Long Beach Poly tops Windward (Press-Telegram CIF basketball roundup)

The Long Beach Poly boys basketball team looked every bit the top seed in the CIF Southe Section Division 1AA bracket, as the Jackrabbits hosted a talented Windward team and overaome some offensive sputtering to still win easily, 69-45 on Friday.

Most encouraging for Jackrabbit fans was the play of senior Hawaii signee Drew Buggs, who is recovering from a broken patella. He played about half the game and had four points, four assists, and three steals. All of his assists were easy buckets for his team, as he helped push the tempo and get Poly easy layups.

“He’s starting to get more comfortable on that knee,” said Poly coach Shelton Diggs. “Those little plays, all the steals and assists, we need all of that. He’s a coach on the court for us.”

Poly was led by 19 points from Zafir Williams, backed up by a nice game from Harrison Boer, who had 14 points.

The victory sets up the most anticipated game of the season thus far, as Poly will host league foe Millikan on Tuesday night. The teams split their regular-season series this year.

‑ Mike Guardabascio

Open Division

Both area Open Division teams suffered double-digit defeats.

Los Alamitos was defeated by Sierra Canyon 85-40, while Compton lost on the road at Corona Centeial, 83-64. Both teams will play next week in the Open Division consolation bracket.

Division 1AA

ST. JOHN BOSCO 68, KNIGHT 56 >> St. John Bosco coach Matt Du was blunt about his team’s performance through the first three quarters.

“I thought they out-competed us,” Du said.

But that all changed when eight minutes and a five-point deficit were the difference between the Braves going home and keeping their Division 1AA championship hopes alive.

St. John Bosco outscored Knight 24-7 in the fourth quarter, pulling off a gutsy victory on its home floor.

“I thought we competed at a high level in the fourth quarter,” Du said. “(Knight) has won 11 games in a row. They’re tough and scrappy, so we knew this was coming.”

Sophomore forward JoJo Bush, who finished with game-highs in points and rebounds with 15 and 10, respectively, said the Braves’ performance over the final eight minutes was as simple as not wanting to lose.

“We didn’t want to be done,” Bush said. “We’re going for a CIF championship. We’re going to win this.”

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The Braves (20-9) needed a full team-effort in the scoring column in order to combat the Hawks’ multiple defense looks.

Knight (19-7) started the game in a 2-2-1 zone press, fell back into a 2-3 zone, picked up man-to-man out of timeouts and closed the contest in a 1-2-2 zone trap.

In addition to Bush’s 15, freshman guard Makani Whiteside and sophomore Nikko Hall had 14 points apiece, while junior JJ Watson finished with 11.

“I thought our guys did a nice job of sharing the ball,” Du said. “Everyone needed to score with the way they defended us.”

The Braves will face either Valencia or Sonora in the second round.

‑ Devin Ugland

RANCHO VERDE 55, LONG BEACH JORDAN 40 >> A 16-0 run in the second quarter gave the visiting Mustangs (27-2) a comfortable Division 1AA second round-win on the road.

Rancho Verde senior Dominick Pickett showcased his versatile game on both ends of the floor and led all scorers with 13 points. Senior Reggie Vaer (10 points), freshman Jaxen Tuer (11) and junior Damien Reedy (11) also scored in double digits. Jordan (16-13) was led by junior Jordan Heard, who scored 12 points. Senior Torieaun Hilbert added 10 points.

The Mustangs opened up a big lead early while making four of their seven 3-pointers in the first half. They led 28-15 at halftime and looked stout defensively two nights after only allowing 24 points to Diamond Bar.

Hilbert and sophomore Sudan Thoms hit quick 3-pointers to start the third quarter and eventually the Panthers cut the Rancho Verde lead to single digits. However, they never drew closer than nine points after the game-wiing second quarter run.

‑ JJ Fiddler

Division 2A

LYNWOOD 77, SUNNY HILLS 63 >> The Knights were led by 21 points and 11 rebounds from freshman point guard Oscar Lopez.

LA MIRADA 60, AGOURA 34 >> The Matadores are in the quarterfinals for the third straight year thanks to a balanced team effort. La Mirada will travel to Redlands East Valley Tuesday.

CERRITOS 59, NORTHWOOD 56 >> Cerritos advanced to the quarterfinals after breaking Northwood’s 16-game wiing streak.

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