CIF SS Open candidates impress Saturday at Redondo Union

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REDONDO BEACH – Trailing by six points midway through the second quarter, the Harvard-Westlake Wolverines boys’ basketball team smashed a two-headed hammer on Owyhee, pulling away from the defending state champion from Idaho, 74-51, Saturday night at Redondo Union High during the final day of the Air Jordan/Take Flight Challenge

Nikolas Khamenia scored 11 of his game-high 21 points in the fourth quarter for David Rebibo’s 7-0 crew and grabbed eight rebounds and dished four assists while junior guard Joe Sterling – held without a shot in the first quarter and getting his first bucket 1:22 before intermission – scored 12 of his 18 points in the third quarter.

Owyhee (from the Boise suburb of Meridian) opened its season Friday night with a wire-to-wire, 57-40, victory over a quality opponent from Dallas, Kimball.

Three other prominent CIF SS Open candidates – Eastvale Roosevelt (70-56 over Riverside Poly), the host Sea Hawks (85-44 over Corona Centennial) and Sierra Canyon (62-61 against Millennium of Arizona, in the final game of the night) – were also in action at the event Saturday afternoon and evening.

The Riverside Poly Bears (6-3), who’d rallied to knock off Damien (58-50) in Friday night’s finale of the Riverside Kiwanis Tournament on their campus, hung tight with the Mustangs (5-1) for a bit more than a quarter before Brayden Burries (11 points in the second quarter) started pushing the ball at breakneck speed in transition and put his team up by 13 points at intermission.

The advantage was at 21 points going into the fourth quarter before the Mustangs got a tad sloppy and Bears’ junior guard, Jrob Croy (limited to just a 3-point jumper in six attempts for first 24 minutes), scored 14 points (perfect in six free throws and two more threes with a layup).

Burries missed the final 4:35 of the third quarter after being whistled for his fourth foul (my unofficial tally had it as his third) and going to the bench.

He returned to start the final quarter and finished with 25 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and three steals before taking a seat for good with a couple of minutes to go.

His near life-long running mates, Issac Williamson (16 points in the first three quarters, including a couple of 3s) and Myles Walker (five points, six assists and five steals), also operated at their usual peak proficiency and tenacity.

Centennial (1-6, with defeats to two teams in Texas the week before) suffered its previous three losses to Southern California-based programs by margins of one (St. Pius X/St. Matthias), three (Long Beach Poly) and two (at Los Alamitos Friday night) points.

But the Huskies were stung by the Sea Hawks’ full-court pressure defense, hard driving and finishing, and jump-shooting immediately, as Redondo Union scored the first 14 points and led, 24-8, after a first quarter in which Centennial turned the ball over five times and the hosts got 3s from four different players.

A 35-foot jump shot – not a “heave” – by 6-foot-5 junior S.J. Madison (pictured) put the Sea Hawks up at intermission by 17 points.

The advantage hit 40, and the running clock was turned on, with about three minutes to go in the final quarter as Coach Reggie Morris, Jr.’s team improved to 6-zip.

Madison finished with a team-high 22 points, including three other 3s and one of the three-week-old season’s signature slam dunks early in the fourth quarter, to go with seven rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Seniors Hudson Mayes (20 points and 10 rebounds) and Brayden Miner (17 points, including five 3s; he had 16 in three games during the week), and another, junior, 6-5 Zach Khathib (11, including three 3s; seven for the week) also scored in double figures for an attack that got 15 3s from six players.

The Huskies’ top-tier junior guard, Isaiah Rogers, was limited to six points (three of 14 from the field).

Coach Andre Chevaliers’ Sierra Canyon squad improved to 7-1 (its only loss to the top-ranked high school club in Utah, Orem, 42-41) while holding off its Arizona-based foe.

Things got a tad ragged at times for the Trailblazers, but team’s “Big 3” of seniors Gavin Hightower (17 points and six assists), Chris Nwuli (16 points and eight rebounds) and Bryce Cofield (10 points and a boatload of offensive rebounds and “hustle plays”) was enough to keep Millennium from being in position for a game-winning or score-tying shot.

Adrian Higuera’s 3-point at the buzzer for the Tigers (2-3) left the winning margin at a point.

Utah State-bound Kingston Tosi led all scorers with 23 points.

Earlier in the afternoon, the top program from Central California Section – St. Joseph of Santa Maria – got 32 points from senior forward Tounde Yessoufou and knocked off Kimball, 57-44.

 

In some of the other games played Saturday:

*Long Beach Poly 62, Bishop Montgomery 48: University of California (Berkeley) recruit Jovani Ruff had his way with the youthful Knights (at times, with two sophomores and two freshmen on the court) while scoring 31 points to help the Jackrabbits go to 4-2.

The Knights (5-3 after going 2-3 during the week) got a team-high 20 points from one of those gifted underclassmen, sophomore forward Terron Williams.

*Heritage Christian 78, Crean Lutheran 65: As was the case during the unbeaten Warriors’ first six games, senior forwards Tae Simmons (25 points and 10 rebounds) and Dillan Shaw (23, 10 and six assists) were often overwhelmed the opposition.

The Saints (3-2) hung tough most of the way, in large part because of sophomore guard Hunter Caplan’s 21 points and five assists.

*Windward  51, Highland (AZ) 40: Seniors Jeremiah Hampton (15) and Louis Bond and J.J. Harris (11 apiece) combined for 37 points as the Wildcats went to 5-1.

*Leuzinger 64, Charlotte Performance Institute 49: Freshman Jace Jones scored 13 points (with three 3s), and sophomore Boogie Bagsby and Joshua Garland added 11 apiece as the Olympians improved to 4-3.

*St. Anthony 71, Santa Monica 48: The Saints remained one of the Southland’s unbeatens after four games, with seniors Donovan Pitts (27) and Aman Haynes and Mikey Cortez (13 apiece) combining for 53 points. They’re at home to St. Pius X/St. Matthias in a Del Rey League biggie Tuesday night at 7.

*Mayfair 68, Fairfax 47: The Monsoons (5-2 on court/6-1 with forfeit against Inglewood), who won the bracket tournament final of Ryse Williams/PAC Shores Thursday night, rolled past the Lions. Junior Matthew Gibbs-Martinez (a transfer from Lynwood) had 26 points while another junior, Josiah Johnson (transfer from Orangewood Academy/the MVP Thursday) added 14 and seven assists.

*St. Monica 49, Legacy Christian Academy 46: Micah Williams hit two free throws to put the Vikings (8-2) ahead to stay.  Freshman guard Titus Griffith led St. Monica with 10 points off the bench while two other freshmen, J.R. Mosley (18) and Josh Lowery (10), led the 6-3 Lions.