HIGHLIGHTS: No. 4 Roosevelt outlasts No. 3 St. John Bosco 56-55 in overtime to win Classic at Damien title

By Aaron Williams Dec 30, 2024, 10:45pm

Mustangs win second straight Platinum Division title as Brayden Burries scores game-high 24.

A slow offensive first half gave way to a barrage of haymakers in the second half and overtime as No. 4 Roosevelt (Eastvale, Calif.) outlasted No. 3 St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.) 56-55 in overtime on Monday evening for the title at the Classic at Damien.

Five-star senior guard Brayden Burries led the way for Roosevelt (15-1) with a game-high 24 points. He scored eight in the extra period, including 5 of 8 from the free throw line. But it was the charge he took on a Christian Collins drive with 23 seconds left in overtime that punctuated the victory.

Trailing 53-51, the five-star junior drove the lane looking for the equalizer but was whistled for the offensive foul as Burries slid into his way as he glided down the right side of the lane. It was Collins' fifth foul.
Brayden Burries led the charge for No. 4 Roosevelt's 56-55 overtime win over No. 3 St. John Bosco on Monday to win the Classic at Damien title. Burries scored a game-high 24 points and took a key charge late to help the Mustangs hold on. (Photo: Jay Hinton)
Brayden Burries led the charge for No. 4 Roosevelt's 56-55 overtime win over No. 3 St. John Bosco on Monday to win the Classic at Damien title. Burries scored a game-high 24 points and took a key charge late to help the Mustangs hold on. (Photo: Jay Hinton)
It was the second straight Classic at Damien title for Roosevelt, which beat St. John Bosco (14-1) last year 68-65 for the prestigious SoCal event crown.

The victory puts the Mustangs in position to climb in the MaxPreps Top 25 rankings after No. 1 Columbus dropped a pair of games over the weekend at the Jordan Holiday Classic after grabbing the City of Palms title.

Bosco, playing without five-star Brandon McCoy Jr., Bosco hung tough with Collins scoring a team high 20 points and Chris Komin adding 17 including a handful of NBA-range 3-pointers.



The game started slow with Roosevelt leading 4-3 after one quarter before Burries ended the half with a dunk at the buzzer to give the Mustangs a 17-15 headed into the intermission.

Bosco led 34-31 entering the fourth, but Roosevelt erased that with a 10-3 run over the first five minutes of the quarter. When Roosevelt's Myles Walker missed the front end of two free throws with 14 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, it left the door open for Collins to hit a floater and send the game into overtime.

Burries and Komin traded deep 3-pointers to knot things at 49. Max Ellis got St. John Bosco back even at 51 with a tip-in off a Collins miss, but Roosevelt won the free throw battle by hitting 5 of 6 before a desperation Ellis triple with 1 second remaining made the final score closer.