Four of the Golden State’s best teams will meet on championship Monday at the two premier post-holiday tournaments in the West Region. It will be FAB 50 No. 9 Roosevelt (Eastvale, Calif.) taking on FAB 50 No. 10 St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.) in the title game of The Classic at Damien (La Verne, Calif.) in a matchup of California’s two top ranked teams. Down in San Diego at The Holiday Classic at Torrey Pines (Del Mar, Calif.), it will be state No. 7 JSerra (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) taking on state No. 8 Riordan (San Francisco, Calif.) in the National Division title game.
After hundreds of games were played in post-Christmas tournaments in Southern California, four excellent teams will battle on Monday evening Dec. 30 in the title games of the top divisions of The Classic at Damien and The Holiday Classic. In the Platinum Division of The Classic at Damien, the top team in the Cal-Hi Sports State Top 25, Roosevelt (Eastvale, Calif.) will meet No. 2 St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.) at 8:30 pm (PT) in a California No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup of two teams ranked in the top 10 of the latest FAB 50 National Team Rankings.
For Roosevelt, it will look to win its second major division holiday tournament title after capturing the championship at the Tarkanian Classic in Las Vegas on Dec. 21. On Saturday evening, Roosevelt upped its record to 14-1 with a 86-65 victory over Layton Christian (Layton, Utah) in the Platinum Division semifinals. That team finished in fourth place at the Tarkanian Classic, but was no match for the Mustangs, as New Mexico-bound Issac Williamson broke a school record by draining 10 3-pointers en route to 34 points. Mr. Basketball USA candidate Brayden Burries, the Tarkanian Classic MVP, added 22 points for Roosevelt. The Mustangs haven’t been seriously challenged yet in their latest tournament, as they won their opening round game over San Ramon Valley (Danville, Calif.), 84-63, and in the quarterfinals by 90-58 over Clovis North (Clovis, Calif.).
That figures to change in the championship game versus St. John Bosco, which comes in at No. 10 one spot below the Mustangs in the FAB 50. St. John Bosco upped its record to 14-0 on Saturday evening with a 66-45 victory over La Mirada (Calif.), a team it beat earlier in the season at its own holiday tournament. Harvard-bound Elzie Harrington paced the Braves with 17 points and six rebounds. Junior forward Max Ellis added 14 points and also played sound defense on La Mirada sophomore standout Gene Roebuck, who was held to eight points after scoring 31 points in a quarterfinal upset of FAB 50 bubble club Redondo Union (Redondo Beach, Calif.). Redondo Union finished in third place at the Tarkanian Classic after beating Layton Christian and losing to Roosevelt in the semifinals by four points. St. John Bosco handed Heritage Christian (Northridge, Calif.) in its first loss of the season with a 52-43 quarterfinal victory, as Harrington went for 21 points.
JSerra, Riordan Set For Battle
Roosevelt and St. John Bosco could meet three times this season, as the two clubs could meet in the CIF Southern Section open division playoffs and the CIF SoCal regional playoffs. Roosevelt advanced to the CIFSS open title game in 2024 and to the SoCal open championship game as well, where it fell in both games to FAB 50 No. 31 and state No. 4 Harvard-Westlake (North Hollywood, Calif.). There is no guarantee those clubs will meet again after Monday, but one thing is certain: they won’t meet in the CIF state title game on March 15. That’s because California uses a North-South format and often the top two ranked clubs don’t meet in the state final.
A team that could represent the North (especially if state No. 3 St. Joseph of Santa Maria in the CIF Central Section is slotted South) could be state No. 8 Riordan (San Francisco, Calif.). The talented Crusaders will meet No. 7 JSerra (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) in The Holiday Classic title game at Torrey Pines High School on Monday at 8:30 pm (PT).
