High School

Section 7 basketball: St. Pius, Crespi among seven CIF-SS finalists; Day 2 top performers

Seven teams from the CIF Southern Section will compete in Section 7 finals on Sunday

Tarek Fattal

Douglas Langford of St. Pius
Douglas Langford of St. Pius / Tarek Fattal

GLENDALE, ARIZONA — Seven CIF Southern Section boys basketball teams have a chance to finish the weekend champions at Section 7 in Arizona.

St. Pius, Crespi, Anaheim Canyon, St. Anthony, Campbell Hall, Rolling Hills Prep and St. Bernard will play in its respective Section 7 bracket finals Sunday after going 3-0, including two victories Saturday inside of State Farm Stadium, home of the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals.

All finals will be played Sunday.

St. Pius will play in the CoCo5 bracket final against Nevada Mojave at 3:30 p.m. after defeating St. Francis 71-65 in the quarterfinal and Sierra Vista 64-62 in the semifinal.

Douglas Langford has been the catalyst for the Warriors’ surge to the final. The 6-foot-8 forward put up monster numbers on Friday and continued his form Saturday, notching 22 points and 11 rebounds against St. Francis and 14 points and 10 rebounds against Sierra Vista. Kaleb Kearse, a transfer from Gardena Serra, has proven to be a great addition. He had a game-high 19 points against SV.

Crespi has been one of the more impressive teams at Section 7 this weekend, especially when considering new life without leading scorer Joe Sterling, who recently transferred to Harvard-Westlake.

Peyton White is entering his fourth straight season as a varsity player; sophomore twins Isaiah and Carter Barnes are much improved; Nickon Daei shows signs of command at the point guard position; and Oak Park transfer Preston Cole gives the Celts size and length at 6-foot-8.

Isaiah and Carter combined for 39 points in Crespi’s quarterfinal win over Lincoln, 79-76, before taking down Santa Ana Foothill, 77-50, in the Mayo Clinic Bracket semifinal.

Celts will take on Anaheim Canyon, led by Brandon Benjamin, in the bracket final at 1 p.m. Benjamin — who’s back at Canyon after a year at Mater Dei last season — versus White will be a fun matchup to watch.

St. Anthony will play Clovis North in the AZ Family Bracket final at 1 p.m. Jojo Wicker and Jayshawn Kibble, a transfer from King/Drew, have been very good for the Saints. Aman Hayes is averaging 20 points per game for the Saints.

Campbell Hall will face Rolling Hills Prep in the Willmeng Construction Bracket at 2:15 p.m. Vikings senior points guard Isaiah Johnson is leading the weekend in points, averaging 37.5 points per game along with six rebound and four rebounds.

St. Bernard will play in the AZ Athletics Bracket final against Clovis West at 2:15 p.m.

TOP PERFORMERS

Thousand Oaks’ senior forward Trent MacLean leads Section 7 in rebounds after three games in two days, carrying an average of 16.5 rebounds per game. He’s also averaging 21.5 points per game.

Calvary Chapel’s Kaiden Bailey is averaging 31.5 points per game, and Dana Hills’ Collin Haugh is pouring in 31 points per contest.

Roosevelt’s Brayden Burries is averaging 26 points per game. Jeremiah Profit of Temecula Valley, who’s just a sophomore, is averaging 23.5 points per game.

Mater Dei’s Brannon Martinsen has been very good this weekend, averaging 19.5 points and 9.5 rebounds per game.

Published
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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