CIF Southern Section boys basketball roundup: St. John Bosco stuns Harvard-Westlake; Bishop Montgomery edges Sierra Canyon
The Southern Section's Open Division presented more thrills on Tuesday night, starting with St. John Bosco's stirring 62-55 win over Harvard-Westlake in Pool B action.
The visiting Braves (25-5), down by as many as 11 in the third quarter, fought back to eventually tie the game at 46-46 in the fourth quarter on a 3-pointer by Xinyi Li.
Xinyi Li (23), St. John Bosco. File photo: Leon Neuschwander
Harvard-Westlake, the second seed overall and No. 2 in the SBLive State rankings, scored six straight on four free throws by Nikolas Khamenia, a bucket by Brady Dunlap to go up 52-46.
Baskets by Brandon McCoy and Elizie Harrington eventually tied the game at 54-54 and the Braves, ranked eighth in the straight, went on an 8-1 to close the game. McCoy and Jack Turner had baskets in the run and and Delyle Williams made four free throws to end Harvard-Westlake's 13-game win streak.
Elzie Harrington, a highly-recruited sophomore, led Bosco with 22 points and McCoy added 11.
West Ranch-Valencia 79, St. Bernard 58: West Ranch (29-1) improved to 2-0 in pool play and can clinch a spot in the finals on Feb. 25 at the Honda Center with a victory Friday night at Harvard-Westlake.
Friday's games: St. John Bosco, which lost 55-53 to West Ranch on Friday, is 1-1 in pool play and hosts St. Bernard on Friday. If Bosco and Harvard-Westlake each win Friday, Bosco will advance to the final. If Harvard-Westlake and St. Bernard win, Harvard-Westlake advances. West Ranch will advance Friday with a victory.
POOL A PLAY
Corona Centennial 83, Notre Dame 63: The state's No. 1 team and defending CIF Open Division champion (27-3) continued to surge with a wire-to-wire Pool A win as Devin Williams had 20 points, Eric Freeny and Mike Price each had 17, Aaron McBride contributed 15 and Jared McCain chipped in 14.
Duke-bound Caleb Foster had 33 points, including all 17 of his team's points in the fourth quarter for Notre Dame (21-10).
Bishop Montgomery 51, Sierra Canyon 49: Xavier Edmonds, a 6-8 senior, led all scorers with 24 points but it was a 3-pointer by Christian Jones with 3.9 seconds left that secured the win for the host Knights (26-3). Ashton Hardaway had 13 points and Bronny James added 11 for the Trailblazers (20-9). James' dad LeBron James attended the contest, according to reports.
A Hardaway 3-pointer gave Sierra Canyon a 49-48 lead with 11.5 seconds to play before Jones' big shot. With 2.3 seconds left, Sierra Canyon committed a turnover, players got tangled up, there was a short skirmish and technical fouls were called. Jones missed two free throws giving SC one last chance, but a shot near halfcourt missed and the home team prevailed.
Friday's games: Centennial hosts Bishop Montgomery and Sierra Canyon visits Notre Dame in 7 p.m. action. Centennial will win the pool with a victory Friday, but if Bishop Montgomery and Notre Dame both win there will be a 3-way between Bishop Montgomery, Notre Dame and Centennial and all will have beaten each other.
