Burlison on Basketball

Frank Burlison | High School Basketball | College Basketball

Roosevelt clinches spot in Feb. 23 CIF SS Open final

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EASTVALE – Tuesday night the Roosevelt High boys’ basketball team booked its Feb. 23 reservation for Cal Baptist University in Riverside and the CIF Southern Section Open Division championship business it will try to take care of that evening.

Coach Steve Singleton’s Mustangs, despite trailing by as many as eight points late in the third quarter and not taking their first lead until 4:39 remained, held off the visiting St. Pius X/St. Matthias Academy Warriors, 64-59, in an Open Pool B contest.

The victory improved their record to 29-2 and, coupled another JSerra pool-play victory at Mater Dei (67-59), punched their championship appearance tickets for the Feb. 23 clash between the winner of the Pool A game in Studio City Friday night between host Harvard-Westlake and St. John Bosco.

The Mustangs, who opened the playoffs by knocking off JSerra last Friday night at home, 64-51, didn’t take their first lead Tuesday until Brayden Burries (a game-high 21 points) turned a steal into a layup three and a half minutes into the fourth quarter.

The Warriors (23-6) – who led, 48-40, with less than a minute to go in the third quarter ­– regained the lead, 55-54, on the next possession via a Douglas Langford follow shot with 4:17 to go.

Junior point guard Myles Walker then used the next possession to put the hosts ahead to stay, picking up Langford’s fourth foul on a drive and sinking two free throws.

After University of San Francisco-bound Tyrone Riley (15 points) missed a 3-point attempt for the Warriors, another college-bound senior, Darnez Slater (Colorado State), snapped a pass to Walker for a 3-pointer to push the edge to four points.

Dayvon Gates responded with a layup for the visitors before Slater hit a pull-up 16-footer then raced to the other end to get into position to take a charge on Riley.

The Warriors were within 62-59 after a 14-footer by Riley with 1:28 remaining.

And, with a couple of offensive rebounds by Burries and another by Slater, the Warriors didn’t regain the ball until :14.5 seconds remained after Burries knocked in two free throws for the final points.

On a night when their offense was well short of both fluid and efficient, the Mustangs were able to stay reasonably within striking distance by way of the unlikely of sources.

Six-foot-11 Kevin “Tochi” Anigbogu played little in three years for a Corona Centennial program that won Open Division championships in those seasons with rosters that included five players currently playing on the major college level.

He transferred to Roosevelt (with a campus located about 12 miles north, via the 15, from Centennial) late last spring.

Anigbogu (whose brother, Ike Anigbogu, played for three years at UCLA and briefly in the NBA) played all summer and fall with the Mustangs but didn’t become eligible – via CIF transfers rules – until the team’s Dec. 27 first game in the Classic at Damien.

He turned in some quality minutes in semifinal (Damien) and championship (St. John Bosco) Platinum Division wins there.

But he didn’t get extensive action in any of the team’s toughest games – against the like of Santa Maria St. Joseph on Jan. 6; Centennial three nights later; a first game with St. Pius X/St. Matthias Academy at Colony on Jan. 20; a Centennial rematch on Feb. 2 in the Big VIII League tourney title game; and in last Friday night’s playoff opener with JSerra.

But he started – and was rarely off the floor – Tuesday night.

Let’s just say that Anigbogu (ah-nee-BOH-goo) couldn’t have found a more ideal platform on which to turn in his best-ever high school performance.

He hit all three of his shots and grabbed six rebounds to help get his team stay within 33-28 at intermission, with his teammates a combined eight of 26 from the field in the first 16 minutes.

He grabbed three more rebounds and scored seven points, including consecutive buckets to cut the Mustangs’ deficit to four points to start the fourth quarter.

Anigbogu converted an “and 1!”, set up by a pass from Burries, for the last of his career-high 16 points with six minutes to go.

Even with dynamic guards Burries, Walker, Slater, and Issac Williamson (whose on-ball defense against David Mack was a key in finally slowing the SP/SMA point guard, who had 16 points but didn’t score over the final 5:45) on the floor, the Mustangs don’t win Tuesday night without Anigbogu’s jumbo effort and production.

The performance may have been a revelation to most of those who’ve seen the Mustangs play multiple times this season and are familiar with Anigbogu’s stint at Centennial.

But Burries and Singleton felt that, based upon practice of late and knowing that he would be in the lineup (to match up better with the 6-8 Langford with Burries the only other player as tall as 6-5 on the roster), their big man was capable of big things Tuesday night.

“He’s been really focused and was ‘locked in’ during practice Monday,” Burries said of his teammate after the game, during which Arizona Head Coach Tommy Lloyd, and Wildcats’ assistant Jack Murphy, and UCLA assistant Nate Hawthorne, were in the building to watch Burries who is one of the top prospects in the regional and national classes of 2025.

In watching video footage of the Jan. 20 game with St. Pius X/St. Matthias Academy, Singleton was reminded of how often Anigbogu’s size, strength and quick-jumping acumen wasn’t taken advantage of.

“They left him open inside, but we didn’t get him the ball, or he couldn’t convert when he did,” Singleton said.

“(In practice) We told them that we need his teammates to trust him (and get him the ball) but he was going to have to do a good job of making himself ‘available’ (for passes or follow shots).”

Bingo.

Without that effort, St. Pius X/St. Matthias is taking on JSerra Friday with a spot in the title game at stake and the Mustangs are playing host to Mater Dei at the same time wondering if they would drop to Division I for regional play.

Twenty minutes afterward, Anigbogu carried a look of “contentment” rather than of the “giddiness” one might have anticipated out of a kid for whom that performance had been such a long time coming.

“I never really doubted myself,” he said quietly. “I knew what I was capable of, and I’ve been working so hard.”

The decision to leave Centennial wasn’t rushed “and it was tough,” he said.

“But I thought I’d had a good opportunity here. I’ve known these guys (Burries and Williamson, who were at Riverside Poly as freshmen before coming to Roosevelt a year ago; and Walker, who spent two years at MLK in Riverside) all my life and felt comfortable with them.”

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