By Ronnie Flores

This weekend some big matchups will take place that will crown league or section titles for highly-regarded teams in the latest FAB 50 National Team Rankings powered by www.ebooksnet.com. In the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Southern Section Open Division title game, No. 10 Harvard-Westlake (North Hollywood, Calif.) will take on No. 21 Roosevelt (Eastvale, Calif.), as no matter the outcome there will be a first-time winner for the prestigious sectional crown.

Teams advance to the CIFSS open championship game by winning their respective pool of four teams each among the eight teams chosen by the section's open playoff committee. It's only right the Wolverines and Mustangs face each other Friday night at Cal Baptist University in Riverside after each going 3-0 in pool play the past two weeks.

For Roosevelt, which moves up one spot in this week's FAB 50, it clinched a spot in the section title game after its second of three pool games, a 64-59 victory over bubble club St. Pius X-St. Matthias (Downey, Calif.). Roosevelt trailed by eight points in the third period and didn’t take control of the game until the final six and a half minutes of the game. Junior guard and All-American candidate Brayden Burries scored a game-high 21 points for Roosevelt. Even though a trip to the section title game was already secure, the Mustangs pulled out a 80-76 overtime victory over 11-time CIF state champ Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) after junior guard Isaac Williamson sent the game in an extra stanza with a clutch 3-pointer.

We gave some thought about moving up Roosevelt a few more spots, but for now it can't be in front of No. 20 McEachern (Powder Springs, Ga.). The Indians took Harvard-Westlake to overtime before bowing to the CIF's top-ranked team in a showcase game at the Spalding Hoophall Classic on MLK Monday, 60-59. Obviously, that comparative score criteria between Roosevelt and McEachern could change next week.

McEachern, the Region 3-AAAAAAA champions, will enter the Georgia High School Association (GHSA) Class AAAAAAA state tournament as one of its favorites along with No. 40 Grayson (Loganville, Ga.), which has lost to No. 39 Ridge View (Columbia, S.C.) and to highly-regarded Perry (Gilbert, Ariz.). Should our rankings hold up, McEachern would meet Grayson in the GHSA's highest classification state title game on March 9.

After returning from Springfield, Mass., Harvard-Westlake had a tough week, losing to both Mission League foes Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks, Calif.) and Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.). Harvard-Westlake is able to move up two spots this week after avenging the loss to Sierra Canyon in resounding fashion in its second pool play game, 72-38. The Wolverines defense was stifling last week and role players Christian Horry and Amir Jones were hitting their outside shots to make this team the favorite to capture the CIF state open title on March 9 at the Golden One Center in Sacramento.

It's no secret Harvard-Westlake is extremely motivated to win both the section and state open titles after winning last year's CIF open crown in Sacramento after failing to advance to the CIFSS open final two weeks prior. Harvard-Westlake, which avenged the earlier loss to Notre Dame this season with a 60-56 victory in the Mission League Tournament semifinals, punched its ticket for this year's CIFSS title game with a 64-40 victory over No. 34 St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.) in its third pool game. McDonalds' All-American Trent Perry had 24 points and the defense once again was the difference-maker, as Bosco converted a mere three field goals in the first half and trialed 29-9 at halftime in a game that wasn’t really as close as the final score indicated.

This week's top newcomer is Notre Dame, which was not chosen for the CIFSS open playoffs even though it split with Harvard-Westlake, the top seed. Notre Dame is the top seed in the CIFSS D1 playoffs and advanced to Saturday's title game at the Toyota Arena in Ontario vs. No. 2 seed Windward (Los Angeles) courtesy of victories over state ranked clubs Santa Margarita of Orange County (63-50) and Redondo Union of Los Angeles County (67-60).

Notre Dame was able to leapfrog St. John Bosco and No. 35 Salesian (Richmond, Calif.), which has only lost to Bosco in overtime, because of Harvard-Westlake’s dominance in its pool game victories over St. John Bosco and Sierra Canyon. The Wolverines dominated those two teams and for now, Notre Dame owning a victory over the CIF’s top ranked team and playing them close in another game carries plenty of weight in our rankings criteria. Obviously, that could change going into next week when we once again update the FAB 50.

