Sierra Canyon, the nation’s fourth-ranked team, used its massive size advantage to overwhelm Jesuit, 78-61, in a Thursday quarterfinal at the Les Schwab Invitational. The Trailblazers, from Chatsworth, California, went on a dunk-filled 16-2 run midway through the third quarter to break open what had been only a 34-28 lead at halftime.
“We let them get a run going,” said Jesuit senior wing Justin Bieker. “They started to get easy transition points. You can’t give them anything. You have to make them earn it all.”
When Jesuit wasn’t turning the ball over under the relentless pressure of Sierra Canyon (14-1), the 2018 California Open Division state champions, the Crusaders hung in pretty well. Jesuit is a strong shooting team and made up for its size deficit by knocking down open shots in the first half and going 6-8 from the free throw line. Bieker and Matthew Levis were sparks for the Crusaders (5-3), who were down 23-10 early in the second quarter to the Trailblazer high-wire act featuring KJ Martin and Scotty Pippen, Jr., but outscored Sierra Canyon 18-11 the rest of the way to make the score a respectable 34-28 at the half.
Sierra Canyon came out in the second half determined to dominate the paint and did so, as 7-0 senior Christian Koloko and 7-2 sophomore Harold Yu scored at the rim at will against a Jesuit team whose tallest players gave up half a foot or more to the twin towers.
“You can’t simulate that size,” said Crusader coach Gene Potter. “I’m pleased with how our kids competed.”
Martin, the son of former NBA center Kenyon Martin, finished with 18 points, 10 rebounds and five assists to lead Sierra Canyon in all three categories. Yu and Koloko combined to score 29 more.
Aiden Williams led three Jesuit players in double figures with 13 points. Levis, who scored all eight of the Crusaders’ first-quarter points, added 12 while Bieker finished with 10.
“It was a huge test for us,” said Bieker. “We love going up against a team like that even though we came up short. We dug ourselves too big of a hole. We weren’t hitting our shots and we were turning the ball over a little bit. You can’t do that against a team like that but we love the competition.”
