Frank Burlison

ONTARIO –  The “rubber match” between San Joaquin League boys’ basketball rivals Pacifica Christian of Newport and Fairmont Prep of Anaheim was held in the Toyota Arena.

The regular season split left the Tritons and Huskies as the league’s co-champions.

But Fairmont Prep 64-60 victory in overtime Saturday did more than just give the Huskies a 2-1 seasonal advantage over the Tritons:

It gave Coach Joedy Gardner’s program its first-ever CIF Southern Division 2AA championship.

Senior guard Oliver Jones’ two free throws with 6.8 seconds remaining put the game into overtime, and his six points – a layup to start the extra period and four free throws– secured the victory.

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The Eastvale Roosevelt and Sherman Oaks Notre Dame High boys’ basketball teams meet for the second time this season Saturday, with a CIF Southern Section Open Division championship the prize when they tip off at 6:30 Saturday night in Ontario’s Toyota Arena.

But the clash between the 31-2 Mustangs and 26-6 Knights is just one of six Southern Section title games that will be played in the building, beginning with the 9:30 a.m. boys’ 4AA game pitting Ramona (26-6) and Garden Grove’s Santiago (21-11).

Things wrap when Ontario Christian (28-1) and Etiwanda (25-4) teams hook up in the girls’ Open final at 8:30.

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EASTVALE –  For the third time in as many tries over the past 14 months Tuesday night, the Roosevelt High boys’ basketball team edged its St. John Bosco counterpart in a high-stakes matchup.

The first showdowns came in the Dec. 30 Platinum Division championship games of the Platinum Division of the past two Classic at Damien tournaments.

Tuesday night’s 58-51 win over the visiting Braves had something even more tangible for the Mustangs than championship, all-tournament and Most Outstanding Player plaques from California’s most prestigious tournament:

It punched their ticket into Saturday night’s CIF Southern Section Open Division championship game against Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks in Ontario’s Toyota Arena.

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LONG BEACH – There is another batch of NBA “offspring” on their way to Southern California high schools  . . .

Two of those will be in high school in the fall as freshmen.

Another is currently in sixth grade, meaning – barring a “hold-back year” that so many male and female athletes and their families opt for – he won’ be a high school freshman until the 2027-28 school year.

Each of those impressed during the Saturday-Sunday Pangos Junior High All-American Camp that drew about 140 participants at McBride High.

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NEWPORT BEACH – Sage Hill High’s boys basketball program earned its second CIF Southern Section championship appearance in three years Saturday night in the same grind-it-out fashion that carried the Lightning to its first three playoff wins this season.

Led by the dominance of six-foot-10 Jackson Cryst, Coach D’Cean Bryant’s team edged visiting San Gabriel Academy, 45-43, in a Division 3AA semifinal.

The Lightning – who lost to Long Beach Jordan (68-57) in the 4A title two years ago in Bryant’s first season as the program’s head coach – will face Palmdale Knight for the 3AA crown next Saturday at Toyota Arena in Ontario or Edison High in Huntington Beach.

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