REDONDO BEACH — Three of the five games played during Tuesday’s long first day of the 72nd Ryse Williams/Pacific Shores event at Redondo Union High needed a collective five overtimes to determine winners.
Not surprisingly, Harvard-Westlake wasn’t one of those basketball teams needing extra time to bag its fifth win in as many tries.
Coach David Rebibo’s defending state Open Division champion got all but 10 of its points from its “Big Three” of seniors Trent Perry (30) and Robert Hinton (23), and junior Nikolas Khamenia (20), to keep a gritty La Mirada squad at bay, 83-68, in what qualified as the first “competitive” contest the Wolverines had been involved with in a season just into its 16th day Tuesday.
The top-ranked club in the BurlisonOnBasketball Top 30 SoCal ratings won its first four games by an average margin of 45 points.
Coach Randy Oronoz’s 12th-ranked Matadores pared their deficit to nine points three times in the fourth quarter of their first loss in eight games. Junior left-hander Julien Gomez, twice an all-CIF Southern Section selection, scored 37 points by way of 14 crafty layups and floaters (in 19 field-goal attempts) while also hitting nine of 13 free throws.
And, in the other contest pitting ranked teams, No. 11 JSerra went to 5-0 as 6-10 senior Sebastian Rancik scored 12 of his 32 points (including 10 free throws in as many attempts) to help his team knock off No. 3 Eastvale Roosevelt, 90-76, after a second overtime in which the Mustangs were held to three points.
Five-ten guard Aidan Fowler – like the University of Colorado-bound Rancik, a four-year varsity player for Coach Keith Wilkinson —scored only two of his 31 points over the two four-minute extra periods.
But Fowler’s second 3 of the first quarter and pull-up just before the buzzer trimmed what was a 13-point deficit to eight going into the second quarter.
Another 3 and two more jumpers gave him 15 minutes by intermission with the Fowler (seven) and Rancik combined for 13 points in the third quarter as the Lions were within five points of the Mustangs to start the fourth quarter.
A 3-pointer from Roosevelt junior Issac Williamson with three seconds remaining, after a dribble, screen, and handoff of senior Darnez Slater, sent the game into the first overtime.
First junior Brayden Burries of Roosevelt from the right wing against a JSerra zone with 15 seconds to go, and then Rancik missed 3s that would have won decided the game in that first overtime.
Burries scored 29 points (despite missing a big hunk of the third quarter after picking up his third foul, during which a five-point advantage was turned into a three-point deficit while he was on the bench) to go with eight rebounds, six steals and five assists.
He was whistled for his fourth (because of a curious “double-foul” charged to him and a Lion) in the final minute of the third quarter but played the rest of the way without fouling out but without being able to try to defend Rancik.
In the other games played Tuesday:
No. 9 St. Bernard 90, Beverly Hills 80 (ot): The Vikings had to come from four-point deficits late in regulation and in the first overtime before pulling away in the second four-minute period to go to 3-0.
Junior guards Joshua Palmer (21) and Caleb Versher (16), and senior forward Kendyl Sanders (18) combined for 55 St. Bernard (3-0) points.
Senior guard Lior Baradarian led the Normans (1-2) with 28 points.
No. 19 Santa Margarita 62, Santa Monica 57 (ot): Senior Cameron McNamee and sophomore Brayden Kyman scored 21 points apiece (each hitting three 3s) as the Eagles improved to 2-1 while holding off the Vikings, who got 24 points (and five 3s) from junior Jayden Xu.
No. 30 Long Beach Poly 72, Lawndale 31: The Jackrabbits forced a running clock (when margin hit 40 points) early in the fourth quarter while bringing their record to 2-2.
Six-five junior Jovani Ruff scored 25 points and didn’t play over the final eight minutes while classmates Giovanni Ofoegbu and Austin Unegbu added 13 and 10, respectively.
They should get much-tougher tests this week at Redondo against Windward (Friday) and Bishop Montgomery (Saturday).
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