Justin Pippen scored 23 points Tuesday night to help Sierra Canyon improve to 3-0 with a 98-41 win over Highland on a night Bryce James was back on the bench in street clothes after transferring from Sherman Oaks Notre Dame and returning to the school he had attended since seventh grade. Also returning is Kam Martin, the son of Kenyon Martin. He previously was at Reseda Cleveland.
The paparazzi and celebrities may soon return, but Pippen deserves attention for his skills. He’s preparing for some terrific matchups come January in the powerful Mission League, where guards such as Trent Perry of Harvard-Westlake and Mercy Miller of Notre Dame are waiting.
Pippen said his brother advised him to be patient, just like he was.
“I stayed the course and kept working,” Justin said. “Now that I’m healthy, I feel a lot of the work over the summer helped me, along with having confidence in my game.”
Thousand Oaks 78, Valencia 74: Trent MacLean finished with 29 points for 2-0 Thousand Oaks. Bryce Bedgood had 30 points for Valencia.
Los Alamitos 99, Mt. Carmel 71: The Griffins improved to 5-0. Trent Minter led the way with 20 points.
Crossroads 71, Venice 55: EJ Vernon scored 32 points and had 13 rebounds for Crossroads.
Eastvale Roosevelt 76, Foothill 38: Brayden Burries scored 23 points and Darnez Slater 18 for unbeaten Roosevelt.
La Mirada 67, Villa Park 54: Freshman Gene Roebuck had 23 points and Julien Gomez added 15 points and 11 rebounds for 6-0 La Mirada.
Santa Monica 61, Shalhevet 46: Luke Hecht led Santa Monica with 16 points. Aiden Bitran scored 28 points for Shalhevet.
Burroughs 69, Dorsey 47: Chase Kardosh finished with 20 points for 5-0 Burroughs.
Chaminade 68, Knight 61: Jonas Thurman had 31 points for Chaminade.
Harvard-Westlake 85, Sun Valley Poly 28: It was a meeting of former El Camino Real coaches, with David Rebibo’s Wolverines beating Joe Wyatt’s Parrots. Perry scored 14 points and Josh Engelberg 12.
Bishop Amat 66, Crescenta Valley 63: The Falcons suffered their first defeat. Vaughn Zargarian had 24 points for Crescenta Valley.
La Cañada 59, Agoura 57: The Chargers fell in double overtime. DJ Jacob had 15 points for Agoura.
Verbum Dei 64, Crenshaw 58: Dontaye Hardy scored 20 points for Crenshaw.
Taft 36, Northridge Academy 31: The Toreadors won the nonleague game.
St. Anthony 83, Artestia 59: JoJo Wicker and Quincy Phillips each scored 16 points for 3-0 St. Anthony.
Girls’ basketball
Granada Hills 58, Valencia 47: Alyssa Badua scored 16 points for Granada Hills, which played against its former coach, Jared Honig.