With four brothers and four sisters walking him onto the court for senior night, Tyler Rolison of St. Bernard told coach Tony Bland before its game Monday night against 24-1 Bishop Montgomery, “I’m not losing on senior night.”
Rolison played like someone who couldn’t be stopped, scoring 34 points to help St. Bernard upset the Knights 70-61 and pull into a first-place tie in the Del Rey League.
“I came in with the mindset I’m not losing,” Rolison said. “It was important to me. I had to put on a show.”
St. Bernard (20-5, 6-1) has created uncertainty in the final week of the regular season as speculation grows regarding which eight teams will be selected for the Southern Section Open Division playoffs. The Vikings have thrust themselves into the playoff picture, adding drama to Sunday’s unveiling of the brackets.
St. Bernard is growing up before everyone’s eyes. In the fourth quarter, Bishop Montgomery (24-2, 6-1) appeared to be launching a comeback when a group of young St. Bernard players stepped forward. Sophomore Tajh Ariza hit a three. Sophomore Caleb Versher was four for four on free throws. Sophomore Josh Palmer made a clutch basket.
In the end, though, it was Rolison delivering despite St. Bernard falling behind 8-0 to start the game when Bland played all the seniors.
“Tyler was amazing,” Bland said.
Xavier Edmonds scored 24 points for Bishop Montgomery, which has only one other loss, to No. 1 Harvard-Westlake in triple overtime.
Chaminade 71, Crespi 65: Ethan Johnson scored 28 points to send the Eagles into a Tuesday Mission League tournament game at Sierra Canyon.
Loyola 75, Bishop Alemany 64: The Cubs earned a trip to St. Francis on Tuesday in the Mission League tournament. Hugh Vandeweghe scored 23 points.
Birmingham 68, El Camino Real 44: Tyson Jackson scored 14 points to help Birmingham stay unbeaten in the West Valley League entering a final game against Taft on Wednesday.
Chatsworth 56, Granada Hills 53: Alijah Arenas had 23 points and 10 rebounds for Chatsworth.
Taft 84, Cleveland 55: Keyon Kensie led Taft with 24 points.
Fairfax 62, Venice 48: The Lions remained unbeaten in the Western League. Tyler Hunt had 21 points for Venice.
Oxnard 69, Ventura 26: The Yellowjackets (25-2, 13-0) wrapped up the Channel League championship.
Tesoro 54, Trabuco Hills 45: Carson Brown had 28 points and eight rebounds for Tesoro (23-4).
Crean Lutheran 69, Cypress 68: Kaiden Bailey had 32 points and made the go-ahead three with seven seconds left for Crean Lutheran (19-7, 8-0).
Brentwood 83, King/Drew 62: MJ Coleman had 22 points and eight assists for Brentwood.
St. Pius X-St. Matthias 95, Paraclete 72: Tyrone Riley scored 25 points and Douglas Langford added 24 for 23-4 St. Pius X.
Shalhevet 61, Calabasas 47: The Firehawks improved to 22-5.
Girls’ basketball
Granada Hills 71, Chatsworth 48: The Highlanders (21-4, 8-0) received 22 points from Marianne Boco.
Mater Dei 93, Santa Margarita 48: The Monarchs clinched at least a tie for their 16th consecutive Trinity League title. Addie Deal scored 16 points.
