BELLFLOWER — California’s No. 2-ranked boys’ basketball team made its 2023-24 debut Saturday evening.
And, despite falling behind by as many as five points late in the first half, the host St. John Bosco High club was able to pull away from Long Beach Poly, 71-61, in one of eight games in the Braves’ Varsity Tip-Off.
Coach Matt Dunn’s team outscored the visitors by 11 points in the third quarter then held-off the “big shot”-making ability of the Jackrabbits’ 6-foot-5 junior, Jovani Ruff, down the stretch.
Ruff scored 13 of his game-high 24 points in the final eight minutes as his team fell to 1-2.
Uber-athletic sophomore Brandon McCoy (pictured) scored a team-high 19 points for the Braves while juniors Elzie Harrington (14) and Kade Bonam (15) scored all over their points over the final three quarters.
The Braves (who don’t play again until Nov. 29, when they take on San Gabriel Academy at Redondo Union in the Ryse Williams/Pac Shores event) got a nice boost, too, from another junior Chris Komin, who scored 11 point and did a solid job of rebounding and keeping the ball moving.
The Jackrabbits (whose next game is against Lawndale, at Redondo Union, on Nov. 28) got all but one of their points from underclassmen with 15 coming from another dynamic junior, 6-3 Giovanni Ofoegbu.
Eastvale Roosevelt (No. 5 in the BurlisonOnBasketball’s SoCal Top 30) sprinted to 3-0 in the final game played at SJB while running past Crean Lutheran, 82-52, as 6-5 junior Brayden Burries equaled his scoring average — 33 ppg. — established in blowouts of Birmingham and Hesperia earlier in the week.
The Mustangs — who got 20 and 16 points, respectively, from guards Myles Walker and Darnez Slater — have multiple challenges in store over the next 10 days or so.
They visit Foothill High Tuesday night for a 7:30 game against the Knights (as part of the Foothill- and Marina High-hosted “Feast Week”); head to Northern California to take on one of the region’s top teams, San Francisco Riordan, Saturday at Dublin High; and then are at Redondo Union on Nov. 28 to face No. 18 JSerra.
In another Braves’ Tip-Off clash Saturday, No. 17 Redondo makes its debut with a 75-51 decision against No. 28 Foothill.
With two senior starters (6-5 Devin Ringer and 6-8 Liam Smith) in street clothes because of health issues, Coach Reggie Morris Jr. started two freshmen in point guard Joey Albala and forward Chris Sanders.
Albala did a more than commendable job of handling Foothill’s pressure with good decisions while the 6-4, left-handed Sanders — who nailed a 3-pointer on his first shot — scored 11 points and may have grabbed that many rebounds.
Sophomore S.J. Madison (14 points) and junior Brayden Miner (11) combined for six of their team’s 11 3-point field goals.
The most significant revelation for the Sea Hawks wasn’t that 6-5 junior Hudson Mayes led them with 15 points while coming off the bench.
It was in that Mayes — “Huddy” — was on the floor in a “real game” for the first time since
Bosco games
Three weeks after being an all-tournament selection for his playing during the Classic at Damien, Mayes suffered what proved to be a torn left Anterior Cruciate Ligament in a Jan. 20 Bay League game at Palos Verdes.
He underwent surgery to repair the knee on Feb. 21.
What ended up as nine frustrating months — and, in the early going, painful days — of rehabilitation followed before he was informed by his orthopedic medical team on Nov. 13 that he was “cleared” to play in a “real” game.
It wasn’t too many decades ago that those types of injuries ended athletic careers.
Oh, for the wonder of modern medical science . . . with a healthy dose of faith, perseverance and family support sprinkled in, of course.
“Yes, for sure, I give a lot of the credit to my parents (mother Gayle Brown-Mayes and father Derrick Mayes, a former Notre Dame and NFL wide receiver), and the opportunities they introduced me to in order to help me accelerate getting back on the court,” Mayes said Sunday afternoon, adding that “my whole body is sore but, actually, my knee feels pretty good.”
Mayes – who did a nice job of documenting the rehabilitation process on his Instagram account (Huddy/Hudson. Mayes) — did hit some emotional bumps in the road on the path to that St. John Bosco court Saturday.
“Honestly, those first couple weeks right after the surgery, I was in a lot of pain and it was hard getting around,” he added.
“And, in the summer when I was cleared to run but was still far being able to play . . . it was tough.”
Mayes’ playing time will continue to be “rationed” in spurts of three or four minutes at a time (he played about 15 or so minutes Saturday) “probably until early January,” he added.
But his performance Saturday showed what is in store for opponents when he is much closer to “full strength”.
Even with a brace on over the knee, Mayes — at 6-4 ½ and about 195 pounds, 15 more than he weighed after the surgery with much more muscle definition than before the injury — demonstrated quality “burst”, off the dribble and off the floor.
He hit a couple of mid-range jumpers, finished impressively with either hand on baseline drives and even smashed home a fourth-quarter dunk.
That slam brought a spontaneous burst of emotion from the Redondo players and coaches — and from Mayes, too.
“That,” he said, “was definitely sweet.”
Other SoCal highlights from Saturday:
*No. 19 La Mirada scored the final nine points — seven of those by junior Julien Gomez, including the game-deciding jump shot with 13 seconds to go — to edge No. 6 Damien, 55-54, at Sunny Hills High for the championship of the Rumble for Rosecrans Classic.
Gomez, the event’s Most Outstanding Player, scored 28 points while senior Xavier Clinton and junior Nate Garcia scored 26 and 20, respectively, for the Spartans.
*No. 4 Corona Centennial — still without as-yet-to-be-cleared (for eligibility) transfer Carter Bryant — lost at home to Phoenix Sunnyslope, 65-62, in the final game of the BattleZone Showcase.
In other BattleZone games Saturday, No. 20 Etiwanda trailed by 14 points after three quarters before knocking off No. 8 Campbell Hall in overtime, 81-77, behind the 27-point performance of senior guard Amare Campbell.
In one more, No. 15 St. Bernard eased past Hesperia, 69-50.
*A couple of juniors were selected as MOPs while helping their teams win tournaments.
Six-five Peyton White got the honor after Crespi knocked off Saugus, 87-68, in the Paul Sutton title game at Providence in Burnbank while 6-2 Samori Guyness — one of the most underrated players in Orange County — helped No. 22 Los Alamitos beat No. 21 Mira Costa, 68-56, for the Jim Harris Memorial Classic crown at Ocean View High.
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