In a California No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown, it's top-ranked Roosevelt (Eastvale, Calif.) that prevails with a 56-55 victory over No. 2 St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.) in a game that needed overtime to decide. Roosevelt wins The Classic at Damien for the second consecutive year, while state No. 7 JSerra (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) wins The Holiday Classic in San Diego. Roosevelt is the No. 9 team in the FAB 50 National Rankings, but computer rankings will ultimately determine seedings and matchups in California's CIF Southern Section open playoffs.
It was only fitting an extra four minutes was needed to decide the Monday night showdown in The Classic at Damien Platinum Division championship game before an overflow crowd at Damien High School in SoCal's San Gabriel Valley. The two teams that squared off were not only the No. 9 and No. 10 teams in the latest FAB 50 National Rankings, but they were California's top ranked teams according to Cal-Hi Sports. When the dust settled Roosevelt (Eastvale, Calif.), the state's preseason No. 1 team and the team at the top coming in, held on for a 56-55 victory over preseason and current No. 2 St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.).
With the victory, Roosevelt captured the tournament title for the second consecutive year and beat the snake-bitten Braves in both championship games. Last December, Roosevelt defeated St. John Bosco in the title game, 68-65, en route to appearances in the CIF Southern Section and SoCal regional open title games. This year, the Mustangs hope Monday night's victory on the eve of 2025 springboards their season two steps further, meaning a victory in the SoCal open title game and the CIF open title game on March 15 in Sacramento. For head coach Steve Singleton, he knows the road ahead may include another match with St. John Bosco, but for now he knows where his team stands.
"This is where we belong (among the nation's best teams)," Singleton told Ballislife. "We have a great program and a top level player. We had a great season (in 2024) with many of these same guys and came up a bit short and now we want to finish things out. We'll see them (St. John Bosco) again soon."
The top level player is unsigned senior Brayden Burries, who was named Most Valuable Player in the Platinum Division for the second consecutive season after scoring 24 points, grabbing 10 rebounds and dishing four assists vs. Bosco. He becomes to the second player to lead his team to back-to-back tourney titles while earning MVP honors, joining the Cleveland Cavs' Evan Mobley (2018-2019).
Burries' second MVP plaque and the game's outcome was in serious doubt after teammate and long-time friend Myles Walker missed the first of two free throws with 13.1 seconds remaining in regulation that made the score 46-44. That allowed Bosco's fantastic junior forward Christian Collins to tie the game on a driving, finger-roll lay-up with 4.9 seconds remaining. Roosevelt's last second heave was off and overtime was needed to decide the affair, as Walker (13 points) made 5-of-6 free throws in the closing minutes of regulation and nine points in the fourth period.
Burries got Roosevelt off on the right foot in overtime when he nailed a 3-pointer of the first possession, but it didn't seem as the outcome of the game was clear until Collins was called for an offensive foul with 24.2 seconds remaining on a hard drive with his team was trailing 53-51. Roosevelt freshman (2028) Cam Anderson made two free throws with 19.4 seconds remaining to make the score 55-51 and Burries made one more free throw before Bosco's Max Ellis made things interesting by nailing a 3-pointer with 1.4 seconds to go to account for the final scoring.
Roosevelt (15-1) made 19-of-24 free throws, while St. John Bosco (14-1)connected on 7-of-10.
Roosevelt secured the win when New Mexico-bound Issac Williamson successfully inbounded the ball to Christian Benjamin as the time ran out. Williamson finished with nine points (three 3-pointers) and took the challenge of guarding Collins even though he's at least 6 inches shorter.
Collins finished with 20 points and nine rebounds, plus some eye-opening plays that make him one of the fastest-rising prospects in the country and every bit as good a prospect as the other top-tier talents in California's much publicized 2026 class. Bosco also got 17 points from another improved player in 6-foot-2 senior Chris Komin.
"I wanted to guard him (Collins), that's the whole point," Williamson said. "We stuck to what we know even when we were down. We rely on each other and at this point, we're family."
