ANAHEIM — It was a stunning ending to the most compelling championship game in the 10-year history of the CIF Southern Section’s Boys Open Division basketball playoffs.
And it was Aaron McBride who provided the stunning close, picking off a St. John Bosco pass with a little less than four seconds to score and beating a Brave to the rim for a dunk at the buzzer, give the Corona Centennial Huskies a 58-56 victory and their third consecutive title Saturday night in the Honda Center.
The Huskies (29-3) will use the victory to get the No. 1 seed in the State Southern Regional Open playoffs – the brackets for all the regional action will be released by the State CIF Office in Sacramento Sunday afternoon.
They’ll either play at home in an opener Wednesday night or (if the bracket is seven teams or less) draw a first-round bye and play host to a semifinal next Saturday night.
The Braves (26-6) – who got to the Open championship game for the time despite opening pool play with a two-point loss at West ranch – will be the No. 2 seed and, will play host to an opener Wednesday night (if the field is at least six teams).
Coach Josh Giles’ Centennial program extended its winning streak against in-state competition to 50, with the last loss to a California-based team coming on May 28, 2021 (in an Open Pool game vs. Harvard-Westlake during the “COVID-revamped” 2020-21 “season).
But the immediate future of that streak was precarious, at best, after a transition layup by freshman Brandon McCoy put the Braves up, 56-52, extending their run to 13-1 since the Huskies had taken their biggest leader (at eight points) on a 15-footer by junior Eric Freeny with 5:45 to go.
McCoy’s bucket led to a timeout called by Giles with 2:21 to go.
After play resumed, Duke-bound Jared McCain (who scored 15 points but missed 10 of 15 shots from the field and committed five turnovers) missed on drive but Freeny (who scored 18 points, with four 3s, to go with five rebounds, three assists and two steals) muscled in the follow to get the Huskies within two points.
Freeny got a steal at the other end but, after being fouled, missed the front end of a 1 and 1 with about 1:30 to go.
Sophomore Elzie Harrington (who scored 10 of his 15 points in the third quarter to keep the Huskies from extending their lead) missed on a drive and McBride – while being challenged by 6-foot-9 Xinyi Li and McCoy – hit a turn-around, 15-footer from the right side to tie the score at 56.
Harrington got free along the right baseline and got the ball up on the glass and on the rim but McCoy – the quickest jumper on the floor, he walloped a one-handed follow dunk in the first quarter – was called for offensive goaltending with his hand touching the ball while it was still in the cylinder with 57 seconds to go.
After a Centennial timeout, McCain lost the ball on the drive with McCoy recovering and Dunn getting his own timeout with 31.2 seconds on the game clock (on 29.3 on the shot clock).
When the Braves inbounded, they appeared to be in the methodically-work-for-final-shot-mode, to score or to miss and not leaving the Huskies – following a rebound – with enough time to get up a quality tying or winning shot.
But McBride – who finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds, and who signed a National Letter of Intent with Loyola Marymount in November – had other designs.
Harrington (who had a backpack overflowing with college scholarship offers, including one from UCLA) started to dribble along the right side of the lane with 10 seconds to go but his penetration was challenged by a couple of defenders.
He pulled up on his dribble and turned over his shoulder and threw a pass toward the left side of the lane (aimed toward McCoy) that “hung” just long enough for McBride to slap the ball with his right hand toward mid-court with about five seconds to play.
McBride – with strides that appeared to cover about 20 feet a pop – beat McCoy and Li to the ball.
He controlled it with his right hand on a sprint, and picked up his dribble just outside the free-throw line and slammed the ball through the rim and net, with Li on his hip, a milli-second before the buzzer sounded.
It set off a spontaneous, on-court celebration by the Huskies, which was only tempered, perhaps (at least on Gillies’ and his staff’s part), with the knowledge that the road to Sacramento – and a shot at defending their state title – is still scattered with potential tire-flattening obstacles.
And one of those could appear in front of them, in a March 7 regional final, via a potential rematch with the same team that came oh-so-close to knocking them off Saturday night.
In other games I watched on Saturday:
Boys D 1
At the Honda Center
Mater Dei 66, Etiwanda 53: Senior Zack Davidson picked an ideal time to turn in one of the most productive games of his career, scoring 27 points and grabbing 11 rebounds as the Monarchs captured their first Southern Section title in five years.
Thirteen of the points – and four of rebounds – came in the fourth quarter for the University of Montana-bound Davidson, whose sophomore brother, Blake, played four minutes off the bench for the Monarchs.
It was also the 24th sectional championship for the program since Gary McKnight became the Monarchs’ head coach 41 years ago – a state record.
McKnight’s team (27-6) – which was the division’s 2 seed to No. 1 Etiwanda – never trailed after taking a 21-20 lead midway through the second quarter against the Eagles (25-5).
Both squads are expected to open State Region DI action at home Tuesday night.
Seniors Curtis Williams (17, 11 in the fourth quarter) and Jimmy Baker Jr. (16) combined for all but 20 of the Eagles’ points.
The Monarchs also got significant contributions from freshmen Brannon Martinsen and Luke Barnett (the latter, off the bench), who combined for 21 points and nine rebounds.
Boys 5AA
At Edison High
Bosco Tech 88, Lynwood 81: The third seed Tigers got a combined 59 points and 22 rebounds from sophomore Jaden Erami (30 and 11, with seven assists) and junior Ryan Osborne (29 and 11, with five assists and three blocked shots), to win their program’s first-ever section title while knocking off the division’s top seed in a game that tipped at noon.
The Tigers’ offense pretty much clicked the whole game, and their defense did a reasonable job of keeping the state’s all-time leading freshman scorer – Jason Crowe Jr. – from doing whatever he wanted.
The 6-2 Crowe – whose dad is the program’s head coach – came into the game averaging 33.9 points in his team’s first 21 games.
Crowe scored 35 points but miss 19 of his 33 shots from the field (according to my unofficial stats). I also credited him with four rebounds, five assists and eight turnovers.
The Knights tied the score for the last time, at 71, on a 3 by senior center Syeon Jennings with 3:50 to go.
But the Tigers went back in front to stay 15 seconds later a layup by Erami, who scored 10 points and grabbed five rebounds in the fourth quarter.
The Tigers (27-6) and Knights (22-11/they start four freshmen) open D-V southern regional action at home on Tuesday night.
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