High School

CIF high school basketball: San Diego commit Brandon Benjamin scores big in first game back at Canyon (11/18/2024)

High school basketball season is officially underway in California. Southern Section play began Monday and Benjamin was one of the big scorers.

Tarek Fattal

Anaheim Canyon forward Brandon Benjamin is back for his senior season after a year at Mater Dei.
Anaheim Canyon forward Brandon Benjamin is back for his senior season after a year at Mater Dei. / Samantha Burgett

They say home is where the heart is. Well, it's also where Brandon Benjamin clearly feels most comfortable.

The standout senior forward committed to San Diego scored 34 points, including 21 in the first half, in Anaheim Canyon's 84-45 victory over Sunny Hills in Monday night's season opener.

Senior guard Staf Yilmazturk added 25 points with five 3s.

Benjamin spent his first two seasons at Canyon before transferring to Mater Dei for junior season (last year), now he's back at Canyon where he was named the Orange County Player of the Year as a sophomore.

Canyon, which is ranked No. 21 in High School on SI's preseason Top 25 CIF Southern Section rankings, will be a tough out with Benjamin leading the way. He's around 6-foot-6 with a crafty game that makes him a matchup problem. He's too quick for other big guys and too big for guards.

Canyon coach Nate Harrison is entering year 23 at the helm.

SCORES, NOTABLE STATS - NOV. 18

Santa Margarita 81, Oakwood 54: Drew Anderson scored 20 points and Kaiden Bailey had 17 in his debut for the Eagles.

Heritage Christian 82, Oak Park 48: Tae Simmons scored 24 points and Dillan Shaw poured in 22.

St. Anthony 77, Wilson 67: Aman Haynes scored 31 points for the Saints. Karim Caldwell had 20 for Wilson.

Sierra Canyon 71, San Gabriel Academy 36: Jaden Nickens, a football player committed Kansas, led the Trailblazers with 16 points.

Oaks Christian 67, San Marcos 57: Isayah Garcia led the Lions with 23 points. Nick Giarrusso added 15.

Mira Costa 76, Lakewood 47: Eneasi Piuleini led in scoring with 23 points. Luke Hammerschmidt tallied 10 points, 16 rebounds.

St. Bernard 92, Eagle Rock 28: The dynamic duo are back at it on opening night. Joshua Palmer had 29 and Caleb Versher added 23.

Malibu 75, Magnolia Science Academy 32: Senior Dylan Goosen had 10 3-pointers en route to a 55-point night.

Bishop Montgomery 53, Linfield Christian 42: Denis Woods had 18 points.

Crossroads 99, Animo Venice 47: Lucas Boze poured in 38 points.

Damien 80, Troy 41: Nate Garcia had 20 points.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Oaks Christian 62, Golden Valley 22: Andrea Woodward had a game-high 15 points.

Valencia 81, Oxnard Pacifica 39: Kamilla Basyrova had 20 points. Alexis Epie notched nine points and 11 rebounds.

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Tarek Fattal, SBLive Sports
TAREK FATTAL

Tarek Fattal has been covering high school sports since 2015 in Southern California and primarily in Los Angeles, covering notable athletes such as Bronny James, Kayvon Thibodeaux and Alyssa Thompson. He was with the LA Daily News for eight years, which included being the beat reporter for the UCLA men's basketball team. Tarek can be seen on TV regularly on CBS/KCAL as a sports analyst with Jim Hill.

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