LA VERNE, CA – It took a gut-twisting extra four minutes, but the Roosevelt High Mustangs repeated as Platinum Division champions of The Classic at Damien Monday night.
The Mustangs needed a successful inbound pass from Issac Williamson to Christian Benjamin with 1.4 seconds to go in overtime to finally prevail, 56-55, over the St. John Bosco Braves in a rematch of last year’s final.
Coach Steve Singleton’s program became the first to win back-to-back Platinum crowns since Rancho Christian did it in 2018 and ’19.
And Brayden Burries (with 24 points, 10 rebounds and four assists) joined Rancho Christian’s Evan Mobley – now one of the best forwards in the NBA with Cleveland – as the division’s only back-to-back Most Outstanding Player.
Coach Matt Dunn’s Braves (who suffered their first loss in 15 games) and the Mustangs (15-1) came into the game – which was played in front of a near-SRO crowd in Damien’s Athletic Center – No.’s 1 and, 2, respectively, in both the BurlisonOnBasketball SoCal Top 30 and Cal Hi Sports’ state ratings.
It was a defensive and rebounding struggle throughout, with clean “open” shots more infrequent than “few and far between”.
The Braves led after one quarter, 4-3, with the only points from a couple of buckets by 6-foot-8, mega-junior Christian Collins and a 3 from Burries.
Collins is rapidly become nearly as good as any Class of 2026 prospect in the west – if he isn’t already.
The St. Bernard transfer finished with 20 points and nine rebounds before fouling after being called for a charge while trying to go over the top of Burries for a potentially tying shot (the Braves were down, 53-51) with 24 seconds to go in the game.
His driving layup with five seconds remaining in regulation put the contest into overtime.
Burries started the OT with a deep 3 but St. John Bosco senior guard Chris Komin (17 points) responded with an ever deeper 3 from the left wing on the ensuing possession.
Two Burries free throws – in four attempts – put Mustangs up by two points before junior Max Ellis tied the score for the final time by following in a Collins’ miss with 1:41 to go.
Burries missed on a left-handed, spinning jump hook but, at the other end, Komin missed from well beyond the 3-point arc with 1:08 to go.
Burries drew an Ellis foul 23 seconds later and hit both free throws to put his team up for good before Collins was called for the charge that sent him to the bench.
Freshman Cameron Anderson oh-so-calmly dropped in two free throws for Roosevelt after being fouled while catching an inbound pass with 19 seconds remaining.
Braves’ senior Elzie Harrington was fouled by point guard Myles Walker – his fifth, after a huge fourth quarter in which he scored nine points and had two steals – with 10.8 seconds to play.
He made the first but missed the second with Burries rebounding before being almost immediately fouled by reserve Jamar Taylor.
Burries (with eight points in OT, five on free throws), missed one of two attempts to get the lead back to four.
After Harrington missed on a drive, the ball was knocked out to the Braves, and Ellis took an inbound pass and drilled a deep 3 with Dunn getting a timeout with 1.4 seconds to go.
That set the stage for the win-clinching, Williamson to Benjamin inbound pass.
In other Platinum action:
Third place
La Mirada 64, Layton Christian Academy (UT) 49: Forty-eight hours after losing to St. John Bosco in a semifinal, the Matadores fell behind by nine points early but took control before intermission en route to improving to 13-3.
All-Classic selections Gene Roebuck and Julien Gomez scored 25 and 15 points, respectively.
Fifth place
Redondo Union 72, Phoenix O’Connor 61: Senior guard Brayden Miner came off the bench to score 24 points – 16 in the first quarter – while hitting five 3s and sophomore Chris Sanders added 18 points as the Sea Hawks improved to 13-2.
Seniors TayVion Wilson and Michael Simcoe scored 15 points apiece for the 10-3 Eagles.
Consolation championship
Santa Margarita 78, Corona Centennial 75: The Eagles (12-2) got double-figure scoring from four layers, with juniors Brayden Kyman (25) and Drew Anderson (21) leading the way.
* In the Gold Division finale, Crespi built a 15-point advantage, lost 10 points of it early in the fourth quarter, before pulling away, 78-64, over Canyon of Anaheim.
Division Most Outstanding Player Peyton White scored 19 points and grabbed eight rebounds as the Celtics improved to 13-4.
Brandon Benjamin – a three-time, all-Classic selection – led the Comanches (11-3) with 30 points, 10 rebounds and five assists.
Third place
Campbell Hall 77, Glendale (AZ) Ironwood 68: Isaiah Johnson wrapped up an impressive three-year Classic run while scoring 41 points to help the Vikings bounce back from a semifinal loss to Crespi Saturday.
Johnson (who was the Most Outstanding Player when Campbell Hall won the Silver Division two years ago), averaged 34 ppg and was all-tournament for the second year in a row.
Sophomore Carsyn Dean scored 21 points for the Eagles and senior guard I’yar Shadowvine was all-tournament for the third year in a row.
Diamond
Championship
Rancho Verde 54, Carmichael Jesuit 43: Senior guard Trestyne Nguru scored 16 points (seven in the fourth quarter) as the Mustangs improved to 14-3.
Their three losses (all the Tarkanian Classic) were by a combined nine points.
Junior guard Semaj Carter was the Most Outstanding Player for Rancho Verde.
Senior forward Asher Schroeder led the Marauders (8-4) with 24 points.
Silver
Championship
Culver City 64, Vista Murietta 61: The Centaurs (15-2) took their first – and most important – lead with less than two minutes to play and then hold for their second Classic title in a row.
Coach Ray Singleton’s program – which won the Green Division a year ago – got 23 points from one of his twin senior sons, Braylon Singleton, who was the Division Most Outstanding Player.
He and his brother, Myles (who scored seven of his 11 points in the fourth quarter), are bound for Northern Arizona University on football scholarships.
Senior Lawrence Sanford scored 18 points for the Broncos (11-3).
Leave a Reply