EJ Vernon, a 6-foot-8 senior at Crossroads, has no time to be nice. He missed the first four games of this season with an ankle injury. Since he’s returned, he scored 31 and 20 points before Tuesday’s 28-point performance against a Sun Valley Poly team that faced an overwhelming height disadvantage.
Vernon offered no sympathy to the Parrots, going inside repeatedly. He’ll save his outside shot for future opponents. “I’ve got to take what a team gives me,” he said.
Crossroads (4-3) won its Beverly Hills tournament game 70-32 over the Parrots. Vernon’s 6-9 teammate Cheikh Diebakhate was a perfect six for six shooting, including five dunks.
St. Pius X-St. Matthias 88, St. Anthony 85: In the game of the night, Jaden Erami made a three-point shot with one second left to send the game into overtime. He finished with 25 points, keeping St. Pius unbeaten in Del Rey League play during the last two seasons. Kayleb Kearse had 23 points. Aman Haynes and Donovan Pitts finished with 20 points apiece for St. Anthony.
JSerra 67, St. Paul 52: BJ Davis-Ray had 17 points and Earl Bryson added 16 points to rally the Lions at Beverly Hills.
Valencia 80, Golden Valley 69: Dabe Princewell had 16 points to lead four Valencia players in double figures. Valencia is 3-0 in the Foothill League.
Saugus 64, West Ranch 56: Bryce Mejia scored 18 points for the Centurions.
Golden Valley 76, Hart 63: Alexander Villejo scored 27 points and Zachary Christoffersen had 25 for Golden Valley.
Harvard-Westlake 83, Long Beach Poly 51: Joe Sterling scored 19 points, Nikolas Khamenia had 18 and Dominique Bentho 14 for the Wolverines (8-0).
Sierra Canyon 98, Blair 42: Chris Nwuli and Maximo Adams each scored 23 points for the Trailblazers.
Manual Arts 69, Crenshaw 63: Devin Moody scored 30 points for Manual Arts at Beverly Hills. Jaelen Washington had 32 points for Crenshaw.
Viewpoint 58, Milken 37: Wesley Waddles had 27 points and Aeneas Grullon added 26 for 8-1 Viewpoint.
Brentwood 93, Chino 60: Freshman Ethan Hill scored 19 points and Shane Frazier had 17 for Brentwood.
Eastvale Roosevelt 110, Norco 31: Brayden Burries finished with 33 points for Roosevelt.
Damien 97, Franklin 41: Jacob Allen scored 18 points and Eli Garner and Elijah Smith had 15 apiece for Damien.
Los Alamitos 97, Cerritos 50: Samori Guyness scored 24 points for Los Alamitos.
St. Francis 71, Aquinas 33: Ben O’Connor led St. Francis with 18 points.
Oaks Christian 74, El Camino Real 54: Nick Giarrusso had 21 points for the Lions.
Girls’ basketball
Mater Dei 65, Fairmont Prep 46: Kaeli Wynn had 26 points for the Monarchs in a game matching two of the top teams in Orange County.