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Previews of the top boys basketball games on Tuesday, Jan. 28.
ST. JOHN BOSCO (19-5, 5-1) VS. NO. 2 JSERRA (19-4, 4-2)
Where, when: JSerra, Tuesday, 7 p.m.
Outlook: The top of the Trinity League race is a mixed bag. St. John Bosco beat Mater Dei, which blew out JSerra a few days later, and JSerra beat St. John Bosco on Jan. 10. Bosco and Mater Dei are tied for first place with one league loss and JSerra is in third place with two losses.
JSerra edged Bosco 55-54 in their first meeting of the season. Utah signee Ian Martinez scored a game-high 29 points for the Lions in that game and made four of the team’s five 3-pointers. Martinez did not play in JSerra’s win over Santa Margarita on Friday.
Bosco has a very balanced offense. Isaiah Holm, Josh Camper, Wynton Brown and Lamaj Lewis have all taken turns leading the Braves in scoring this season. JSerra held the Braves to 35 percent shooting in the first meeting and 24 percent from 3-point range.
The Lions will need a similar defensive effort if they want to beat the Braves again and move into second place.
BUENA PARK (18-4, 3-3) VS. SUNNY HILLS (12-12, 1-5)
Where, when: Sunny Hills, Tuesday, 7:30 p.m.
Outlook: It has been a tale of two seasons for Sunny Hills. The Lancers were 11-7 in nonleague play and expected to compete for the third-place spot in the Freeway League. But Sunny Hills has gone 1-5 in league and is in fifth place.
Buena Park has done a good job of extending its nonleague success into league play under first-year coach Josh Beaty. The Coyotes were 15-1 in nonleague play and are in third place in the Freeway League. Junior guards Farris Odeh and Eli Wallace have been carrying the scoring load for Buena Park.
Emmanuel Seddoh is averaging 16.3 points and 11.9 rebounds per game for Sunny Hills. Seddoh had 19 points and 17 rebounds in the first meeting between the two teams, which Buena Park won 48-40.
TUSTIN (16-8, 3-3) VS. CREAN LUTHERAN (14-8, 5-1)
Where, when: Crean Lutheran, Tuesday, 6 p.m.
Outlook: Crean Lutheran has a two-game lead over Tustin and Valencia for second place in the Empire League. The Saints beat Tustin 59-56 on Jan. 10. Drew Yezback and Josh Shin each scored 17 points for Crean Lutheran and Michael Birket added 11.
Tustin had won three consecutive league games before losing to first-place Cypress on Friday.
Ryan Stading had a game-high 21 points when the Tillers hosted Crean and Bradley Burdick had 16 points and eight rebounds.
Kyan Patel has been playing well for Tustin and senior Jason Naranjo is a three-year starter who provides much-needed experience.
FOOTHILL (10-13, 1-2) VS. BREA OLINDA (15-9, 2-1)
Where, when: Brea Olinda, Tuesday, 7 p.m.
Outlook: Yes, the Century Conference is still playing nonleague, crossover games in late January and this is one of them.
Brea Olinda avenged a league loss to Yorba Linda by beating El Dorado 55-53 on Friday to hold onto second place in the North Hills League race.
Tristan Monteran paced the Wildcats with 16 points and sophomore Aiden Stewart added 15.
Garrett Brookman and Ivin Rhaburn have been playing well in the post for Brea,
Foothill lost to El Dorado by six points last week but bounced back with an 11-point win over El Modena in a crossover game. Gavin Walker had 12 points for the Knights in the win and Nic Garcia had 11.
Foothill begins a challenging Crestview League slate after this game, so a win would provide helpful momentum for the Knights.