FAB 50 No. 46 Sunnyslope (Phoenix, Ariz.) uses stout defense and good shooting from the foul line to defeat Redondo Union (Redondo Beach, Calif.), 71-63, to capture the prestigious Platinum Division title at The Classic at Damien in SoCal. Nationally ranked club is first from Arizona to capture the top division in the event's nine-year history.
The title game of the Platinum Division of The Classic at Damien on Tuesday evening between Sunnyslope of Arizona and Redondo Union of Southern California was a back and forth affair in the first half. That was no big surprise. After all, the two clubs have been FAB 50 ranked at various times this season, Redondo Union already owned a win over FAB 50 No. 46 Sunnyslope this season and was coming into the tournament with plenty of momentum after capturing the Platinum Division at the Tarkanian Classic before the Christmas holiday.
Redondo Union led at halftime, 27-25, but Sunnyslope 6-foot-10 junior center Darius Wabbington cursed himself going into the locker room at the Damien Athletic Center for missing two late free throws. Wabbington, an agile and skilled post player and one of the nation's best prospects in the 2027 class, was looking for perfection and also knew how good of a team Redondo Union is. He knew every point and every possession mattered. The Sea Hawks beat the Vikings, 68-64, at the BattleZone event in SoCal on November 22 in a game in which the boys from Arizona couldn't hold a fourth quarter lead.
Wabbington took it upon himself to atone for those two missed free throws, coming up with 16 points in the second half and making all 10 of his free throw attempts to lead Sunnyslope to a 71-63 victory to capture the most prestigious division at the ninth annual The Classic at Damien. With the win, Sunnyslope becomes the first Arizona Interscholastic Association (AIA) member school to capture the top division of the tournament.
"It's really prestigious to be the first Arizona team to win it," said Sunnyslope coach Ray Portela, the Ballislife National Coach of the Year in 2020-21. "This is a great tournament. Coach (Mike) Leduc and his staff do a great job. Salesian and St. John Bosco are really good, and so are some of the other teams, too."
Wabbington helped Sunnyslope (13-1) take control of the game with a sequence of stellar plays in the third period when it regained the lead for the first time since early in the first period. He gave the Vikings the a 35-34 lead with 5:42 in the third period on a lay-up. Wabbington then hit a step back nine-footer to give his team a three-point lead. After clearing a rebound, Wabbington got fouled on a jump shot attempt. He made both free throws and by that time, one could sense Sunnyslope's growing confidence in its chances to pull out the victory.
Wabbington finished with 22 points and a game-high 12 rebounds, making 10-of 12 free throws. As a team Sunnyslope made 27-of-30 free throws, including 24-of-25 after intermission. Redondo Union shot 15 free throws and made 11 for the game.
"They got us frantic early, but at halftime we told our guys let's just play our game, playing fast, that's their style," Portela said. "We started to do what we do, we hit our free throws and locked down defensively."
The Sea Hawks were far from done, despite Sunnyslope making its foul shots and limiting Redondo Union's second chance opportunities in the second half. Redondo Union (14-3) trailed 60-56 with a minute to play, but on a key possession after a timeout, 5-foot-10 junior guard Delton Prescott took his Redondo defender inside for a key bucket. After both teams exchanged a free throw make, Sea Hawks reserve forward Kaiden Wilson hit a straight-away 3-pointer to make it a one possession game (63-60).
With 15.3 seconds remaining, the Sea Hawks fouled Wabbington, who calmly canned both free throws. The Sea Hawks turned the ball over at mid-court on their final possession and Redondo Union coach Reggie Morris Jr. had some choice words for the officials and was hit with two technicals. The ensuing free throws made the game's final margin appear much larger than it really was.
"At halftime, I got my head into the game," Wabbington said. "I focused the rest of the way and thanks to God for what he does."
