CORONA – Brayden Burries and his Eastvale Roosevelt High teammates began their season on Nov. 15, with a game against Birmingham at Westchester High, with exceedingly high expectations – internally and externally.
A little more than two and a half-months later, Coach Steve Singleton’s Mustangs remain on track to fulfilling them.
That was succinctly illustrated Friday night in front of an SRO-only crowd at Santiago High, where Burries – with a 31-point performance – led his team past Corona Centennial, 63-50, in the first-ever Big VIII League tournament title game.
The loss snapped a 70-game league win streak by Coach Josh Gilles’ Huskies (20-10), who’ve won three consecutive CIF Southern Section Open Division championships.
The Mustangs – No. 1 in the BurlisonOnBasketball SoCal Top 30 team ranking – improved to 27-2, with their only losses coming in double-overtime to JSerra (at Redondo Union High, on Nov. 29), and in the Big VIII regular-season meeting at Centennial on Jan. 9.
The Huskies’ University of Arizona-bound, McDonald’s All-American Carter Bryant turned in an other-worldly performance, scoring 39 points (including six 3s) with 11 rebounds in that first Mustangs-Huskies contest.
Bryant was still a force in the lane, with nine rebounds, and had as spectacular a blocked shot (on a break-away attempt by Darnez Slater) as I saw this season in Round II.
But Bryant never got into an offensive rhythm Friday night, even after Burries (who started the game checking him) was whistled for his second foul with 4:37 to go in the first half, and the 6-foot-3 Slater became his primary defender with a sprinkling of zone in the mix.
Bryant finished with 12 points (all but two in the first half) and was – via my unofficial stats – four of nine from the field (with a 3) and perfect on three free throws.
Friday night it was Burries’ turn to turn in one of the season’s best individual performances – of which he’d already stacked a bunch of.
Burries and fellow junior – and teammate as Riverside Poly freshmen standouts two years ago – Issac Williamson split all the Mustangs’ points as Roosevelt was in front, 20-4, after the first quarter.
That advantage grew to 18 points before hasty shots and three turnovers enabled the Huskies to close to within 32-19 at intermission.
With Williamson on the bench following his fourth foul (with 1:39 to go in the third quarter) and Burries with three fouls, the Huskies chipped away and were within seven points after Bryant’s 3 on the first possession of the final quarter.
But the Mustangs closed things over the final seven minutes, Burries setting up sophomore reserve Jackson Haggins for a right-corner 3 to push the edge back to 10.
Burries scored nine points the rest of the way, including a 3 from the left corner for a 14-point advantage with 4:49 to go and two free throws to put his team up by 17 with 50 tics remaining.
The “X factor” in the Mustangs’ effort was the return of junior point guard Myles Walker.
The 5-8, left-handed Walker – a dynamic penetrator and playmaker, and on-ball defender – suffered a broken bone in his right hand in a game with Linfield Christian on Jan. 13.
He missed six games – including key wins over St. Pius X/St. Matthias and Coronado of Nevada on back-to-back Saturday – but was cleared to play by his physician prior to practice on Thursday.
His tenacity, and quick feet and hands – even with the right one with a splint and bandage on it – were key factors in Centennial committing (by my count) 19 turnovers and hampering the Huskies’ ability to run their half-court offense as fluidly as usual.
The playoff brackets (including the eight-team, pool-play Open Division) will be unveiled at the CIF Southern Section office in Los Alamitos Sunday at 11:30 a.m.
Final regular-season BurlisonOnBasketball SoCal Top 30 Teams
(results after games of Feb. 2)
School/Record/Last Week
- Eastvale Roosevelt/27-2/1
- Mater Dei/26-2/2
- Harvard-Westlake/26-3/5
- Saint John Bosco/23-5/6
- Sierra Canyon/24-2/2
- Sherman Oaks Notre Dame/24-3/4
- JSerra/24-4/7
- Windward/25-3/8
- Saint Pius/Saint Matthias/22-5/9
- Corona Centennial/20-10/10
- Damien/24-4/11
- West Ranch/20-8*on-court/12
- Redondo Union/22-4/14
- La Mirada/21-7/15
- Heritage Christian/20-8/16
- Etiwanda/23-5/13
- Los Alamitos/23-5/17
- Crespi/23-7/18
- Santa Margarita/17-10/19
- Saint Anthony/19-7/24
- Campbell Hall/11-16/20
- Saint Bernard/13-11/30
- Rancho Cucamonga/18-8/21
- Foothill/20-8/25
- Rancho Verde/24-4/23
- Rancho Christian/15-9/22
- Anaheim Canyon/21-7/26
- Pacifica Christian/18-10/UR
- Riverside Poly/17-11/UR
- Pasadena/24-3/UR
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