Going into The Classic at Damien Platinum Division title game, the conventional thinking was Roosevelt had to find a way to slow down St. John Bosco's sensational sophomore (2026) guard Brandon McCoy. The abilities of the best juniors in the championship contest -- Roosevelt's Brayden Burries and St. John Bosco's Elzie Harrington -- figured to off-set each other. The Mustangs found the secret sauce to somewhat harness McCoy in the form of a 6-foot-1, 170-pound junior (2025) who just goes about his job and, like his teammate Burries, is grateful to be playing the game he loves.

That player is Issac Williamson and it's no secret he is Roosevelt's best perimeter defender. He got the assignment on McCoy and did an admirable job, helping to limit him to 13 points. The key to his championship game performance was scoring 17 points, including a twisting lay-up with 15 seconds remaining that halted a major Braves scoring run and hitting three of Roosevelt's 10 3-pointers in its 68-65 title game victory. With the victory, the Mustangs upped their record to 16-1 heading into 2024, took down the No. 18 team in the FAB 50 National Team Rankings, and won the prestigious Platinum Division title for the first time in program history.

"He's (Williamson) our best at pressuring the ball and we also wanted to stay disciplined in our gaps and stay in front of our man," said Roosevelt senior Darnez Slater, who finished with a team-high 18 points. "It's all about trusting our work."

Roosevelt jumped on St. John Bosco (13-2) early and shot the ball much better from the outside than its opponent with the second quarter being the key, as Slater netted eight points in that eight-minute time period. Roosevelt led 21-19 after the first period and 41-28 at halftime, as the Mustangs held McCoy to four points in the first 16 minutes. Roosevelt's lead got to as big as 16 points (50-34) before the Braves made their move to get back in the game.

St. John Bosco went on a late 12-2 run to get back in the game and within striking distance in the game's closing minutes. The score went from 61-47 to 63-59 before Williamson's clutch lay-up. Bosco did get to within three points (65-62) on a corner 3-pointer by McCoy with 12.8 seconds remaining, but could get no closer.

With nine seconds remaining Burries went to the line on the fifth team foul. He missed the first free throw and if this game were played last year, the ball would have been live and Bosco may have been on the move to tie the game in the closing seconds. But with the new foul rules implemented by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), which eliminated the one-and-one foul shot, Burries shot a second free throw and toilet-bowled it in to make the score 66-62. Any chance of Bosco sending the game to overtime was essentially gone when it turned the ball over with 5.6 seconds to go and Williamson canned two free throws with 3.9 seconds to go.

Jack Turner, who made a concession 3-pointer at the buzzer, led St. John Bosco with 18 points. Harrington and junior forward Kade Bonam, both who keyed St. John Bosco's late run, added 15 and 13 points, respectively.

Burries, who finished with 15 points and seven rebounds, was named Platinum Division Most Valuable Player. For he and Williamson, finding success in a scholastic setting is extra satisfying as their team prepares for a run in the CIF Southern Section open division playoffs because of the circumstances surrounding their 2022-23 sophomore year. Both players were forced to sit out their tenth-grade season following an administrative eligibility issue at their previous school, Poly (Riverside, Calif.).

"Last year changed my outlook and approach to the game," Burries said. "I learned don't take the game for granted because you never know when your last game is. This was a great team win, honestly. I feel like we're only going to get better from here."

Another team that feels Saturday produced a great win was the Lancers of Carlsbad (Calif.). After all, Oak Cliff Faith Family (Dallas, Texas), its opponent in the National Division title game at the Holiday Classic at Torrey Pines (Calif.), had run roughshod over its first three opponents in the winner's bracket. The Eagles trailed Carlsbad 55-54 entering the fourth quarter after a big bucket by Colorado-bound big man Doryan Onwuchekwa, but the Lancers used a big fourth quarter to capture the title with a 78-69 victory.

Jake Hall, a 6-foot-4 junior (2025) who is one of the most crafty players in California with his unique offensive package of deliberate moves and clutch shots, was named MVP after scoring 25 points. Senior 6-foot-4 guard Tony Duckett, who was named MVP of the Tarkanian Classic Spalding Division after hitting the championship-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer, was named all-tournament. The talented unsigned senior netted 19 points for Carlsbad (14-2).

Issac Williams, a guard headed to Texas A & M-Corprus Christi, joined teammate Onwuchekwa on the all-tournament team after scoring a team-high 21 points for battle-tested Faith Family (10-9)

Saturday night's victory gave Carlsbad its first Torrey Pines Holiday Classic title in the National Division since 2001, when it defeated host Torrey Pines in the final. Faith Family advanced to the title game in 2021, but lost a double-digit fourth quarter lead to Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, Nev.).

