Prep basketball roundup: Eastvale Roosevelt advances to Open Division championship game
Putting his team on his back, Brayden Burries made sure St. John Bosco was not going to be a roadblock to Eastvale Roosevelt making it to the Southern Section Open Division championship basketball game.
Playing sensational basketball from start to finish, Burries finished with 33 points in Roosevelt's 58-51 victory over St. John Bosco on Tuesday night, earning the Mustangs a spot in Saturday's championship game against Sherman Oaks Notre Dame at Toyota Arena in Ontario.
Roosevelt (31-2) wins pool B, but it wasn't easy. St. John Bosco trailed 47-34 after three quarters, then made a tremendous comeback in the fourth quarter behind Chris Komin, who scored 14 of his 19 points in the quarter. His four-point play cut Roosevelt's lead to 49-48 with 2:46 left.
With Roosevelt clinging to a 52-50 lead, Burries made two free throws with 36 seconds left. Burries kept making free throws to get his team into the final.
Harvard-Westlake, the two-time defending state champion, will get the opportunity to keep his title after a 60-51 win over Santa Margarita will give the Wolverines an Open Division state playoff berth. Joe Sterling scored 20 points and Nikolas Khamenia had 13 points, nine assists and eight rebounds.
Redondo Union knocked off Heritage Christian 75-64. La Mirada picked up its first win in the Open Division by defeating JSerra 64-58. Of the 10 teams in the Open Division playoffs, La Mirada and Heritage Christian will be the two teams not going to the state playoffs.
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