As the final seconds ticked off the clock and with the victory secured, Sierra Canyon forward Maximo Adams leaped and rejected a shot by Sherman Oaks Notre Dame guard NaVorro Bowman Jr. rather than concede a meaningless layup.
The play exemplified the Trailblazers’ defensive intensity all game — a collective effort that produced a 63-54 victory in the prime-time matchup of Saturday’s Trinity-Mission League Showcase at the Intuit Dome.
The six-game extravaganza, which tipped off at noon, featured seven schools in The Times’ Top 25 rankings and the finale had the most at stake, with both squads looking to earn a bye and two days off in the Mission League tournament, which opens Sunday.
Gavin Hightower scored 21 points before fouling out with 1:01 left and earned most valuable player honors. Adams added 18 points for Sierra Canyon (20-4, 6-1), ranked No. 6 by The Times.
“We’re excited we were able to get the win, we know how good we can be, and having the extra time off is huge because we’ll probably see that team again and this gives us a couple days in the gym to clean up our mistakes,” said Hightower, an Iona commit. “It’s a blessing to play in an arena like this. It’s all about being confident and having fun, but honestly we need the rest because we go hard every day in practice.”
Bryce Cofield finished with 15 points for Sierra Canyon.
“We hang our hat on defense, Cofield said. “We’re used to playing on big stages in front of lots of fans. You get the nerves out of your system in the first few minutes, then it’s all about basketball.”
Tyran Stokes led the fifth-ranked Knights (20-5, 5-2) with 23 points and Bowman added eight. The teams likely will meet again in the league tournament semifinals Tuesday.
Isaiah Carroll scored 22 points and Nikolas Khamenia added 18 points as Harvard-Westlake (25-1, 7-0) survived a scare from St. Francis (16-12, 0-7) to stay undefeated in Mission League play and secure the top seed in the league tournament.
Ranked No. 1 in the Southland by The Times, the Wolverines’ lead was only 26-24 at halftime after a half-court heave by St. Francis guard DeLon Grant rattled in at the buzzer.
Grant finished with 22 points. Joe Hickey added nine for St. Francis. Carroll was named most valuable player.
Harvard-Westlake has won 16 straight games since its loss to Provo (Utah) Timpview on Dec. 14.
Isaiah Johnson scored 39 points, making five of six free throws in the final 33 seconds, and was selected MVP as the Vikings (16-8, 4-2) handed No. 20 Brentwood its first Gold Coast League loss.
The Vikings clung to a one-point lead at halftime and it was tied 50-50 through three quarters. A steal and layup by AJ Okoh gave Brentwood its last lead, 64-63, with 2:40 left.
The Eagles (23-4, 6-1) can clinch the league title Monday with a home victory over Windward.
Brandon McCoy Jr. netted 20 points, including four of his team’s six slam dunks, and Chris Komin added 15 points to earn MVP for the No. 3 Braves (23-4, 7-2) who stayed atop the Trinity League with one game to go.
“It felt good,” said Komin, who had a four-point play and three-point play back to back in the third quarter. “My teammates were putting up shots and they were falling.”
Demarcus Henry led the No. 8 Monarchs (19-7, 5-3), who are fourth in the league and wrap up the regular season on the road at Santa Margarita and Orange Lutheran.
“This means a lot because we lost to them twice in the regular season last year,” McCoy added. “We’re taking it game by game. We’re not thinking about seedings. We feel confident but we’ve got another huge game coming up.”
The Braves ended the game on an 8-0 run to avenge their 62-59 road loss on Jan. 10 when they were without McCoy. They travel to third-place JSerra on Tuesday night.
Peyton White scored 24 points and grabbed eight rebounds and Jayden Xu added eight points for the No. 13 Celts (19-7, 4-3), who clinched fourth place in the Mission League and earned a bye into the quarterfinals. White was the MVP.
Senior forward Marc Cherfan scored 12 points and Bourgeois Tshilobo added eight for the Warriors (20-7, 3-4), who host last-place St. Francis on Sunday afternoon.
Quincy Watson hit six three-pointers in the first half, finished with 23 points and earned MVP for the Cubs (18-10, 2-5), who outscored Chaminade 24-6 in the fourth quarter.
Jack Jeffery added 18 points for Loyola. The teams will play again Sunday in the first round of the Mission League tournament.
“Playing the first game of the day definitely helped because we had 30 minutes to shoot, get the depth perception and adapt to the big court,” said Watson, a junior point guard. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It’s hard to beat the same team two days in a row, but we have some momentum and tomorrow we’ll be playing in our gym.”
Senior guard Jonas Thurman scored 18 points, Brycen Butler had 14 and Koby Nichols had 12 for the Eagles (18-9, 1-6).
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