COLUMBUS, Ohio — Bronny James’ steal and finger roll with about 50 seconds left Saturday night lifted Sierra Canyon (Calif.) to the lead and a 59-56 boys high school basketball win against St. Vincent-St. Mary.
James, a freshman guard, finished with 15 points off the bench to lead the Trail Blazers (8-0) against the alma mater of his father, LeBron James. The freshman scored eight points in the second quarter as STVM (3-1), the No. 1-ranked team in the cleveland.com Top 25, held several leads against one of the top teams in the country.
Sierra Canyon, based in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Chatsworth, has been touring the country with James, Kentucky commit Brandon Boston, Zaire Wade (son of Dwyane Wade) and Ziaire Williams, a top-10 recruit in the nation who did not play.
An estimated 13,000 spectators attended the game at Nationwide Arena, which capped a four-game event put on by the Scholastic Play By Play Classic.
It attracted LeBron James during an off-day between the Los Angeles Lakers’ game Friday in Miami and a Sunday trip to Atlanta. James has been unable to see his son play in person much. The off day coincidentally allowed him to see Bronny vs. his alma mater.
"My heart is always going to be with St. V," James told ESPN's Rachel Nichols at halftime. "Coach Dru is like a father to me … a father figure. He taught me so much, not just about the game of basketball, but about life.
"I'm always going to be indebted to St. V and Coach Dru. It's like full circle that I'm here in my home state. My son is here with his high school playing my alma mater and all of my guys from my high school, the Fab Five (at STVM), is here as well. It's crazy."
Bronny’s go-ahead basket brought his father to his feet and out of his front-row seat. Teammate Terren Frank extended the lead at the free-throw line before STVM’s Marcus Johnson misfired on a last-second 3-point attempt.
Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann also was in attendance with assistant coach Ryan Pedon. The Buckeyes are recruiting STVM junior Malaki Branham, who scored 13 points. Johnson had 14 points, while sophomore Sencire Harris and senior guard Isaiah Ingol each had 11.
Boston scored a game-high 16 points for Sierra Canyon.
No. 2 St. Edward 56, Warren Harding 50: The Eagles (4-0) held on after a back-and-forth game at Harding, which rallied Friday night for a double overtime win at Garfield Heights.
No. 6 Medina 87, Firestone 41: Spencer Aylward scored 15 points to lead four Medina players in double figures at the Greynolds Classic in Barberton.
Doug Sartain added 11 points, while Jajuan Jackson and Sam Peacock each added 10 for Medina. The Bees (5-0) used a 19-7 second quarter to push their lead to double digits.
Noor Malik led Firestone with 11 points.
No. 14 Rhodes 94, No. 19 Benedictine 75: Sophomore point guard Jamal Sumlin scored 23 points, senior Marlon Landingham had 21 and Rhodes (5-0) ran away at Benedictine a night after beating Senate League-rival East Tech.
Sumlin added seven assists and a block, while Landingham had four steals. Teammate Amarion Dickerson scored 16 points, while Keyshawn Hall had 15. Deangelo Williams provided 11 points and seven rebounds for the Rams.
Benedictine dropped to 4-2.
No. 17 Hoban 49, Massillon Jackson 48 (OT): Isaiah Young picked up MVP honors at the Greynolds Classic for Hoban, which bounced back from a season-opening loss a night earlier at Lake Catholic.
Elyria Catholic 65, Columbia 64: The Panthers (4-0) survived a close call on the road, as Branson Taylor scored 20 points and Edward Wright II had 16.
EC built a 55-42 lead after the third quarter. Columbia rallied as Charlie Simon scored seven of his 13 points in the final eight minutes. Jake Kile added 14 points for the Raiders.
Harvey 49, Andrews Osborne 47: Harvey (4-0) emerged from a back-and-forth game in Willoughby, as Bishop Thomas scored 19 points to pace the Red Raiders.
Sophomore guard Roderick Coffee III added nine points, including four of Harvey's 10 in the fourth quarter.
Oscar Alcobendas led Andrews Osborne with 19 points.
Olmsted Falls 51, Barberton 50: Drew Sagerman scored 16 points, Luke Dieckman had 13 and the Bulldogs topped host Barberton in the final game of the Greynolds Classic.
Pickerington Central 72, Buchtel 44: Senior guard Tahleik Walker scored a game-high 17 points for Pickerington Central in the second game of the four-game Play By Play Classic in Columbus. Ronell Perie also had 17 points to pace the Griffins.
Solon 98, Cleveland JFK 37: Sophomore Sam Marbury scored 21 points, senior guard Chad Marks had 19 and the Comets cruised at home.
Stow 38, Twinsburg 35: The Tigers rallied from a double-digit deficit on the road, but Caleb Marconi’s 10-foot jumper with 13 seconds left pushed the Bulldogs in Suburban League play.
Walsh Jesuit 71, John Marshall 47: Maison Ross led Walsh Jesuit (1-1) with 28 points. Donovan Morris added 12 points and Erik Stern had 11 for the Warriors.
Paris Matthews scored 14 points for the Lawyers (1-6).
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