CIF Southern Section boys basketball roundup: St. John Bosco stuns Harvard-Westlake; Bishop Montgomery edges Sierra Canyon

Sophomore Elizie Harrington scores 22 to lead the Braves, breaks Harvard-Westlake's 13-game win streak; Other winners: West Ranch, Bishop Montgomery, Corona Centennial

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. 


Published
Mitch Stephens, SBLive Sports
MITCH STEPHENS, SBLIVE SPORTS

Mitch Stephens is a senior editor at SBLive Sports for California, a state he's covered high school sports since 1984. He won multiple CNPA and CPSWA writing awards with the Contra Costa Times, San Francisco Chronicle and MaxPreps.com before joining the SBLive staff in 2022. He's covered the beat nationally since 2007, profiling such athletes as Derrick Henry, Paige Bueckers, Patrick Mahomes, Sabrina Ionescu, Jayson Tatum, Chiney Ogwumike, Jeremy Lin and Najee Harris as preps. You can reach him at mitch@scorebooklive.com.