Santa Margarita holds on for 57-56 win over St. John Bosco in Trinity League final
On the last day that high school basketball games were allowed to be played in the Southern Section, Santa Margarita and St. John Bosco engaged in a terrific inaugural championship game of the Trinity League tournament Wednesday night at Hope International University.
As expected, the match was decided until the last second. St. John Bosco got the ball back with an intercepted pass and called a timeout with 1.5 seconds left. With the ball on the baseline, the Braves threw an inbounds pass to Max Ellis in the key, but the shot didn’t fall and Santa Margarita held on for a 57-56 victory.
Drew Anderson finished with 24 points for the Justin Bell-coached Eagles (26-3), who are expected to be one of the top four seeds for the Southern Section Open Division playoffs when the pairings are released Saturday. Christian Collins scored 32 points for St. John Bosco (20-7), which beat the Eagles in double overtime earlier this season.
Markee White scored on a layup with 1:02 left to give Santa Margarita the lead. After offensive fouls from both teams, St. John Bosco had the ball with 23 seconds left for a possible final shot by Collins, who got the win the last time the two teams played. Instead, the ball went to Ellis, who missed a three with six seconds left.
Brayden Kyman made six threes to support Anderson.
In the third-place game, JSerra defeated Mater Dei 87-66 behind Godschoice Eboigbodin, who finished with 46 points and 17 rebounds.
The Mission League tournament final scheduled for Wednesday between Sherman Oaks Notre Dame and host Sierra Canyon has been canceled after a Sierra Canyon student died in an early morning car crash. The match will not be rescheduled. Sierra Canyon will enter the playoffs as the league’s No. 1 representative and Notre Dame as No. 2.
In the City section, Birmingham handed Cleveland its first defeat in the West Valley League game 74-66. Tekeio Phillips scored 26 points.
Palisades remained undefeated in the WHL with a 76-40 victory over defending champion Westchester. EJ Popoola had 30 points and eight rebounds.
In girls basketball, Lynwood set a state record this week by winning its 30th consecutive league championship.
The South Section boys and girls playoff pairs will be released Saturday at noon. The City Section will release its pairings Saturday afternoon.