We'll look to get it out as soon as we can, because next Monday evening the Philadelphia Catholic League final will take place at The Palestra. Wednesday's semifinals will pit No. 24 Roman Catholic (Philadelphia) vs. Father Judge (Philadelphia) and No. 38 Neumann-Goretti (Philadelphia) vs. Archbishop Ryan (Philadelphia). Roman Catholic could avenge on of its two losses in the semifinals vs. Father Judge.

Also taking place on Feb. 26 is the championship game of the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC) tournament at American University. WCAC regular season champion and FAB 50 No. 3 Paul VI is the top seed and has only lost to the two teams ranked ahead of it in the nation's longest running weekly national poll.

RELATED: ?Preseason 2023-24 Mr. Basketball USA Tracker | | ??

Ronnie Flores is the national Grassroots editor of www.ebooksnet.com. He can be reached at?[email protected]. Don't forget to follow him on Twitter:?@RonMFlores

The post UPDATED FAB 50: Showdowns Await! appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

Mater Dei will move on to face Chino Hills on Friday at USC's Galen Center in the semi final game while Sierra Canyon faces Bishop Montgomery prior. The finals will be on the following night at the Galen Center.

Side note, Chino Hills beat Mater Dei 102-54 in the open division Semi's last year. They faced off at the Tarkanian Classic Championship game in December and Chino won 84-73.

Link to Video From Tarkanian Championship - Link

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The post Mater Dei Routes Roosevelt; Will Get Rematch With Chino Hills! appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

That’s when La’Melo Ball, Chino Hill’s superbly gifted sophomore point guard, took over, and led a Chino Hills 76-68 comeback victory. He hit some contested jumpers and controlled the action with timely passes, by keeping the dribble alive and setting up teammates or finishing around the rim himself. Two spectacular lay-ups by Ball, a 6-foot-1 15-year old, cut the Chino Hills (10-0) deficit to four points (50-46) and the Huskies eventually tied the game at 52-52 on a 3-pointer by Li’Angelo Ball after some nifty Melo Ball ball-handling.

The main beneficiary of Melo’s showmanship down the stretch was LMU-bound Eli Scott, who continues to come up big in this tournament when the unbeaten Huskies need him the most. Scott gave the Huskies a 54-52 lead on a offensive rebound putback . The teams battled the rest of the way and the difference was the free throw shooting of Scott. He made eight in the row down the stretch, including two front ends of one-and-one situations. Scott made 10-of-10 free throws in the second half, 11-of-12 for the game, and finished with 23 points and 11 rebounds. He had 18 points in the second half alone, while Roosevelt had 23 as a team.

Melo Ball finished with 17 points and four assists while his older brother Gelo Ball netted 23 points.

After nailing nine 3-pointers as a team in the first half when it built a 45-33 lead, Roosevelt (5-2) was outscored, 43-23, after intermission. It did hit some timely 3-pointers throughout, but just couldn’t convert in the final minute from long range when it trailed 71-68 with 40 seconds remaining. Scott’s free throws then sealed Chino Hills’ 45th consecutive win.

Jemarl Baker, Roosevelt’s long-range sharp-shooter headed to CAL, made seven of 13 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 27 points. He did not attempt a free throw. Cal-St. Fullerton-bound Matt Mitchell added 16 points, eight rebounds and four assists.

“It’s just about being resilient” Scott said about performing in gut check time with Chino Hills on the ropes. “We ain’t come this far to go home with one loss.”

Chino Hills, ranked No. 10 in the latest FAB 50 National Rankings, has a championship date (December 20, 6:20 pm PT) with FAB 50 No. 18 Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.), who outlasted host Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, Nev.) 86-79, in overtime in the other championship semifinal to improve to 11-0 on the season.

