Frank Burlison

LA VERNE, Ca. – Etiwanda High’s basketball team wrapped up the second The Classic at Damien Saturday night in Damien High’s Athletic Center by pulling away down the stretch for a 65-54 victory over the St. Bernard Vikings in the Platinum Division championship game.

The 64-team event’s other three titles were taken by Los Altos (Gold/60-58 over Eastvale Roosevelt), Muir (Silver/72-63 over Bonita) and Troy (54-40 over Mark Keppel).

Each of the Platinum’s 32 games over the week was a virtual “preview” of CIF Southern (14 of the teams), L.A.

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LA VERNE, Ca. – The most impressive Platinum squads on Tuesday’s first day of action in the second The Classic at Damien will be the last ones standing on Saturday’s final day of play for the event.

St. Bernard (60-50 over Santa Margarita) and Etiwanda (66-58 against previously unbeaten St. John Bosco) punched out semifinal victories Friday night and will meet in Saturday night’s 8:30 championship game in Damien High’s Athletic Center.

Three other division title games will be contested earlier Saturday on the Damien campus:

*Jarod Lucas-led Los Altos (10-2) takes on 11-0 Eastvale Roosevelt at 5:30 p.m.

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LA VERNE, Ca. – The semifinal rounds are on tap Friday during Day IV of the second annual The Classic at Damien boys’ basketball tournament.

The championship bracket showdowns are set for Damien High’s Athletic Center (in the Platinum and Gold divisions) and Event Center (Silver Division), as well San Dimas High (Bronze Division).

Each of the four championship games is scheduled to be played at Damien during Saturday’s final day of the event.

Platinum semifinals pit Santa Margarita (10-2) and St. Bernard (8-3) at 7 o’clock, followed at 8:30 by St.

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LA VERNE, Ca. – Wednesday’s second day of action in the second The Classic at Damien boys’ basketball tournament proved just how as close to evenly matched as possible that the championship quarterfinals in the top two divisions were.

Need some examples?

Here we go, starting with the Platinum (top) division:

*Santa Margarita needed an overtime to knock off Pasadena (59-50).

*The outcomes for two other winners, St. Bernard (67-66) and Etiwanda (59-57), weren’t secured into the final possessions of the respective games.

*And St. John Bosco had to rally from a 12-point deficit at intermission – and hit nine 3s in the second half – to remain unbeaten with its decision against Rancho Christian (73-66).

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LA VERNE, Ca. – A year ago, the Playa del Rey St. Bernard boys’ basketball team won just one of the five games it played in the first The Classic at Damien.

Late Tuesday night, in the final game of the first day of the second year of the event, Coach Mitch Runco’s squad demonstrated that it has stepped up in class, both figuratively and literally, in 12 months.

Runco’s Vikings – having moved from the Silver to the (top) Platinum Division – pulled off the biggest stunner in the event’s brief history, upsetting the host Spartans, 67-61.

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