WHITTIER – Only two La Habra High basketball players scored in the second half of the Highlanders’ Rumble on the Hill Tournament game with Orange Lutheran Wednesday night at California High.
And one of players’ points, from senior Jaedon Anderson, came via four free throws in the final two minutes.
But if La Habra Coach Aaron Riekenberg didn’t appear particularly stressed over the final 16 minutes of playing time, it was because he had the kid wearing uniform No. 24 on the floor.
And that youngster was Acen Jimenez, who – for the third night in a row and his team’s 3-0 start – continued to demonstrate why he’s one of the elite Class of 2026 guards in Southern California.
Jimenez (pictured), the Freeway League Most Valuable Player last season as the Highlanders captured the program’s first-ever CIF Southern Section title (3-AA), scored 19 of his 34 points after intermission.
The last six of those came via pull-up 3s, that put his team up, 42-40, with 2:49 to go, and with 12 seconds remaining for what proved to be the game-deciding points in an eventual 49-45 decision.
The challenge – and stage – will get even larger Friday night for Jimenez and his teammates (30-5 last season).
The Highlanders, No. 31 in the BurlisonOnBasketball preseason SoCal Top 70, will take on No. 5 Damien (3-0 after its 70-42 win over Villa Park at Troy) in a Rumble semifinal set for 8 o’clock at Sunny Hills in Fullerton.
It’s the back end of what should be a terrific set of semis, with No.’s 6 La Mirada and 17 Canyon of Anaheim – each 3-0 in their pool-play games this week – hooking up at 6:30.
The Highlanders don’t start a player much taller than 6-foot-4 but, even facing a lineup that including quick- and big-jumpers in 6-7 junior Jonathan Dzabatou and his 6-8 sophomore sibling, Benjamin, their active zone and ability to box out kept the much-improved Lancers from crushing them in and around the lane.
Coach Daniel Dunbar’s program missed the playoffs after going 10-16 (2-8 in the Trinity League) but appears better equipped to challenge the league front runners this season.
The Lancers face another Orange County-based opponent, Villa Park, at Fullerton High at Friday night at 6:30.
Dunbar used multiple defenders and schemes (some face-guarding away from the ball) against Jimenez.
But that is still a tough chore, even when his teammates are missing a lot of jump shots they usually knock in consistently.
Jimenez scored 15 points and assisted on three buckets in a first half that ended deadlocked at 26.
The Lancers “won” the third quarter in a baseball score – 5-4 – and held a 1-point advantage with about 20 seconds to go.
But a turnover was turned into a Jimenez blitz in transition, capped with his fourth 3 of the game and third of the quarter.
The Rumble on the Hill games Friday and Saturday night (the title game is set for 7:30 at Sunny Hills) are just a piece of a terrific first weekend of the Southern California season.
The Battlezone is set for Friday and Saturday at Centennial in Corona, with an impressive slate of games on Saturday that include No. 7 Redondo Union vs. No. 22 Rancho Cucamonga (3:30); No. 26 Etiwanda and 28 Chatworth at 5; No. 3 Roosevelt and Phoenix Sunnyslope at 6:30 and No. 15 Centennial and 24 Long Beach Poly at 8.
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