EASTVALE — The Roosevelt boys basketball team chased for more than three quarters but couldn’t pull in front.
But there was plenty of stamina remaining in the Mustangs at the end.
St. Pius X-St. Matthias led by eight points with 1:45 remaining in the third period, but Roosevelt finally surged ahead with a 24-11 closing run to secure a 64-59 victory in a CIF Southern Section Open Division pool-play game Tuesday night.
Roosevelt (29-2) still has one pool-play game remaining Friday night at home against Mater Dei, but the Mustangs already have punched a ticket to the Open Division championship game (Feb. 23 at California Baptist University) because they have beaten the two teams that can tie them in the standings.
“We’ve talked all year long about fighting through adversity whenever it comes,” Roosevelt coach Stephen Singleton said. “We were resilient the whole game tonight. Things weren’t feeling right, but players make plays. And we had guys do that today.”
Brayden Burries scored 14 of his game-high 21 points during the second half, including back-to-back buckets that helped the Mustangs take their first lead, 54-53 with 4:39 left on the clock. He nailed two free throws in closing seconds to seal the win.
That kind of performance has become routine for Burries. But Roosevelt also got another big effort from an unexpected source.
Kevin “Tochi” Anigbogu, the 6-foot-11 senior center who transferred from Centennial to Roosevelt for his senior season, drew a rare start Tuesday evening. Singleton felt Anigbogu’s size would help in the defensive and rebounding departments. Anigbogu excelled in those areas, including a team-high eight rebounds, but he also scored 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting.
“When we played them (the Warriors) the last time, we saw they weren’t guarding Tochi very much,” Singleton said, referring to a showcase game in January. “So we challenged him and told him to be a factor on the offensive end, and he came up huge.”
Anigbogu was ready for the challenge, despite only playing a handful of minutes in the first postseason game against JSerra.
“I just wanted to go out and play as hard as I can,” Anigbogu said. “I wanted to play the best defense I could and work hard on the boards. Luckily, the offense was there, too. Well, not luckily. I’ve been preparing and working hard for a moment like this.”
St. Pius X-St. Matthias (23-6) put pressure on the Mustangs from the start, knocking down four of its first five shots from the field to grab an 11-4 advantage. Tariq Bridges led the way early, scoring all 13 of his points in that opening period.
“I think we were playing our brand of basketball,” Warriors coach Donte Archie said. “I figured the opportunity was there for us to come out strong. The key was going to be sustaining that, and we were able to do that well into the second half.”
Roosevelt tied the score at 13, but St. Pius X-St. Matthias closed the first quarter with a 9-2 run to regain the lead. The Mustangs continued to stave off runs in the second period and had a 33-28 advantage at halftime despite turning the ball over 11 times.
Burries scored five straight points in the third period to level the score at 40. but St. Pius X-St. Matthias answered with an 8-0 run to take their biggest lead of the evening. Anigbogu gave Roosevelt momentum by scoring the final four points of the quarter.
St. Pius X-St. Matthias was clinging to a 55-54 lead near the midway point of the fourth quarter, but Myles Walker sank a pair of free throws and then drained a 3-pointer to give Roosevelt a lead it would not relinquish down the stretch.
“It took a lot of heart for us to come from behind tonight,” Burries said. “Coach told us at halftime that we just need to stay poised. If we do that, then things eventually will turn in our favor. We didn’t allow the pressure get to us.”
It was a frustrating finish Tuesday night for St. Pius X-St. Matthias, which suffered its second five-point setback to the Mustangs.
“We had chances to punch them out but never landed that final shot,” Archie said. “We just made too many costly mistakes.”
David Mack finished with 16 points to lead the way for St. Pius X-St. Matthias, and Tyrone Riley scored 11 of his 15 points after halftime and also recorded 10 rebounds. Douglas Langford added nine points and a team-high 12 rebounds for the Warriors.
Darnez Slater scored 15 points for Roosevelt, including eight in the second period and five more in the fourth quarter.
Although Roosevelt already has clinched a spot in the Open Division championship game. Anigbogu said the Mustangs still have plenty to play for Friday night.
“We are not going to let up,” Anigbogu said. “We have a chance for our 30th win and it’s not going to be any easy game. This is not a free game for us. It’s still Mater Dei. They are one of the top teams in SoCal, so we have to keep the momentum going.”