High school basketball: St. John Bosco to take on Centennial in CIF Southern Section Open Division championship

By Thomas Frey Feb 17, 2023, 9:00am

Three-way tiebreaker sends Bosco on to meet defending state champion Centennial at Honda Center on Feb. 25.

California's Southern Section Open Division final is set after a three-way tiebreaker sent St. John Bosco (Bellflower) to the the Honda Center for a Feb. 25 matchup against Centennial (Corona).

Three of the nation's top 10-ranked teams were included in the eight-team pool play competition – No. 5 Centennial, No. 8 Harvard-Westlake (Studio City) and No. 10 West Ranch (Valencia). Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth) was also part of the festivities but entered Friday's games without a chance to advance. 

Heading into the final game of pool play Friday against St. Bernard (Playa del Rey), St. John Bosco had a win over Harvard-Westlake and loss to West Ranch  in its first two pool play games.

In order to advance, Bosco needed to win and West Ranch to lose. Both events happened.

St. John Bosco held a double-digit lead most of the second half and beat St. Bernard 60-47.

Senior guard Brady Dunlap scored 18 points to push Harvard-Westlake past West Ranch 59-50.
West Ranch would have earned the Open Division championship game spot with a win over Harvard-Westlake but the loss created a three-way tiebreaker between all three 2-1 squads.



That tiebreaker went to St. John Bosco thanks to a point system that rewards wins over high seeds. The Braves (26-5) advance to take on No. 5 Centennial (28-3), a squad that also needed to win Friday to advance to the final. The Huskies finished 3-0 after beating Bishop Montgomery 73-55, but if they had lost both teams would have been 2-1 and Bishop Montgomery would have advanced due to the head-to-head matchup.
Sophomore Elzie Harrington and St. John Bosco are headed to the CIF Southern Section Open Division finals Feb. 25 against Centennial at the Honda Center in Anaheim. (Photo: Heston Quan)
Sophomore Elzie Harrington and St. John Bosco are headed to the CIF Southern Section Open Division finals Feb. 25 against Centennial at the Honda Center in Anaheim. (Photo: Heston Quan)

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