High school basketball: No. 17 Sidwell Friends, No. 19 Wheeler advance to State Champions Invitational title game

Top seeds Sidwell Friends (Washington, D.C.) and Wheeler (Marietta, Ga.) will meet for the State Champions Invitational title Saturday at noon after each won semifinal matchups on Friday.

The first semifinal contest saw No. 17 Sidwell Friends take down Corner Canyon (Draper, Utah) 60-53 sparked by a 7-0 run late in the game.

Following a pair of free throws from senior Max Toombs that tied the contest at 50-50 with three minutes remaining, junior Caleb Williams threw down a one-handed slam to give Sidwell Friends a two-point advantage. Junior Jake Williams was fouled on a 3-point attempt from the right corner and knocked down all three free throws on the following offensive possession with just over two minutes remaining.

After a pair of defensive stops, a dunk from senior Chris Russell extended the lead to 57-50 with 46 seconds to go in the contest before free throws sealed the win in the final seconds.

Toombs had 18 points, seven rebounds and six assists for Corner Canyon (26-3) while MaxPreps Utah Player of Year Brody Kozlowski contributed 14 points and 14 rebounds in the loss.

Sidwell Friends (28-4) forced 20 turnovers in the game. Senior Lehigh commit Cam Gillus led the charge with a game-high 19 points, seven steals and four assists and Williams chipped in 13 points, eight rebounds and three blocks in the win. Despite playing without top-ranked senior prospect Isaiah Collier, No. 19 Wheeler blew past No. 13 Roselle Catholic (Roselle, N.J.) 78-68 in the second semifinal showdown. Collier is participating in the Nike Hoop Summit this weekend along with five-star Duke signee MacKenzie Mgbako of Roselle Catholic.

Wheeler (27-6) was impressive from early in the contest, jumping out to a 16-4 lead mid-way through the period before holding onto a 20-12 advantage at the end of the opening frame. The Wildcats continued their dominance in the second quarter, jumping out to a 20-point advantage with just over one minute remaining in the period before taking a 37-22 lead into halftime.

Roselle Catholic (22-6) made a furious comeback attempt late in the contest, going on a 9-0 run that spanned from the 4:30 mark to the 3:20 mark in the fourth quarter to cut the deficit to 69-62 with just over three minutes remaining.

Following the run, the Wildcats were able to maintain their advantage to pull out the double-digit victory.

Roselle Catholic was led by a team-high 23 points and four steals from four-star Arizona State signee Akil Watson in the loss.

Senior USC signee Arrinten Page led the way with 24 points and seven rebounds, while senior Iowa State signee Jelani Hamilton chipped in 22 points, 13 rebounds and four assists in the win.