In the second division (Gold) of The Classic at Damien, it was an encore performance for San Ramon Valley (Danville, Calif.) and its best player, junior guard Luke Isaak. In a well-played game versus Dixie (St. George, Utah), San Ramon Valley was trailing 68-66 when Isaak nailed a contested 3-pointer off the glass with seven seconds remaining to propel the Wolves to a 69-68 victory and their second consecutive title in the Gold Division.

Isaak, who helped his college recruiting stock as much as any player in the tournament, hit another big 3-pointer down the stretch, scored nine points in the fourth period and 17 points for the game in earning divisional MVP honors for the second straight time. Senior teammate Seamus Deely, a rugged 6-foot-5 forward, had 19 points and 12 rebounds and was named all-tournament.

Will San Ramon Valley and Isaak 3-peat in 2024?

That's a ways off but we do know teams such as Roosevelt, Carlsbad, and SRV will be ringing in the New Year's on the right foot, as will many other divisional champions from the two prestigious Southern California holiday tournaments.

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

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For Roosevelt, the Mustangs used a monster overtime stanza from Colorado State-bound senior Darnez Slater to record a 76-71 win over host Damien (La Verne, Calif.), which sent the game to an extra period on a 3-pointer at the buzzer by 5-foot-9 sophomore Elijah Smith. With Damien trialing 63-60, Roosevelt called a timeout with under twenty seconds remaining and with Damien in possession after a loose ball. The clock wound down all the way to 4.8 seconds before the Mustangs' Brayden Burries knocked the ball out of bounds. Damien retained possession and both teams called a timeout to go over strategy. The Spartans even called another timeout with 2.9 seconds remaining that had the crowd on the edge of their seat. That crowd exploded after an inbounds pass that junior (2025) 7-foot big man Nate Garcia was unable to reach caromed to Smith, who calmly stepped to his left and fired a 3-pointer that swished through the net to make the score 63-63 and give the lively crowd four more minutes of basketball.

That's when Slater went to work to put Roosevelt (15-1) in Saturday's 8:30 title game. He had two points in regulation, but quickly hit a 3-pointer then converted a soft lay-up after a steal by junior 5-foot-9 guard Myles Walker (13 points) that gave the Mustangs a 72-67 lead with 1:17 remaining in the extra period. When Slater then coverted a sweeping, running junior hook with 35 seconds to go, it made the score 74-69 and it was apparent Roosevelt wasn't going to be denied. In all, Slater scored Roosevelt's first 11 points in overtime and finished with 13 points.

Garcia (15 points) made two free throws with 22.9 seconds remaining to once again make it a one possession game (74-71) before Roosevelt junior guard Issac Williamson sealed matters by making two free throws with 21.8 seconds remaining.

During regulation, Xavier Clinton, a 6-foot-4 senior, did most of the damage for Damien (13-2) with 20 points. In a back-and-forth affair, it's pretty safe to say Roosevelt wouldn't have been in position to win down the stretch without the play of Burries, its splendid 2025 wing guard. One of the best players nationally in his class, Burries got to the rim when he needed to, finishing with 31 points, and pulled down seven rebounds. Fans are in store for a real treat on Saturday evening with Burries matching up with St. John Bosco's 6-foot-5 lead guard Elzie Harrington, who helped the Braves advance to the title game with 14 points in its 68-66 overtime overtime victory over previous unbeaten Salesian (Richmond, Calif.).

St. John Bosco, which came in at No. 18 in the latest FAB 50 National Rankings update, moved to 13-1 with the victory with its only loss a 74-71 setback to Christ The King (Middle Village, N.Y.) in the semifinals of the Iolani Classic in Hawaii. Salesian, which is No. 40 (one spot below the DeMatha Catholic of Maryland club that Bosco beat in its final game in Hawaii) fell to 12-1 with the two-point loss.

The first semifinal contest in the Platinum Division wasn't decided until The Pride was unable to get off a shot with 0.4 seconds remaining after 7-foot Bosco sophomore Howie Wu was inserted to harass the in-bound pass attempt by Salesian's Hawaii-bound guard Aaron Claytor (10 points). Wu did just enough that Claytor was unable to get a clean pass over to Salesian's big shot-maker, 6-foot-4 junior Alvin Loving IV, as no shot attempt was taken.

Early in the game, St. John Bosco coach Matt Dunn was not exactly pleased with his team's effort and execution and he let the players know about it. That tounge-lashing paid off after Harrington scored what turned out to be the game-winning layup on a contested drive with 23 seconds remaining in overtime. After the basket, the Braves put forth terrific defensive effort on Salesian's last possession while The Pride, a team with a multitude of capable play-makers, worked the ball around for an open look. They didn't get any clean looks before the ball was tipped out of bounds and Wu inserted into the contest.

