SCOTTSDALE, AZ — Four of the top seven boys’ basketball teams from Southern California tested themselves against some exceptional opponents during Saturday’s final day of the HoopHall West at Chaparral High.
And No.’s 1 and 2 — who hold that status from border to border in California — held up quite well, indeed.
Top-ranked (via the BurlisonOnBasketball SoCal Top 30) Studio City Harvard-Westlake was down by 13 points early in the second quarter of its final-game clash with Perry of Gilbert, the two-time defending, top-division state champion in Arizona.
But the Wolverines demonstrated the experience, depth, poise, skill, and fundamental foundation that makes them favorites to repeat as California’s Open Division champ while methodically gaining control of the tempo and dictating their will and style to leave the building with a 7-0 record following the 61-53 victory.
Guard Trent Perry, who signed a national letter of intent with USC last month, scored the Wolverines’ first eight points (despite missing his first three shots and picking up his second foul 3 ½ minutes into the game) to keep Koa Peat-led Pumas from building a more significant advantage.
The 6-foot-8 Peat’s numbers (18 points, nine rebounds, four assists and four blocked shots) and his effort and skill were nearly enough to help his team overcome the 11 point-advantage the Wolverines gained going into the final quarter.
But, largely through the efforts of juniors Nikolas Khamenia and Isaiah Carroll, Coach David Rebibo’s squad defended Peat about as well as possible.
Perry led all scorers with 24 points to go with nine rebounds, four assists and only two turnovers in 27 minutes.
Senior Robert Hinton — whose steal and dunk put his team ahead to stay with two minutes to go in the first half — added 19 points while Khamenia scored all nine of his points in the fourth quarter, including a straight-away 3-pointer (off a pass from Perry) with 42 seconds to go that stomped on the Arizona squad’s hopes.
In the other “Cali vs. Zona” matchups:
No. 2 St. John Bosco 75, Phoenix Sunnyslope 68: The were in front, 26-9, early in the second quarter before Vikings (who had three sophomores and a freshman in their lineup) begin to click in both transition and half-court, going up by a point early in the fourth quarter.
But, leading by three points, the Braves turned three turnovers and a missed shot into four transition finishes to secure their third win in three games.
Six-seven junior Kade Bonam scored 23 points with seven rebounds and three blocked shots while classmate Elzie Harrington (16 points and eight assists), sophomore Brandon McCoy (15 points and three or four rim-hammering dunks) and senior Jack Turner (13 points) also scored in double figures.
Scottsdale Desert Mountain 81, No. 7 Sierra Canyon 74 (OT): The Trailblazers’ full-court defensive pressure — which overwhelmed the team’s five California opponents — was neutralized by the skill and speed of sophomores Kaden (24 points, 14 assists and five steals) and Kalek House (24 points, including three 3s), and 6-6 junior Jaylon Johnson (14 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots) was too physical to be bullied by them inside.
Point guard Justin Pippen (23 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, four steals and no turnovers) turned in another of what has been a season-long series of nifty efforts for Sierra Canyon.
White Plains (NY) Stepinac 76, No. 5 Corona Centennial 66: Sophomore guard Isaiah Rogers (31 point; 12 of 18 from the field, including seven of nine behind the arc) sizzled throughout.
But the Huskies couldn’t quite offset the senior duo of Kentucky-bound guard Boogie Fland and 6-7 still-available Braylan Ritvo — who tag-teamed them for 57 points, including 12 of Crusaders’ 15 3-pointers in 28 attempts.
In the “no SoCal high school team involved” game:
*Chandler (AZ) Basha 65, Henderson (NV) Coronado 57: The Bears bounced back nicely from their Thursday night loss to North Hollywood (CA) Campbell Hall in the event Thursday night, led by exceptional sophomores in guard Mason Magee (bothered by a stomach ailment all week) and forward Elijah Summers-Livingston with 19 and 16 points, respectively.
Basha is set to join Campbell Hall, St. John Bosco, Sunnyslope and Centennial in the 128-team field for the Dec. 26-30 Classic at Damien in La Verne in Southern California.
In the two EYBL/Scholastic League (prep school) games played to start the day:
*Mt. Pleasant (UT) Wasatch Academy 77, Chandler (AZ) Canyon International 64: San Diego State-bound Taj Degourville (17 points, six rebounds and three assists) and slick jump-shooting, unsigned senior Fischer Brown (four of five behind the arc, a game-high 19 points) helped the Utah club improve to 5-2 with its second win here.
*Chandler (AZ) Compass Prep 51, Seal Beach (CA) Veritas Prep 47: Forward Andrew Nagy (19 points and seven rebounds) played well for the second day in a row, but his team lost because of the 15 turnovers they committed, and the 16 offensive rebounds Compass Prep ripped down.
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