Williamson was referring to Roosevelt's slow offensive start that featured a stagnant offense with too much standing around. Some of that was a result of nerves in a big-time game but most of it was a result of Bosco's tremendous defense. St. John Bosco coach Matt Dunn, who recently won his 500th career game, gave credit to both defenses for making the game one that was hard to prepare for. Roosevelt was out of sync, but the Braves let some golden opportunities slip through their hands early.
"It was an awesome game between two great defenses," Dunn said.
The score was 4-3 after one period with St. John Bosco leading and Collins scoring four points within the first minute of the game. It just seemed as it Bosco was leading 12-3 and coach Singleton stressed to his club it was in fine position after a Burries dunk gave it a 17-15 halftime lead.
Both teams didn't flinch after some heavy blows, but it was evident the first team that went on an offensive run would take control of the game. With Bosco leading 37-31, Roosevelt went on a 10-0 run to take a 41-31 lead. Roosevelt hopes to continue the run in 2025 with a destination it believes this group should reach in March.
Mats Finish Strong
La Mirada (Calif.) defeated Layton Christian (Utah), 64-49, in the Platinum Division third place game, as sophomore wing Gene Roebuck netted 25 points. From a statewide perspective, La Mirada's 82-72 quarterfinal victory over Redondo Union (Redondo Beach, Calif.) represented California's only true upset in the post-holiday tournaments. Redondo Union lost by four points to Roosevelt in the Tarkanian Classic semifinals and beat Layton Christian in the third place game in Las Vegas.
JSerra Serves Notice
St John Bosco is obviously a major contender to win the CIF Southern Section title and CIF state crown at the open division level, but it first want to wins the ultra-competitive Trinity League. That won't be easy by any means and at The Holiday Classic at Torrey Pines (Del Mar, Calif.), JSerra (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) seven notice it will give the Braves (and whomever else challenges) all it can handle in the quest for a league crown. JSerra, which opened up No. 15 in the preseason West Region Top 20 just outside the FAB 50, recorded a 52-47 victory over talented Riordan (San Francisco, Calif.) to capture the National Division title at the prestigious tournament. JSerra also won the tourney title in 2019 over Sheldon (Sacramento, Calif.)
With its Monday victory, JSerra upped its record to 14-3 while also handing Riordan its first loss of the season at 9-1. The Lions opened up a 17-10 lead after one period and led 27-22 at halftime in a game where offense was at a premium.
SMU-bound shooting guard D.J. Davis-Ray was named National Division MVP after netting 11 points. It tied for the team-high with talented sophomore point guard Earl Bryson. Joining Davis-Ray on the all-tourney team was junior Brannon Martinsen, who was all-state and co-Trinity League Player of the Year as a sophomore. The multi-dimensional forward finished with nine points and netted 27 points in the semifinal victory over Carlsbad (Calif.) and after gaining eligibility in the tourney's second game.
Steve "Nes" Emeneke, a 6-foot-10 UC-Irvine signed senior, led Riordan with 20 points. The Crusaders came in ranked one spot behind JSerra in the state rankings by Cal-Hi Sports at No. 8 and opened up two spots behind the Lions in the West Region at No. 17.
"I'm really proud of our group," JSerra coach Keith Wilkinson told Ballislife. "We played physical and tough. We also won the rebounding battle versus a very athletic team. Even though we struggled offensively, we stayed together, and we had big stops down the stretch."
Tourney Scoring Outbursts
Two of the nation's best players went head-to-head on the first day at The Classic at Damien and didn't let up all week long. Alijah Arenas of Chatsworth (Calif.), a recently reclassified senior (2025) who is one of the better scoring guards in all of high school basketball and the son of former NBA all-star guard Gilbert Arenas, met up with Jason Crowe Jr. of Inglewood (Calif.), one of the best scoring lead guards in the country and still a junior.