Sophomore Elias Obenyah, part of California's terrific 2026 class, led four Salesian players in double figures with 14 points. Six-foot-5 sophomore Carlton Perrilliat added 13 points with play-making senior De'Undrae Perteete netting 10 for Salesian.

The Harrington-Burries matchup is highly-anticipated, but the X-factor in the contest could be 6-foot-4 Brandon McCoy, who leads California's sophomore contingent and is now playing at a level where he is in the running to lead the class nationally. He's that talented and explosive. McCoy led the way for Bosco with a game-high 28 points, including some field goals that were back-breaking for Salesian and five points in the extra period.

While Bosco hasn't lost in-state, Roosevelt's only loss came in double overtime to JSerra (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.). That club took its first loss of the season in the quarterfinals of The Holiday Classic presented by SBLive. It was a resounding 60-42 setback to Oak Cliff Faith Family (Dallas, Texas), which punched its ticket to the National Division championship game on Friday evening with a 75-55 victory over St. Augustine (San Diego Calif.). Texas A & M–Corpus Christi signee Issac Williams, a 6-foot-2 guard, led Faith Family with 22 points over a team that took third place in the top division at the Tarkanian Classic in Las Vegas.

Faith Family came into The Holiday Classic at 7-8 against a rugged national schedule, but is starting to play like a team that was ranked No. 27 in the preseason FAB 50 rankings. Colorado-bound big man Doryan Onwuchekwa leads a deep and balanced team that will do battle with Carlsbad (Calif.), which advanced to the title game via a 71-67 semifinal win over Archbishop Mitty (San Jose, Calif.). That means a big man battle will ensue between Onwuchekwa and Pepperdine-bound 6-foot-9 Jael Martin.

Tony Duckett, a 6-foot-4 senior who was the MVP of the Spalding Division at the Tarkanian Classic and is one of the West Region's top unsigned prospects, led the way for 13-2 Carlsbad in the semifinal win over Mitty with 18 points.

In the Gold Division of The Classic at Damien, St. Pius X-St. Matthias (Downey, Calif.) came in as the prohibitive favorite after capturing the top division at the Tarkanian Classic and were looking at cracking the FAB 50 rankings with another title at The Classic. The Warriors' national and state ranking will have to be revisited after they fell in the semifinals to San Ramon Valley (Danville, Calif.), 67-62.

San Ramon Valley is no slouch, as it came into the event as the defending champion in the Gold Division and was eager to show (on a more national scale) that its wins last season were no fluke at all or Friday's victory not much of an upset. SRV is a well-schooled team that moves the ball well and has many capable scorers. None of them are better than fast-rising Luke Isaak, a 6-foot-4 junior (2025) and last year's MVP of the Gold Division. He netted 19 points in the big victory with rugged senior forward Seamus Deely adding 15.

Sam Ramon Valley will play for its second consecutive divisional title versus Dixie (St. George, Utah), a 74-69 semifinal winner over West Ranch (Valencia, Calif.).

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

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RELATED: 5 Things We Learned At Hoophall West | Hoophall West Eval Standouts

Harvard-Westlake (North Hollywood, Calif.) faced Perry (Gilbert, Ariz.) in the nightcap of the three-day Hoophall West and was attempting to keep its unbeaten record intact and give California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) teams their second consecutive win over highly-regarded Arizona clubs. The Wolverines, the defending CIF open division state champs, did just that in upping their record to 7-0 with a 61-53 victory over a team that came into the event ranked No. 29 in the FAB 50 National Team Rankings as the defending Arizona Interscholastic Association (AIA) open division champs.

Perry, which defeated Sunnyslope (Phoenix, Ariz.) in the first ever AIA open title game last March, got off to a hot start. It took a quick 17-4 lead, then Harvard-Westlake proceeded to go on a 25-10 run to close the first half. The Wolverines eventually took the lead at 29-27 on a conventional 3-point play by Harvard-bound Robert Hinton with 21.9 seconds remaining in the first half. The run eventually got up to 31-10 until Perry star junior forward Koa Peat made two free throws with 6:15 to go and Harvard-Westlake leading 35-29.

Harvard-Westlake led 48-37 after three periods of play. Perry (4-2) cut its deficit down to three points (54-51) with 1:47 to go on a nifty dime from Peat to senior Jonas Cedarlind for a score, but Nikolas Khamenia sealed the win with a clutch 3-pointer to make it 59-51 with 40 seconds remaining in the game.

USC-bound guard Trent Perry finished with 24 points, nine rebounds and four assists for Harvard-Westlake, while Hinton finished with 19 points and Khamenia adding nine points. All of Khamenia's points came in the fourth period.

