Despite the results of the four-game 38th Holiday Hoops at Mt. Carmel High School tournament, the Cerritos High boys basketball team enjoyed another yearly late December trip to San Diego, which included a day at Sea World, a bowling outing and other activities. PHOTO BY LOREN KOPFF.
Jan. 1, 2025
By Loren Kopff • @LorenKopff on X
RANCHO PENASQUITOS-Every late December since 2001, apart from 2020, 2021 and 2022, the Cerritos High boys basketball program has been making a visit to San Diego for what was just completed the 38th Holiday Hoops at Mt. Carmel High School. The Dons have had success in the past, but for the eighth time, were sent to the loser’s bracket immediately.
A 74-61 loss to Eastlake High last Thursday was followed up by a 50-46 setback to Rancho Bernardo High last Friday as the young squad with six sophomores and three juniors to go along with seven seniors used this tournament as another learning lesson, just like the previous 12 games before departing Southeast Los Angeles County.
“We’re just not playing consistently on both ends of the floor,” said Cerritos head coach Jonathan Watanabe. “That’s going to hurt you. Sometimes it makes for exciting basketball, but it’s hard to win games when you’re not consistently playing offense and you’re not consistently playing good defense.”
The Dons either trailed or tied the Broncos the entire first half and did not take their first lead until the 6:44 mark of the third quarter when senior Jaden Ribac took a pass from senior Nathan Ju and sank his only three-pointer of the game, giving Cerritos a 27-24 advantage. That was the momentum the Dons needed as they outscored Rancho Bernardo, located just north of Mt. Carmel High, 15-9 after the three-pointer. Included in that stretch was 10 straight points from the final 82 seconds of the third quarter to the 6:07 mark of the fourth.
Cerritos was still leading 46-43, but as hot as it was for most of the second half, it went completely cold the final 3:04 of the game, missing its final seven shots it took while the Brocos rallied for the four-point win.
“We’ve had about four of them this year that are in that category,” said Watanabe. “We just hope that we’re able to learn and bounce back and just limit our mistakes on both ends of the floor. But we had some big contributions today. Noah Edwards came in and played huge for us, and that’s what we need. We need guys to step up when their opportunities are there, and I thought those guys did that. We just weren’t able to close the game.”
Senior Benson Cho led the Dons with 12 points and eight rebounds while Ribac finished with nine points. senior Demetrius Washington added seven points, six rebounds and three assists and sophomore Noah Edwards had a career-high six points.
The next day, Cerritos was facing Mt. Carmel and did something it had never done in the previous 20 trips to this tournament-open with three straight losses. A barrage of three-pointers from the Sundevils spelled doom for the Dons in a 68-41 loss. After Cerritos tied the game at 7-7 following five straight points, the hometown crowd inside Sundevil Arena was treated to a display of trifectas from Jaylon Boyd, Caleb Hourani, Tyler Humphrey and Blaine Raagas as Mt. Carmel was eight of 13 from beyond the arc in the first half.
Mt. Carmel went on a 20-0 run in a span of seven and a half minutes and when senior Jaylen Barsana ended that streak with the first of his two baskets, it would be the last time the Dons would trail by 19 points or less. Mt. Carmel had a lead of over 20 points the final 3:38 of the half and the first 4:20 of the third quarter.
Cho posted a season-high 22 points while Washington added half a dozen points as the black and gold were held to 13 rebounds while Makai Orje had a quiet 18 points, followed by 17 from Humphrey, 16 from Raagas and 13 from Hourani. The Sundevils had entered the game with a 2-12 record.
Cerritos (5-11) would defeat Westview High 61-53 this past Monday as another team-bonding experience was added to the 2024-2025 season. Since first coming to the Holiday Hoops in 2001, the Dons have put together a 47-37 record, including this season’s experience. This was only the fourth time they have faced all CIF-San Diego Section teams in a season in the tournament and overall, 52 of their 84 Holiday Hoops opponents have been from the Sam Diego Section. Other non-CIF-Southern Section opponents have been Boulder City High, Canby (OR) High, GP Vanier High out of Courtenay, British Columbia, Mercer Island (WA) High, Las Vegas Valley High, Nevada Union High, Rocklin High, Sangler High and White River High. The most common Southern Section opponents have been Sonora High (six times) and El Dorado High (five times).
“We know the area; they do a good job of running the tournament,” said Watanabe. “The first year that I was the varsity coach with [former Cerritos] coach [Ian] Desborough, and it was by chance. We had not been here previously, and he had just told me we should try this tournament. We went; we loved it, the kids loved it and so we’ve been coming back ever since then. It’s a fun trip.
“I think it’s good; it’s good to see different styles of play,” he later added. “And also, different styles of officiating, because the emphasis in officiating in this area is different than in our area. It’s different in Orange County. So the more exposure you get from the different types of officials, the better, because in the playoffs, you don’t get your area officials.”
Cerritos visits Sonora on Friday before going to Whitney High on Tuesday for the 605 League opener.