SANTA ANA – Four teams likely to make up one half of the CIF Southern Section’s Open Division playoff field showed why that’s the case on Saturday’s second and final day of the 28th Nike Extravaganza at Mater Dei High.
Corona Centennial, Harvard-Westlake, West Ranch and Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks – the No.’s 1, 2, 4 and 8 teams in last week’s BurlisonOnBasketball SoCal Top 25 – reeled off impressive wins Saturday during four of the 11 games played over 15 ½ hours in the Meruelo Athletic Center.
The two-time defending SS Open Division champion Centennial Huskies closed the long day’s action off about 20 minutes before midnight, toppling Nevada’s top team, Henderson Liberty, 90-64, behind junior forward Eric Freeny’s career-best 34 points to improve to 23-3.
The top junior point guard in the West, Dedan Thomas Jr., scored 19 points with six assists for Liberty.
But he was defended Saturday night as well as it is possible to do on the high school level, as he missed 11 of his 15 shots from the field and was credited with five turnovers.
Rundowns on the other games:
*Harvard-Westlake 63, Concord De La Salle 42: One of Northern California’s top teams played the Wolverines pretty much to a “push” over the final three quarters. But Coach David Rebibo’s HW squad had already exhibited its dominance by outscoring the Spartans by 17 points over the first eight minutes.
The Wolverines (26-1), whose only loss came to Liberty in the Dec. 30 Classic at Damien Platinum Division title game, got a 22-point effort from junior Robert Hinton that was the definition of “efficient”: nine of 10 from the field (hitting his only 3), perfect on three free throws and just one turnover in 25 minutes.
Coach Marcus Schroeder’s Spartans (19-5) were led by the 12 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots from one of the state’s top sophomores, 6-6 Alec Blair.
*Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 84, San Diego St. Augustine 72: Six-three junior Mercy Miller didn’t show any against the Saints, scoring 39 points (13 of 19 from the field, including five of eight behind the arc, while perfect on eight free throw) with 11 rebounds, four assists and three steals as the Knights improved to 19-8.
The win against San Diego’s best team, came one night after beating Sierra Canyon at UCLA in a Mission League game, was the critical to Coach Matt Sargeant’s team’s Open Division aspirations.
The Saints (20-4) got 17 points and four assists from junior point guard Lolo Rudolph.
*West Ranch 78, Arlington (VA) O’Connell 68: The Wildcats continued to look the part of at least a No. 4 seed in the CIF Southern Section Open Division playoff field while improving to 25-1.
Seniors Jaqari Miles (23), Andrew Meadow (20) and Jazz Gardner combined for 61 of their points, with the 7-foot Gardner grabbing 10 rebounds to go with three assists and two blocked shots.
Freshmen Adam Oumiddoch (17) and Quincy Wadley combined for 32 points while junior Jadyn Harris chipped in with 15 for O’Connell.
*Mater Dei 96, Phoenix St. Mary’s 69: Freshman guard Luke Barnett came off the Monarchs’’ bench to tattoo the Knights’ perimeter defense with jump shots, hitting eight of 10 attempts from behind the arc for a team-high 24 points in 16 minutes.
Junior guard Styles Phipps missed 21 of his 29 shots from the field but scored 27 points to go with four rebounds, five assists and five steals for St. Mary’s.
*Henderson (NV) Coronado 59, Santa Ana Foothill 49: UCLA-bound guard Sebastian Mack, with Bruins’ Head Coach Mick Cronin and Associate Head Coach Darren Savino looking on from courtside, scored 16 of his game-high 22 points to help the Cougars overcome a seven-point deficit.
*JSerra 61, Crean Lutheran 56 (OT): Six-nine junior Sebastian Rancik, less than 24 hours after helping his team hand St. John Bosco its first Trinity League defeat, scored 29 points while grabbing 17 rebounds and blocking two shots to win their fourth consecutive game.
Rancik (pictured) suffered a concussion and injured left shoulder in a Jan. 6 Trinity game at Santa Margarita and didn’t return to the lineup until 15 days later in a non-league game with Costa Mesa. They’ve won each game since to go to 18-8.
Freshman guard Kaiden Bailey scored 23 points but missed 17 of 26 shots from the field for the Saints (18-7).
*Aliso Niguel 54, Santa Ana Calvary Chapel: The Wolverines trailed by seven points at intermission and five after three periods before pulling away over the final eight minutes. Juniors Kodai Fujii (12) and Garrett Trayer combined for 23 points for Coach Keith Barnett’s team, which is 13-11.
*Colony 58, Dos Pueblos 48: Six-five senior Denzel Hines scored 33 points (with 11 rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots) as the Titans went to 19-7.
*Capistrano Valley 57, Oak Hills 53: Senior guards Jackson Gray (19) and Efe Gucoglu combined for 36 points as the Cougars held off the Bulldogs to move to 17-7.
*Los Alamitos 64, Servite 57: Sophomore Trent Minter (who played junior varsity a year ago at Mater Dei) scored 18 points with seven rebounds, three assists, four blocked shots and four steals as the Griffins improved to 20-6 by knocking off the Trinity League Friars (12-13).
Leave a Reply