BELLFLOWER – The top two seeds in the CIF Southern Section boys basketball Open Division playoffs held serve at home Friday night, while two other teams in the division went on the road and made huge, on-court statements at the same time.
Harvard-Westlake (27-3) and Eastvale Roosevelt (28-2), which sit atop the A and B pool, collected 61-51 and 64-51 wins over visiting Corona Centennial and JSerra, respectively.
But, in the other games in those pools Friday night . . .
Sierra Canyon improved to 25-2 by way of its 72-67 victory over host St. John Bosco (23-6), as seniors Noah Williams (23/pictured, courtesy Paul Hernandez of @pdouble_33) and Justin Pippen (20) combined for 43 points.
Eight of 10 fourth-quarter free throws – and a 3 by little-used sophomore reserve Stephen Kankole with 4:38 to go to push the Trailblazers’ advantage 10 points – were significant in Coach Andre Chevalier’s squad’s win.
And, in Santa Ana, Gary McKnight’s Mater Dei program suffered one of its most lopsided home-court losses in his 41+ years at the school.
The St. Pius X/St. Matthias Academy Warriors – in their Open Division debut – cruised past the host Monarchs, 76-54, behind the 28 points and 12 rebounds of 6-foot-6 senior and University of San Francisco-bound Tyrone Riley.
Those four results set the table for “winners vs. winners” showdowns Tuesday night, when the Trailblazers visit Harvard-Westlake in an all-Mission League clash while the Warriors (23-5) are at Roosevelt in “rematches”.
Sierra Canyon used a 16-zip, fourth quarter run to beat the visiting Wolverines, 74-68, on Jan. 19.
And Roosevelt, trailing by as many as 10 points, used a stout fourth-quarter effort to knock off SP/SMA, 59-54, during the Jan. 20 “State Preview” at Colony High in Ontario.
With their win, Coach Steve Singleton’s Mustangs have beaten the only teams to knock them off – Centennial and JSerra – on back-to-back Friday nights.
It was SRO in the St. John Bosco gym Friday night as the Braves played host to an “Open opener” for the first time.
And the Trailblazers – whose Chatsworth campus is about 45 miles northeast from Bellflower – avoided the quagmire of Friday afternoon, south-bound traffic by staying overnight at a hotel in nearby Downey and doing their pre-game “walk-thru” at Lynwood High.
More important to the Trailblazers’ Friday night success, though, was Chevalier’s team’s ability to convert Braves’ turnovers (18, by my count) into the first passes into transition shots.
Five SJB dribbling/passing miscues helped the visitors hit nine of 14 shots from the field (including 3s by Pippen and Williams) and five of eight free throws to go up, 25-15, after the first quarter with sophomore Brandon McCoy Jr. (seven points) and senior Jack Turner (two 3s) doing their best to keep their team that close.
Junior forward Kade Bonam – in his first appearance since a shoulder injury in the Braves’ lost to Mater Dei on Jan. 6 – powered his way for a couple of layups to help his team get to within 39-30 at intermission.
McCoy (who finished with a team-high 21 points) and Turner (16 before fouling out late) combined 13 of their team’s 20 points in a third quarter that ended with Sierra Canyon up, 55-50.
A critical turn of events – short-term and Tuesday-term – came with 2:43 to go and the Trailblazers up, 48-43.
After an on-court struggle for a loose ball with Turner, Sierra Canyon’s University of Arkansas-bound Isaiah Elohim was ejected by the officials after appearing to throw a “punch” at Turner on the floor.
The 6-5 Elohim had 12 points and seven rebounds at the time. The ejection means he will not be eligible to play Tuesday night at Harvard-Westlake.
After Kankole’s 3 seem to give the visitors a decent cushion, Bonam – around a Sierra Canyon turnover – hit consecutive 3s to get the Braves to within four points and lead to Chevalier calling a timeout with 3:45 to go in regulation.
The teams exchanged free throws before Williams – whose three free throws with 6:15 to go had given the Trailblazers a 12-point edge – converted an “and 1!” after being fouled while scoring off an offensive rebound with 2:25 remaining.
The Braves responded with a left-corner 3 from junior Chris Komin (via a pass from McCoy) and, after a Pippen turnover, Turner had a clean look at 3 from in front of his bench that would have cut the deficit to 1 but couldn’t convert it with the visitors rebounding and getting a timeout with 1:13 to go.
When play resumed 6-6 junior Elzie Harrington’s steal and layup got the Braves to within two points and, after rebounding a Bryce Cofield miss for Sierra Canyon, Harrington had the ball in transition again.
After turning the corner on a defender, he appeared on his way for a score-tying layup only to hear an official’s whistle – with Turner called for an illegal screen to try to create space for Harrington – give the ball back to Sierra Canyon with :25.9 on the clock.
With the Braves scrambling to get a steal or commit a commit a foul to stop the clock from expiring, Bonam collided with Williams near mid-court in front of the scorers’ table when the Sierra Canyon player caught a pass with :16.9 to go.
In what was a surprise to me and, I’ve a hunch, the overwhelming majority of those in the building, the officials ruled that Bonam’s collision with Williams was an intentional foul.
Translated: Williams would get two free throws and the Trailblazers would maintain possession.
After his two free throws and the ensuing inbound pass, Williams was fouled again and hit one of two free throws for the game’s final points with :8.8 on the clock.
In the other two Tuesday night Open games, St. John Bosco will play host to Centennial (20-11) while JSerra (24-5) is at Mater Dei (26-3).
The loser of those clashes are “near-certainly” going to be moved into the State Southern Regional D-I pool when those pairings are announced on Feb. 25.
The third and final round of pool play is set for Feb. 16, with the title game scheduled for Cal Baptist in Riverside the following Friday night.
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