Jahmel Taylor picked the perfect time to turn in one of his most impressive performances of the season.
As University of Washington head coach Lorenzo Romar watched intently, the 5-foot-11 point guard from
Pacific Hills (Los Angeles) filled the stat sheet with 26 points, nine rebounds, eight assists and seven steals for the Bruins in Monday's 77-59 victory over
West Ranch (Valencia) at the Martin Luther King Showcase.
The marquee matchup of California top 25 teams at Providence High School in Burbank produced seven lead changes and three ties in the first half, with West Ranch taking a 33-32 advantage to intermission.
Marcus Jackson, Pacific Hills
File photo by Mike Bouffard
Taylor, who has lined up recruiting visits to Washington, Long Beach State and Fresno State, sank three of his four three-pointers in the third quarter as Pacific Hills (16-2) pulled away with a 22-12 run.
"We came out with a vengeance in the second half," Taylor said. "We were determined and I had the green light to shoot. We weren't rebounding at the start and that's why we were struggling on offense."
It was the 10th straight win for Pacific Hills, the top team in Southern Section Division 4A and 12th-ranked team in the state. Both of the Bruins' losses are to teams from higher playoff divisions, Loyola (Los Angeles, CA) and Bishop O'Dowd (Oakland, CA).
"I haven't set a date [to make my college decision]," Taylor added. "I don't have a time table. Right now, I'm focused on helping my team win [CIF]."
Marcus Jackson added 20 points for the Bruins, including a slam dunk and free throw to complete a three-point play that put Pacific Hills ahead 73-55 lead with 2:02 left.
Namon Wright finished with 16 points.
"My mentality was to be aggressive to open the game up for other players," said Jackson, who has signed with Rice. "Since we're No. 1 in our division we're going to get every team's best and we have to be ready for that."
Northern Arizona-bound senior center
Ako Kaluna scored 21 points and
Zac Nuttall added 16 for the Wildcats (14-5), ranked No. 1 in Southern Section Division 1A and 21st in the state.
In other Southern California MLK Showcase games:
Lutheran (La Verne) 87, View Park (Los Angeles) 48McKay Anderson scored 22 points and
Tey Williams had 19 for Lutheran, which cruised to a 47-28 halftime lead at Providence.
Skyler Williams added 17 points and
Joe Rushing scored 14 for the Trojans (18-6), ranked seventh in Southern Section Division 4AA.
Sophomore forward
Chance Comanche had 10 points and 10 rebounds for View Park before leaving the game after a hard fall midway through the third quarter.
Brodricks Jones added eight points for the Knights (15-10).
Servite (Anaheim) 44, St. Francis (La Canada) 43Junior guard
Louis Juego made the winning three-pointer and the Friars survived despite being outscored 30-17 in the second half at Providence.
Kyle Leufroy's three-pointer gave the Golden Knights (11-10) their first lead, 40-37, late in the fourth quarter.
Leufroy finished with 15 points. Juego scored 13 points for Servite (14-8), which led 27-13 after the first eight minutes. Neither team scored in the second quarter.
Price (Los Angeles) 85, Crenshaw (Los Angeles) 70
Chance Murray, Price
File photo by David Hood
scored 15 of his 20 points in the first half and added nine rebounds for the host Knights, who led 65-50 after three quarters.
Jalen Woods had 16 points and four assists and
Kwuan Guerrero and
Chris Carson each added nine for the Knights (19-3), who held Crenshaw's high scorer
Andre Edwards (24 points per game) to 12 points.
Micah Winn led the Cougars (11-8) with 22 points and
Trevell Garret added 17 points and nine rebounds.
Price, ranked third in Southern Section Division 4AA and No. 28 in California, led 47-41 at halftime.
Bullard (Fresno) 75, Dorsey (Los Angeles) 49
Corey Silverstrom had 24 points, including four three-pointers, and
Taran Malhi added 12 points for the Knights in their victory at Price.
Silverstrom scored 11 of the Knights' first 13 points as Bullard (16-2) made 12 three-pointers on its way to winning for the seventh time in eight games.
Bullard, ranked No. 1 in the Central Section and No. 14 in the state, scored the first nine points of the game and led 18-8 by the end of the first quarter.
Laroy Alexander's steal and layup at the buzzer pulled Dorsey to within 35-27 at halftime.
Kevin Jackson scored 11 points and Alexander added 10 for the Dons (5-16).
