Corona Centennial's Josh Giles notches career win No. 500; JSerra stuns Mater Dei on drama-filled night
Corona Centennial boys basketball coach Josh Giles notched career win No. 500 in the Huskies' 90-35 Big XIII League victory over Corona High Wednesday night.
When told congratulations on the milestone, Giles had a simple response.
"It just means I'm old," he said laughing.
Giles' name is not foreign to high school basketball in Southern California. He was an all-state-caliber player at Glendora High before going on to be the coach at Centennial, which has been a powerhouse in recent years, including three straight CIF Southern Section Open Division championships (2021, '22, '23).
The No. 5 Huskies also won the CIF State Open Division championship in 2022. Giles took over the program in the 2003.
Centennial was able to cruise to victory, but that was not the case for other top-ranked teams in SoCal.
There was major drama Wednesday night ...
No. 1 Mater Dei fell to No. 10 JSerra 68-62 thanks to Aidan Fowler's game-high 36 points. The victory puts JSerra back into the Open Division playoff conversation, but is it too late? The Lions have wins over Eastvale Roosevelt, and now, the Monarchs.
Mater Dei was led by Brannon Martinsen, who had 24 points.
The victory marks the first time JSerra has ever beaten Mater Dei in program history.
No. 2 Notre Dame escaped No. 17 Crespi at home 64-61 despite being down 10 points at halftime. The Knights went on a 15-0 run in the third quarter to anchor the comeback victory and stay unbeaten at 24-0.
Lino Mark had 22 points and Crespi's Joe Sterling tallied 19.
No. 3 Sierra Canyon needed a 15-4 fourth-quarter run to erase a small deficit and defeat Alemany on the road 67-55. Arkansas commit Isaiah Elohim and CSUN-bound forward Noah Williams each had 18 points.
No. 22 Rancho Cucamonga knocked off No. 11 Etiwanda in the Baseline League 60-58 thanks to Aaron Glass' 21 points.
The Etiwanda loss combined with the JSerra victory makes the Open Division playoff conversation more compelling.
In the City Section, Chatsworth defeated Birmingham 70-68 thanks to a layup from Alijah Arenas with 1.3 seconds left to give the Patriots their first West Valley League loss.
Arenas scored 23 of his 31 points in the second half.
MORE SCORES, JAN. 24
Harvard-Westlake 78, Chaminade 46: Nik Khamenia scored 16 to snap the Wolverines two-game losing streak.
St. Francis 54, Loyola 44: Mazi Mosley had 17 points and DeLan Grant added 10.
St. John Bosco 90, Servite 40: Elzie Harrington scored 25 and Brandon McCoy had 24.
St. Pius 76, St. Paul 66: Tyrone Riley had 17 and Tariq Bridges scored 14 in the win.
Damien 85, Chino Hills 53: Nate Garcia led the Spartans with 24 points.
Cleveland 66, El Camino Real 49: Souljah Niles notched 17 points and 10 rebounds.
Sun Valley Poly 59, Verdugo Hills 56: JD Wyatt poured in 29 points.
Simi Valley 56, Moorpark 47: Ryder Mjoen scored 25 points in the win.
Thousand Oaks 75, Oaks Christian 56: Elias Chin notched 27 points, six rebounds and seven assists. Trent MacLean added 21.
Santa Margarita 47, Orange Lutheran 37: Cameron McNamee led the Eagles with 15 points.
Blair 91, Temple City 72: Timmy Anderson goes for a career-high 52 points. Anderson has scored 52, 51, 40 and 40 in his last four games.
