SANTA MONICA – The No.’s 6-, 16- and 28-ranked teams in the BurlisonOnBasketball SoCal Top 60 opened their seasons with wins Wednesday during the third night of the Westside Tip-Off Classic at St. Monica Prep.
Playing in the day’s finale, the No. 6 St. Bernard Vikings – who won the CIF Southern Section Div. 1 title last spring – pulled away late in the third quarter to come away with a 74-54 decision against L.A. Westchester.
That was before No. 16 Rancho Cucamonga (the CIF SS 3AA champion last season) held off a furious fourth-quarter rally by Newport Beach Sage Hill to prevail, 84-74.
And, to start things Wednesday, Beverly Hills – trailing by nine points early in the fourth quarter – closed out things down the stretch behind the play of guards Jameson Caruso and Jon Mani to knock off Michael Cooper-coached Culver City, 73-63.
The six-day event continues Thursday night, with Windward taking on Lawndale at 4:30; the host Mariners facing Campbell Hall at 6; and No. 2 Harvard-Westlake being challenged by Crossroads at 7:30.
Beverly Hills was in front, 32-27, at intermission against the Centaurs – who are in their second season with the former Lakers’ “Showtime” standout at the helm.
Then 6-foot-5 senior Connor Scales (who finished with 22 points) took over, as both scorer and facilitator, and Culver City outscored the Normans by 12 points in the third quarter and pushing the advantage to nine points early in the final quarter.
But the 6-1 Caruso (perhaps the most “underrated” of the best of the Southland’s Class of 2023 point guards) and the multi-skilled Mani – each good over the first three quarters but exceptional over the final six minutes or so – took over.
Caruso, a slick and deceptively quick ball-handler with a knack for getting into the lane for nifty finishes over and around defenders, finished with 22 points and at least a half-dozen assists.
And Mani (pictured) continued his ascent in the pecking order of the “best juniors in SoCal” with his effort that included 29 points, six rebounds, four assists and four blocked shots (a couple of them of the spectacular variety).
Rancho Cucamonga is a threat to win another CIF SS title (the program was moved to 2AA for this season by the Southern Section), in large part because the Cougars returned two terrific guards in senior Shadale Knight (CIF SS 3AA Player of the Year last season) and sophomore Aaron Glass.
Knight scored a game-high 28 points – 23 coming in the third quarter – and Glass added 20 for Coach Bill Burke’s team Wednesday night.
The Cougars took a 21-point advantage into the fourth quarter.
But the Lightning – in its first game under new Head Coach D’Cean Bryant – didn’t fold but continued to patiently execute its half-court offense.
Behind senior guard Gage Talleur (23 points, including 15 free throws) and 6-7 junior Johnny Mayhew (16 points, most of those via quality low-post moves), Sage Hill cut its deficit to four points, at 78-74, with 57 seconds to go.
But the Cougars closed it out with two free throws by sophomore Chuchu Osuji (who played on Etiwanda’s freshman team last season), a bucket by Glass and a dunk by Osuji.
The Lightning should add another significant dimension, by way of 6-8 Carter Bryant once the transfer from Fountain Valley (where he played for his dad and now-Sage Hill Coach D’Cean Bryant) as soon as the CIF Southern Section clears his eligibility.
Carter is on a short list of the best of the Class of 2024 prospects anywhere and is being heavily recruited by elite college programs across the country.
The distance between the St. Bernard and Westchester campuses – with a backdrop of the LAX runways – is barely, at most, a couple of city blocks.
And the basketball programs share a lot of “history”, as was demonstrated by who was is the St. Monica gym for the Vikings-Comets clash Wednesday:
*A former Westchester standout (and San Diego State player and USC assistant coach), Tony Bland, is St. Bernard’s head coach.
*Another standout Westchester alumnus, 18-year NBA player Trevor Ariza, was atop on side of the bleachers to watch his son – standout 6-5 freshman Tahj Ariza – in action for the Vikings.
*And, who walked into the gym about 10 minutes before tip-off and found himself a seat in the bleachers?
That would be Ed Azzam, who retired after the 2020-21 season after 42 years – and 932 victories, 15 of those in L.A. City championship games – as Westchester’s coach.
With the Comets now coached by Azzam’s long-time “right-hand assistant”, DeWitt Cotton, the action on the court was past-paced – and, for those watching (from the benches and the bleachers) – probably more than just a tad “emotional”, as well.
Six-four Jonathan Choyce (who finished with 27 points, including six 3s) was terrific throughout and helped his team creep to within six points late in the third quarter.
But the Vikings had too much energy and too many skilled and focused veterans of that CIF SS title team on the floor, notably senior guard Tyler Rolison (a team-high 21 points), 6-7 junior Kendyl Sanders (15 points, all after intermission, and 11 rebounds) and senior forward James McCallum (11 points).
Ariza (who doesn’t turn 15 until January) scored six points, including a 3, off the catch in the right corner (“he’s a much better shooter than his dad was at that age,” Azzam said afterward) while sophomore guards Caleb Versher (12 points) and Joshua Palmer (two 3s) also did their part in showing how deep this St. Bernard club is.
And Bland’s club gets even deeper when 6-4 sophomore Christian Taylor, a transfer from L.A. Fairfax, becomes eligible for the Vikings’ Dec. 27 Classic at Damien Platinum Division opener.
Leave a Reply