Riordan of the CIF Central Coast Section, advanced to the title game courtesy of its 60-53 victory over FAB 50 No. 47 Father Judge (Philadelphia, Pa.), which was 2-0 when the last national rankings dropped but now is 4-3 overall. Riordan upped its record to 9-0 on the season behind the play of junior wing Andrew Hilman, who netted 20 points. UC-Irvine bound big man Steve Emeneke and Texas A&M-bound shooting guard Jasir Rencher added 12 points apiece for the team with perhaps the best shot to represent NorCal in the CIF state open title game.
Rencher got Riordan off on the right foot by scoring 12 points in the first quarter. Riordan led 23-13 after one quarter and 33-25 at halftime before the Philadelphia Catholic League club started to make things interesting. Father Judge got within 33-32 before Rencher made a couple of big plays to give Riordan some cushion. Hilman’s 3-pointer made the score 52-45 with 4:15 remaining in the game and Emeneke’s big offensive rebound made it 56-47 with 1:16 to go and the game was never in doubt from that point forward. For the second consecutive game, Riordan did have some late turnovers and some stagnant half court offensive plays that made the two games interesting down the stretch.
Senior guard Kevair Kennedy led Father Judge with 17 points, while junior Derrick Morton-Rivera, a cinch for the all-tourney team, added 15.
Riordan will have its hands full on Monday with JSerra, the No. 7 ranked team in the latest Cal-Hi Sports State Top 25 one spot in front of the Crusaders. The Lions advanced to the championship game via a 91-77 victory over Carlsbad (Calif.). The Lions put forth a terrific team effort over the course of the final quarter and a half to stave off Carlsbad, which fell to 12-1 on the season.
The game was tied at 51-51 with 4:45 to go in the third period after a nifty turn around shot and an assist by UC-San Diego-bound Jake Hall, who netted 32 points in a losing effort. After that sequence, JSerra (13-3) dominated and led 78-58 a few minutes into the fourth period. Junior Brannon Martinsen, who became eligible on Dec. 27 after a transfer from fellow Trinity League club Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.), asserted himself during that stretch where JSerra took control with a series of jumpers and nifty moves around the basket. The lefty forward finished with 27 points. UNC-Charlotte-bound forward Jarne Eyenga finished with 18 points while SMU-bound shooting guard B.J. Davis-Ray added 17 points. Davis-Ray played last year at FAB 50 power Duncanville (Texas).
St. John Bosco is looking to win the Trinity League for the second time in three years, but there is little doubt JSerra is a major contender as well. JSerra knocked off tough Montgomery (San Diego, Calif.), the winner of the Nike Division at the Tarkanian Classic and the CIF San Diego Section’s top ranked team over Carlsbad, in the quarterfinals, 61-57. Montgomery only made 6-of-25 field goal attempts in the first half before making it an interesting game after halftime. Eyenga finished with 21 points and 14 rebounds, while Davis-Ray added 19 points and nine rebounds.
Quick Analysis
St. John Bosco is likely to be without top-rated junior (2026) Brandon McCoy Jr. for Monday’s title game. The explosive junior guard is reportedly out with an injury and has not played a game at The Classic at Damien. Roosevelt doesn’t have as much size inside, but has shown to be a good rebounding club with the emergence of junior forward Christian Benjamin and the play of freshman wing Cam Anderson. St. John Bosco is going to need another quality defensive effort from Ellis and big contributions from junior center Howie Wu to defeat Roosevelt.
JSerra has some quality depth, while Riordan has a shorter bench. JSerra is going to want to keep from letting Riordan get out on the break and force them to shoot jumpers in its half court sets. Watch for the matchup between Eyenga and Emeneke. Eyenga has dominated inside, so Emeneke will need to stay out of foul trouble and look to neutralize JSerra’s big man. Martinsen could be the X-factor and both teams have underrated point guards in Ryder Bush (Riordan) and Earl Bryson (JSerra).
Roosevelt is looking to win its second consecutive Platinum Division title over St. John Bosco, while JSerra is trying to capture the National Division title down in San Diego for the second time in six years.
Ronnie Flores is the national Grassroots editor of Ballislife.com. He can be reached at [email protected]. Don't forget to follow him on Twitter: @RonMFlores