Prescott's presence, ball-handling and clutch plays made a big difference and he was chosen the tournament's MVP, joining the likes of two-time MVP Evan Mobley of the Cleveland Cavaliers via Rancho Christian (Temecula, Calif.) and current UCLA guard Donovan Dent via Centennial (Corona, Calif.). He made all nine of his free throws and finished with 22 points, four rebounds and five assists. Also making the all-tourney team was Colorado-bound Rider Portela, the son of the head coach, who finished with nine points, six rebounds and two assists.
For the tournament, Prescott averaged 17.5 ppg, while Wabbington averaged 19.5 ppg and 10.8 rpg.
Redondo Union was led by unsigned senior guard Chace Holley, who followed up his terrific performance in the championship game of the Tarkanian Classic with another superlative outing. He darted to the basket and converted on a plethora of shots, finishing with a game-high 31 points. It's only a matter of time before he lands multiple D1 scholarship offers. Nevada-bound guard S.J. Madison joined Holley on the all-tournament team, finishing with 11 points 10 rebounds and three steals.
In four games, Holley averaged 16.5 ppg, while Madison averaged 20.8 ppg.
It was a historic win for Sunnyslope, but Portela and his troops are keeping an eye on the bigger prize, and that is capturing the program's first AIA open division state title. The Vikings have played in two of the three AIA open state title games but have yet to win it all. It's not hard to imagine a 2026 AIA open state final featuring Sunnyslope and FAB 50 No. 28 Millennium (Goodyear, Ariz.). There are plenty of tough games on the docket, however, before Arizona hoop fans can look towards that potential game. In fact, there is a possibility Sunnyslope and Millennium could meet in the title game of Hoophall West in Arizona this Saturday, January 3.
Sunnyslope opens the eight-team bracket with Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, Nev.) on January 1, 2026. The Vikings will likely play the DeMatha Catholic (Maryland)-Gonzaga Prep (Washington) winner on January 2. Millennium has a tougher road to the final, but even if the two clubs don't meet on Saturday, they have a home-and-home series to complete on January 21 and February 10.
They (Redondo Union) beat us, and in my opinion, they shouldn't have (the first time)," Wabbington said. "We missed some free throws and didn't rebound. Our trust as a group is getting better. Most of us have been together for three or four years. The chemistry we have together, you can just tell we have it on the court."
In the tournament semifinals, Sunnyslope had no major problems with Crespi (Encino, Calif.), as the Vikings outscored the Celts in each of the first two quarters and then blew the game open with a 21-10 third quarter advantage to win, 65-48, in a game that was never in doubt.
Crespi made only 18-of-47 field goals, including 2-of-9 3-pointers. Sunnyslope knocked down 9-of-19 3-pointers and made 25-of-52 field goals.
Wabbington dominated the interior, finishing with 21 points and 15 rebounds. Prescott, Sunnyslope's dynamic junior point guard, added 14 points, five rebounds, and five assists.
Crespi was led by junior forward Rodney Mukendi with 13 points. Crespi upset FAB 50 No. 25 Salesian (Richmond, Calif.) in the quarterfinals, 70-67. In that game, Carter Barnes and junior Jasiah Williams combined for 31 points for the Celts.
Salesian ended up 3-1 in the tournament, including a 61-58 consolation victory over No. 38 St. John Bosco. The Braves lost in the quarterfinals to Sunnyslope in overtime, 61-54, after Bosco's Christian Collins had a chance to give his team a one point lead in the closing second, but missed the second of two free throws as the game went into overtime.
Redondo Union took apart Crean Lutheran (Irvine, Calif.) in its semifinal contest, 79-55, as the Sea Hawks led 44-22 at halftime and never took their foot off the gas. Madison finished with 23 points, Holley finished with 15 points and Wilson had a terrific all-around game with 15 points, six rebounds, five assists, four blocks and two steals.
In the third place game, Crespi avenged a 60-57 loss to Crean Lutheran earlier this month with a hard-fought 57-54 win.
Crespi led 46-43 and then Isaiah Barnes scored two driving lay-ups to make it 50-43 halfway through the fourth period before two technical fouls on Crean Lutheran created some separation. Crespi went up 52-43 after the technical foul shots, but the Saints battled back and with 33 seconds remaining and his team leading by three, Crespi's Kingston Smith came up with a steal that led to two made free throws.