Just as Chino Hills trailed 50-37, Bishop Gorman led 51-37. Mater Dei slowly chipped away until Spencer Freedman sparked the Monarchs to a 11-1 run after it trailed 69-60 with 4:45 seconds remaining in regulation. Mater Dei took a 71-70 lead on a 3-pointer by Matthew Weyand less than three minutes later. The game was in the balance and Bishop Gorman (5-3) had a chance to win at the regulation buzzer, but a 3-pointer by Jamal Bey was off-target.

It was all Mater Dei in the overtime period, as Freedman thread the needle to junior wing Harrison Butler for a lay-up and 80-78 lead and the Monarchs never looked back. Freedman had 17 points in the second half, and finished with 24 points, three assists and only one turnover. Senior forward Justice Sueing also played well with 25 points and 12 rebounds.

BYU-bound Christian Popoola Jr. led the Gaels with 24 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

Mater Dei will look to have a good outing in a championship game of unbeatens, as it attempts to find a way to end the Chino Hills streak. Chino Hills has found a way to win even when it doesn’t look its best, while Mater Dei has been the more consistent team so far this season. Mater Dei also has the memory of last year’s CIF Southern Section Open Division semifinal loss to the Huskies it would like to erase. Chino Hills defeated the Monarchs 102-54 en route to its mythical FAB 50 national title.

You can bet the Tarkanian Championship game will be much closer.

The post LaMelo Ball TAKES OVER In Chino Hills Comeback Win vs Roosevelt! FULL Highlights! appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

Centennial, particularly Oregon-bound power point guard Troy Brown, came to play and gave Sierra Canyon all it can handle. Brown finished with 21 points and had THE PLAY of the Tarkanian Classic, dribbling between two defenders and throwing down a facial on Marvin Bagley III, which sent the crowd into a frenzy in a close game. It was 45-40 Sierra Canyon at that point in the second half and all that spectacular play did was seem to fire up the Trailblazers, who went on to post a 61-52 victory to move to 7-0 on the season.

Bagley, who sat a long period of time (roughly six minutes) in the first half, picked up his play at the end of the game to finish with 18 points and seven rebounds. UCLA-bound forward Cody Riley , who played well down the stretch in the win over Oak Hill, finished with 15 points versus Centennial, which came in as a FAB 50 bubble team and fell to 7-2 on the season. Its other loss is to Clark (Las Vegas), which is 1-1 so far in the Platinum Division of the Tarknian Classic. Sierra Canyon and Centennial is not part of the bracket and the unbeaten Trailblazers are boarded a bus back to Southern California Saturday night.

It wasn't its cleanest game, but Sierra Canyon will learn from it. It cannot play down to the competition and has to play consistently for consecutive games if its going to win CIF Southern Section and CIF state open championships.

Tarkanian Semifinals Set

Chino Hills, which is now 9-0 and riding a 44-game winning streak, will take on Roosevelt (Corona, Calif.) in Monday's 4 pm (PT) semifinal at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. Roosevelt advanced with a 64-51 victory over Crossroads (Santa Monica, Calif.), as Cal-St. Fullerton-bound Matt Mitchell had 23 points, while CAL-bound Jemarl Baker added 20. If it wasn't for Troy Brown's spectacular play, Mitchell would have the play of the event so far with his own facial dunk over Shareef O'Neal.

The other semifinal will pit FAB 50 No. 18 Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) versus host Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, Nev.) at 5:30 pm (PT). Mater Dei downed Salesian (Richmond, Calif.) in its quarterfinal contest 58-46, as senior forward Justice Sueing had 17 points and five rebounds. Bishop Gorman had no trouble with Westchester (Los Angeles), defeating the Comets 96-53, as seniors Christian Popoola Jr. (BYU) and Charles O'Bannon Jr. (Undecided) netted 21 points each.

Ronnie Flores is the national Grassroots editor of www.ebooksnet.com. He can be reached at [email protected]. Don't forget to follow him on Twitter: @RonMFlores

The post Troy Brown With The FACIAL, But Sierra Canyon Gets Last Laugh, W! appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.