Frank Burlison

REDONDO BEACH  – Two San Fernando Valley-based high school boys’ basketball teams scored impressive wins over quality competition Wednesday night during Day III of the Ryse Williams/PAC Shores at Redondo Union High.

Heritage Christian of Northridge improved to 6-0 by knocking off Bishop Montgomery (5-1), 68-56.

And Sierra Canyon of Chatsworth (5-1) cruised past Long Beach Poly (3-2), 74-40.

In an earlier game, St. Monica (7-1) eased past Millikan (3-3), 62-51.

The Mariners will play Mayfair (4-1) at 8:30 Thursday night in Redondo’s main gymnasium in the bracket championship portion of the four-day event.

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REDONDO BEACH – The Westchester High boys’ basketball team seemed to be well on the way to its first victory Tuesday night at Redondo Union High.

And it appeared as if win No. 1 – after a zip-3 start – was going to be of the decisive variety.

But the 21-point advantage the Comets took into the fourth quarter of its Ryse Williams/PAC Shores contest proved to be just enough cushion to secure a 74-72 decision against The Brentwood School.

Six-foot-eight junior Tajh Ariza scored 12 points in the third quarter – with three of his teammates knocking in 3s in the stanza – as the Comets, after consecutive losses to San Fernando Valley-based Chatsworth, Crespi and Harvard-Westlake, finally demonstrated why they were the consensus preseason choice to be the best team in the Los Angeles City Section.

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REDONDO BEACH – The Bishop Montgomery High boys’ basketball program may still be a year away from being a strong contender for a slot in the CIF Southern Section’s Open Division playoffs.

But Coach Doug Mitchell’s club, a bit more than two weeks into the 2024-25, campaign have demonstrated that they’ve made considerable progress over last season.

The Knights got strong contributions from multiple players – notably twin sophomore forwards Tarron (19 points and eight rebounds) and Terron (11 and six) Williams – to pull away from Leuzinger, 57-48, Monday night at Redondo Union High in one of the opening games of the four-day, Ryse Williams PAC Shores.

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Redondo Beach is the place to be for the best in boys high school basketball this week.

Redondo Union High will play host to the 73^rd Ryse Williams/PAC Shores, Monday thru Thursday, with the Take Flight Challenge/Powered by Morgan Stanley scheduled for Friday and Saturday.

Fourteen of the Top 30 members of the BurlisonOnBasketball Preseason Top 70 SoCal teams – including No.’s 2 Harvard-Westlake, 3 Roosevelt, 7 Redondo, 8 JSerra and 10 Sierra Canyon – are set to participate in one or both events.

Coming from outside of Southern California for the Friday and Saturday games are Tounde Yessoufou-led Santa Maria St.

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DUBLIN – He might have been “out of sight”, on the spring, summer and fall basketball club and camp high school basketball circuit.

But, for those who’d watched his all-around skill on the hardcourt during his first three seasons at De La Salle High in Concord, how could you forget just how good a basketball player Alec Blair is?

The 6-foot-7 senior, who is bound for the University of Oklahoma (to play baseball – Major League scouts think he has a chance to be a power-hitter deluxe – and basketball.

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