BELLFLOWER – The boys CIF Southern Section Open Division playoffs are set to begin officially on the evening of Feb.14.
When the CIF Southern Section’s playoff computer ratings were updated on Monday afternoon, four members apiece from the Trinity and Mission leagues were among the first 13 in the pecking order.
So, it seems fair to suggest that they’re going on unofficially every time a Mission or Trinity league game is played.
One of those Open qualifying games was played Monday night at St. John Bosco High.
And we can only hope that the real deals approach the Braves’ clash with the visiting Santa Margarita Eagles relative to competitive and thrills.
Coach Justin Bell’s Eagles trailed in the Trinity League contest by 12 points in the closing seconds of the third quarter before a rally-capping, go-ahead 3-pointer from the right wing by Brayden Kyman with 1.4 seconds to go gave them the 67-66 victory.
Seventy-two hours before, the Braves ventured into Rancho Santa Margarita and returned home with an 77-67 win.
What created the shift in outcome?
Plenty, but the performance of Kyman is a good place to start.
The 6-foot-8 junior missed four of five shots from the floor, with two rebounds and three assists to go with his two points Friday night.
But he was one of four players to score in double figures for the Eagles (18-5 overall and 4-2 in league) Monday night, with 17 points via six of eight from the field – five of those 3s.
Three of his teammates touched the ball on the possession en route his wide-open attempt.
With his team up by a deuce, junior Christian Collins just beat the shot clock buzzer with a corner jumper, over defender Drew Anderson, that was off the rim with about 11 seconds to go.
Dallas Washington (10 points and eight rebounds) snatched the rebound, flipped the ball to Rodney Westmoreland III who then delivered a pass to another junior guard, Kaiden Bailey, sprinting up the near sideline.
As Bailey (19 points and nine assists) pushed his dribble, seemingly on a diagonal angle that would take him to the top of the key and into the lane for a buzzer-beating layup attempt, a couple of defenders ran toward him.
But he whipped the ball into the shooting pocket of Kyman, who took a quick dribble for rhythm and, taking a quick peek at the floor to see that his feet were behind the arc, launched the shot, getting it off just before defender Elzie Harrington could close on him to challenge the attempt.
“When I took the shot,” Kyman said, 10 minutes after what just went into the lead of the “the biggest bucket of my high school career’ category, “I thought it was going to be off.”
The Braves (21-4 and 5-2) called timeout as the ball was clearing the bottom of the net, the clock freezing at :.8 seconds.
After consulting with Coach Matt Dunn, the clock was reset to :1.0 and, when play resumed, Dominic Perfetti got the inbound pass to Brandon McCoy Jr., who immediately called another timeout while straddling the mid-court line with .6 seconds remaining.
When play resumed, Harrington, inbounding from opposite his bench, appeared to be looking for Collins for a jumper or McCoy Jr. on a lob.
Neither option developed quickly enough, leaving him to flip the ball into Chris Komin, who was running toward him.
After a catch and near-simultaneous 180-degree turn toward the basket, Komin’s 30-plus footer was well off the mark.
“We (he and his team) got together, Saturday morning,” Bell said.
“I didn’t want them spending the whole weekend, down about what happened (Friday night). I pointed all the things they had done right. Then we worked on the things that needed to be corrected (before Monday night).”
In leagues with the caliber of opponent that resides in the Trinity League – as the case with its San Fernando Valley-based counterpart, the Mission League – there is little time for celebrating, or pulling out of a post-loss funk.
*The Eagles (No. 9 in the updated CIF SS computer rating) are home to Orange Lutheran Wednesday night before traveling to San Juan Capistrano for Friday night clash with No. 8 JSerra.
The Lions (won at Santa Margarita on Jan. 10, 70-49), will take 19-5 and 5-2 records into Santa Ana Wednesday for a rematch with Mater Dei.
The Monarchs (19-5 and 5-2) climbing five spots, into 13,after three wins last week, fell on the road to JSerra, on Jan. 15, 60-52.
Gary McKnight’s Mater Dei club gets another rematch three days later when the Monarchs take on St. John Bosco in the Intuit Dome Arena in Inglewood at 3 o’clock Saturday afternoon.
The Monarchs edged the Braves on Jan. 10, 62-59.
*It’s the Mission League’s turn for some “Open Division-like” competition on Tuesday night (7 o’clock), when No. 1 Harvard-Westlake (22-1 and 4-0) – the two-time, defending State Open champion – plays host to No. 6 Sierra Canyon (18-3).
And Sierra Canyon, four nights later, will be challenged by No. 7 Sherman Oaks Notre Dame (18-4 and 3-1), also as part of the Trinity/Mission Showcase in the Intuit Dome Arena.
The Knights lost at home to Harvard-Westlake Friday night, 73-63.
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