Arenas got off to a slow start from the field, but got going in the second half and finished with 34 points. It was Inglewood, however, that won the game, 84-80, behind 55 points from Crowe, already a two-time CIF Division State Player of the Year. The crafty guard whose game is a mix in style to 1989 Mr. Basketball USA Kenny Anderson and former NBA guard Elliot Perry, netted 33 points in the Sentinels' 80-70 loss to eventual Gold Division runner-up Canyon (Anaheim, Calif.). Crow scored 28 points each in his final two games at the event to finish with a 36.0 ppg average as Inglewood finished 2-2.
Crowe's outburst represented a single-game scoring record at The Classic at Damien, but the next evening that individual scoring record was broken by Arenas, who netted 56 points in a 93-87 loss to Prescott (Ariz.). The lengthy wing with innate scoring ability who is hardly ever rushed had 33 points in a 66-63 victory over Crean Lutheran (Irvine, Calif.). He finished with 43 points in a 61-57 loss Etiwanda (Calif.) to finish the tournament averaging 41.5 pg. Arenas' 166 points in a new The Classic at Damien scoring mark.
Two players headed to UC San Diego also went off this past week. Five-foot-11 Uriah Tenette of Prescott averaged 30.0 ppg, including a 54-point performance in the game versus Arenas when he had 56. Prescott defeated Chatsworth in that game, 93-87, in overtime. He closed his Classic at Damien performance with 21 points in a 59-46 loss to Redwood (Larkspur, Calif.)
Down at The Holiday Classic, fellow UC San Diego recruit Jake Hall had a memorable tournament. He willed Carlsbad to a fourth-place finish, as the Lancers had a terrific showing against a plethora of regionally ranked teams. Using his crafty game and incredible shot-making under pressure, Hall went for 18 points in a 71-56 victory over De La Salle (Chicago). He then went over 2,500 career points and pulled out all the stops to help the Lancers defeat Georgetown Prep (Bethesda, Md.) in triple overtime, 105-99, in a quarterfinal contest. Hall finished with 41 points to lead the Lancers to the semifinals of the National Division.
JSerra was a bit too much for the Lancers in the semifinals, but at one point the game was tied midway through the third period as Hall and his teammates made big shots. The UC San Diego commit finished with 32 points and came back with a 24-point outing in the 80-70 third place game loss versus FAB 50 No. 44 Father Judge (Philadelphia, Pa.) to finish with a 28.8 ppg average in the tourney.
In the Gold Division at The Classic at Damien, Colorado-bound Isaiah Johnson of Campbell Hall (North Hollywood, Calif.), a 6-foot-1 point guard, averaged 34.0 ppg in leading the Vikings to third place in the second toughest bracket.
SBLive’s Colley Royalty Method
For the massive CIF Southern Section, this is the first season of computer system rankings to determine the section's playoff participants. In the past, the CIFSS basketball committee handpicked the best teams for its open division, where the FAB 50 ranked and top state ranked teams by Cal-Hi Sports have played each other in ultra-competitive games for the past decade. If anyone follows computer rankings, most will assume Massey Ratings would be the ones used, as is the case in football for the section. In fact, a few coaches we spoke to at The Classic at Damien assumed those would be the ones used for the 2024-25 playoffs. The ones utilized are the section are the Colley Rankings and are available for public viewing on SBLive.com.
As we understand it, the only human element to the CIFSS's new rankings system is to decide how many teams are in the CIFSS Open Division and to determine if there are byes in the other divisions, which will remain the same as last season (Division I, 2AA, 2A, etc.). The section has used pool play (eight teams in two 4-team pools), but may decide to have more or fewer teams in the open division. The cut off number will be the magic number that will determine how the other divisions shake out since they are not pre-determined divisions. It also means more good teams will be knocked out in Division 1 before they have a chance to quality for the CIF regional tournament. The Colley Rankings, which rely on coaches to input their scores to the Southern Section's back-end admin system to create the data, live HERE on SBLive.com.
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