JSerra boys basketball tops Inglewood, advances to Division 1 title game

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO – It was as wild as high school basketball can be.

JSerra beat Inglewood, 103-91, Friday in a CIF Southern Section Division 1 boys basketball semifinal playoff game at JSerra High.

The Lions (23-12) will play Crean Lutheran (25-7) in the championship game. The CIF-SS finals schedule will released Monday. It is likely, though, that the Division 1 championship game will be at Toyota Arena in Ontario on Saturday, Feb/ 28, at 4 p.m.

Crean Lutheran was seeded No. 1 and JSerra was seeded No. 2 in the division.

JSerra sophomore Ryan Doane scored 33 points with 16 rebounds. Lions senior guard Jaden Bailes scored 32 points with eight rebounds and nine assists. Junior forward Godschoice Eboigbodin scored 19 points with 15 rebounds, and junior guard Earl Bryson scored 11 points with five assists.

Inglewood senior Jason Crowe Jr., averaging 44 points a game, scored 37 points. Kevin Singleton scored 27 points for the Sentinels (28-6).

Inglewood’s season is not over. The Sentinels qualified for the CIF Southern California Regional when they advanced to the CIF-SS semifinals.

JSerra coach Keith Wilkinson was asked if the 103 points is a school record.

He wasn’t sure.

“I know that as long as I’ve been here we’ve never seen (103),” said Wilkinson, in his eighth season as JSerra’s coach.

Bailes made four 3-point baskets and was 9 of 10 at the free-throw line, including 7 of 8 at the line in the fourth quarter.

Doane, a 6-9 forward, was 15 for 23 from the floor, all from 8 feet or closer. He was 6 for 6 in the second quarter.

The high score and high scorers were not because of poor defense. Three-point shots became available because both teams moved the ball around the court rapidly, and even some of those were contested or taken from well behind the arc. Inside shots were put up through a forest of arms, especially Doane’s and Eboigbodin’s baskets.

Crowe, who signed with Missouri, faced the double-teams he has dealt with for most of his high school career.

Wilkinson, who played at USC, was impressed by Crowe.

“That’s the best high school scorer I’ve seen in my eight years,” Wilkinson said. “That guy is a bucket.”

Inglewood scored 23 points in the first quarter, 24 points in the second quarter, 24 in the third quarter and 20 in the fourth.

JSerra scored 26 points in the first quarter, 35 in the second quarter, 20 in the third and 22 in the fourth.

Keep in mind that those NBA-like quarter totals happened in a high school game that has eight-minute quarters.

The big and loud crowd witnessed an entertaining game.

“This is crazy,” said Doane, who has offers from UNLV, San Diego, New Mexico, UC Santa Barbara, Stanford and Cal. “The home crowd got us sparking. It was a great atmosphere.”

It looked like it might turn out to be a one-sided Inglewood win, early on. The Sentinels took an 8-1 lead. Then Bailes, who committed to Seattle University, got going, making two 3-point shots in the final moments and the Lions had a 26-23 lead at the end of the quarter.

Doane’s big second quarter of 12 points, plus eight points from Bailes, led JSerra to 61-47 halftime lead.

Inglewood junior guard David Conerly scored 11 points in the third quarter. That helped the Sentinels outscore the Lions, 24-20, in the quarter to keep them close – an 81-71 JSerra lead going into the fourth quarter.

The Sentinels were able to cut their deficit to eight points early in the fourth quarter. Scorers find a way to get their point, and Bailes found that way at the free-throw line where he was 7 for 8 in the quarter.

Crowe, too, had a productive fourth quarter, scoring 11 points including going 5 for 5 at the line.

JSerra is on its way to its third CIF-SS boys basketball championship game. The Lions won a CIF-SS boys basketball title in 2014 and lost in a section final in 2022.