With 26.5 ticks remaining, Crespi's Carter Barnes knocked down two free throws to grow the lead back to three, and that was the final margin after Crean Lutheran's last chance to tie the game on its final possession was thwarted when Crespi's Christian Tshina-Nzambi intercepted an inbounds pass intended for the Saints' Hunter Caplan, the team's top 3-point threat.
Isaiah Barnes, Carter's twin brother and the sons of former NBA player Matt Barnes, led the way for Crespi with 22 points and was a Platinum Division all-tourney selection.
Minnesota-bound center Chadrack Mpoyi made his presence felt all game and finished with 31 points, seven rebounds and three blocks for fourth place Crean Lutheran.
Gold Division: Folsom (Calif.) 68, Rolling Hills Prep (San Pedro, Calif.) 58
The Sac Joaquin Section power used execution and timely shooting to knock off a team with aspirations of capturing the CIF Southern Section D1 crown.
Folsom (9-4) grew its lead to as big as nine points early in the third period, but RHP climbed back into the game. Rolling Hills Prep got to within a point (44-43) on a power lay-up by junior center Nick Welch Jr. in the closing seconds of the third period, but Folsom's Parks Weaver raced to a contested left-hand lay-up as the buzzer sounded.
Folsom took control in the fourth period by forcing turnovers, contesting shots and getting point blank looks by executing in transition. The Bulldogs took a 59-45 lead with 3:45 remaining in the game on back-to-back 3-pointers by Chico St.-bound Joven Dulay and Weeaver, their super sophomore.
Weaver finished with 16 points while divisional MVP Dulay had 13 points. Weaver made all-tournament as did Jack Shull, who finished with 12 points.
Junior guard Carter Fulton led Rolling Hills Prep (13-3) with 23 points on 18 shot attempts. No other player on RHP shot more than eight times (starting wing Josahn Webster).
Diamond Division: Los Alamitos (Calif.) 60, Auburn (Wash.) 53
Auburn took a 24-16 lead after one quarter and was ahead 47-43 entering the fourth period, but was outscored by the Griffins in the final period, 17-6.
Los Alamitos (8-6) got to within 47-45 with one minute elapsed in the fourth period, but a turnover led to a bucket by Auburn's Daniel Johnson. Los Al finally tied the game at 53-53 with just over three minutes to play and the Griffins took a 56-53 lead with 2:31 remaining on a 3-pointer by Tyler Lopez.
Trailing 57-53 with 30 seconds remaining, the Griffins played keep away as Auburn waited until there were 11.9 seconds to go before finally fouling Lopez. He made one of two free throws, then stole the ball at mid-court after the inbounds pass and finished the play with an emphatic dunk to hand the Trojans their first loss of the season.
Lopez, a 6-foot-5 senior, was named divisional MVP and finished with a game-high 20 points, 14 rebounds, four assists and four steals. Los Al out-rebounded previously unbeaten Auburn, 47-31.
Johnson led Auburn with 16 points.
Silver Division: Brentwood (Los Angeles) 75, Millikan (Long Beach, Calif.) 68
A nip-and-tuck affair got broke open in the third period, as Brentwood opened up a double-digit lead in that period behind the play of junior point guard A.J. Okoh and sophomore power big Ethan Hill. The win pushed Brentwood's season record to 17-1.
Brentwood has only lost to FAB 50 No. 28 Millennium (Goodyear, Ariz.).
Millikan was able to cut its deficit to 66-64 on a 3-pointer by senior Jalen Stewart, but Okoh answered with a triple of his own with 1:30 remaining to help hold off the pesky Rams.
Okoh, one of the better junior guards in SoCal, finished with 23 points, six rebounds and four assists. Hill finished with 32 points and 18 rebounds.
Senior Jeremiah Hunt nailed 7-of-13 3-pointers and scored 34 points for Millikan (11-6).
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
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