deep 3 from the right corner to push the advantage to 15 points with 1:06 to go.
Rivera’s layup in the closing moments provided the game’s final scoring.
Chevalier (pictured) figured to have two other key elements from last season in his starting lineup.
But Harold Yu – at 7-2 and with rapidly developing skills – never returned to Southern California after heading home to China as the pandemic began to rage globally.
And guard Bronny James, who often played key minutes as a freshman, won’t play this season because of a knee injury.
But, with the likes of Westry (nine points, six rebounds and three blocks Saturday), Lloyd (nine points and three rebounds), Grande (a three-year standout at La Canada) and 6-6 freshman Malik Rasul (by way of Tucson; he’s been a starter), there’s no shortage of quality players Chevalier can put on the floor around Bailey and Odom.
And, was proven during the first (2017-18, with transfers Cassius Stanley, K.J. Martin and Scotty Pippen Jr.) and third (with senior transfers Ziaire Williams and B.J. Boston) of the three consecutive Open Regional title runs, there are few coaches, anywhere, better than Chevalier at navigating choppy waves and meshing gifted newcomers into championship teams.
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