Peat finished with 18 points, nine rebounds, four assists and four blocks for Perry, who will look to rebound from losses to No. 14 Archbishop Stepinac (White Plains, N.Y.) and the Wolverines when it plays Sunnyslope on December 8 and St. Mary's (Phoenix, Ariz.) on December 11.

Harvard-Westlake will do battle with state-ranked clubs St. Pius-St. Matthias (Downey, Calif.). and Campbell Hall (North Hollywood, Calif.) before it heads to the Les Schwab Invitational in Oregon after Christmas. There the Wolverines could potentially meet Perry once again with FAB 50 No. 7 Columbus (Miami, Fla.) another potential roadblock to a tourney title and an unbeaten record heading into 2024.?

In the first of two big time California vs. Arizona matchups, St. John Bosco, currently ranked No. 20 in the FAB 50, upped its record to 3-0 on the young season with a 75-68 workmanlike victory over FAB 50 bubble club Sunnyslope. The Braves relaxed at times, but did enough to down a team that recorded a win over Corona (Centennial, Calif.) in November, but lost to fellow Arizona club Millennium (Phoenix, Ariz.) on Thursday at the event.

St. John Bosco led 26-11, but eventually lost the lead 43-42 with 4:40 remaining on a 3-pointer by sophomore forward Christian Simmons. Sunnyslope and Bosco went back and forth and the Vikings last lead came at 54-53 right under seven minutes remaining in the game. Loyola-Chicago commit Jack Turner of St. John Bosco quickly answered with a bucket and the Vikings only scored five more points afterwards until the final 30 seconds of the game when they scored 10 points when the contest was no longer in doubt.

Junior forward Kade Bonam led St. John Bosco with 23 points, seven rebounds and three blocks. Fellow junior Elzie Harrington, one of nations's best 2025 guards, added 16 points, five rebounds and eight assists. Top-notch sophomore (2026) guard Brandon McCoy Jr. chipped in 15 points and six rebounds for a St. John Bosco club that is currently No. 2 in California among CIF schools behind Harvard-Westlake. The two schools won't be meeting during the 2023-24 regular season, but ultimately could in the CIF Southern Section open playoffs in February.

California did lose two games earlier on Sunday, but it wasn't to Arizona Interscholastic Association (AIA) clubs.

Desert Mountain, which defeated Notre Dame Prep (Scottsdale, Ariz.) on Thursday at Hoophall West, rebounded for a buzzer-beating loss to Pinnacle (Scottsdale, Ariz.) on Friday night to record a 81-74 overtime win over FAB 50 No. 38 Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.). With 16.9 seconds to go, Desert Mountain sophomore guard Kaden House converted a driving conventional 3-point play (where he missed the free throw) to give Desert Mountain a 69-67 lead. On the ensuing possession, however, Sierra Canyon senior forward Noah Williams (23 points) tied the game on a driving lay-up with 8.9 seconds remaining.

In overtime, Sierra Canyon racked up the personal fouls far from the goal with its aggressive trapping and was outscored, 12-5. ?Williams and junior forward Bryce Cofield (18 points) both fouled out in overtime. Justin Pippen, one of the West Region's best unsigned point guards, also had 23 points.

House continued to show why he's one of the best sophomore point guards in the nation with his driving attacks and never-say-die attitude, finishing with 27 points, four rebounds and 14 assists. His brother Kalek House, also a sophomore, added 21 points for the Wolves among four double-digit scorers.

California took another setback earlier Saturday afternoon when Centennial (Corona, Calif.), the three-time defending CIF Southern Section open champions, lost its third game of the season to FAB 50 No. 14 Archbishop Stepinac (White Plains, N.Y.), 76-66, in a well played game. The Huskies had a 39-35 halftime lead and led 47-40 and it looked like the visitors from New York were in major trouble when Kentucky-bound Boogie Fland landed awkwardly on a lay-up he made. Amazingly, Stepinac made a 10-0 run with its star guard on the bench and took a 50-49 lead after three periods.

Six-foot-7 2024 forward Braylan Ritvo, a terrific glue player who can knock down the outside shot, kept Stepinac in the game in the first half when Centennial's Isaiah "Slim" Rodgers went bonkers. The talented 6-foot-3 sophomore point guard had 20 points in the first 16 minutes and finished with 31 points, including 7-of-9 3-pointers.

Ritvo, who will see his recruitment pick up as his senior season progresses, helped Stepinac go to 2-0 on its young season by scoring 30 points, including 8-of-10 3-point shots. Fland re-entered the game with 20 seconds left in the third period and hit some timely shots and free throws in the final stanza to finish with 27 points.

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

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