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PHOTO BY LOREN KOPFF
The Cerritos High boys basketball team poses for a team picture minutes before its game with La Serna High this past Tuesday at the Intuit Dome. Cerritos pulled away in the second half to post a 54-41 victory.
December 4, 2024
By Loren Kopff • @LorenKopff on X
INGLEWOOD-For years, Cerritos High boys basketball head coach Jonathan Watanabe has scheduled his teams to play at the former Staples Center, now Crypto.com Arena, in conjunction with a Los Angeles Clippers home game. That tradition continues as the Clippers have moved into the glitzy Intuit Dome and the Dons did not disappoint in their debut in the house that Clippers owner Steve Ballmer built.
Cerritos rebounded from a sluggish first quarter against La Serna High and went ahead for good with a minute left before halftime, then built a nine-point lead in the third quarter on its way to a 54-41 win this past Tuesday afternoon.
“This is awesome, this is awesome,” said Watanabe of the Intuit Dome. “The [NBA] Cup court; I mean, it’s unbelievable in here. This place is massive. There’s a different feel to it [than Crypto.com Arena]. I think both were amazing experiences. Anytime you can play on a professional court, it’s a great experience for all the kids. But here it’s a different feel; when you look up and you see the wall and how high that thing is…and when this halo is lit up, it’s unbelievable. I just think Mr. Ballmer is doing a great job with this organization.”
Cerritos was trailing the Lancers 9-3 on a basket from Derick Moreno with 4:41 left in the opening stanza. But a two-pointer from senior Demetrius Washington and back to back baskets from sophomore Antonious Youseff over the final 2:45 of the quarter tied the game. After La Serna scored the first three points of the second quarter, the Dons came right back with a 7-0 run, taking their first lead on a three-pointer from senior Jaden Ribac off a pass from senior Benson Cho.
The Lancers would later hold a 20-18 lead with 2:08 remaining in the half, but Washington scored on one of his three offensive boards and Ribac did the same to give the black and gold the lead for good.
Feeding off that momentum, the Dons began the second half on another 7-0 run in the first 2:36 of the third quarter. Neither team would score more than two consecutive baskets until La Serna’s Jacob Gonzalez scored the last basket of the stanza and Jason Ross opened the fourth quarter with one of his own as the Lancers trailed by four points.
“The way we play, sometimes it takes time for the press to wear on teams,” said Watanabe, a Clippers fan since they moved from San Diego in 1984. “So, we try to funnel in a lot of guys. We played 15 guys in the first half and just trying to get fresh legs out there so that we can finish strong in the second [half]. For us today, it worked out well.
“We have 15 guys; we don’t even have set rotations at this point,” he later said. “We kind of know our starters. They bring the experience and they’ve been there before. But after that, off the bench, it could be any of our guys.”
With 2:07 left in the game and the Dons holding a six-point advantage, a flurry of La Serna turnovers enabled Cerritos to pull away. Ribac fed a pass to Cho, who scored, then senior Nathan Ju ‘s basket made it a 10-point advantage. Seconds later, Washington scored, then assisted on a bucket from senior Jaylen Barsana.
Washington led all scorers with 10 points while Barsana and Ribac each added nine points and Ju another seven points and a pair of steals while Cho grabbed eight rebounds and added six points. Cerritos had 37 rebounds with 13 of the 15 players getting at least one board, and all five starters had one assist.
Youseff came off the bench to score eight points and grab five rebounds. He leads all varsity newcomers with 27 points while the other bench players have combined to score 43 points through the first six games.
“All of our guys step up,” said Watanabe. “Tony Youseff was playing [junior varsity] all spring, all summer, all fall, and he improved so much that we needed to move him [to varsity] now. We were waiting for him a year from now, but he’s doing so much for us on the glass and scoring. He’s been a huge blessing for us.”
After four straight losses to begin the season, the Dons have won two straight games, including last Friday’s 74-36 victory over Western High in which Washington scored a season-high 18 points and Youseff added a career-high 10 points as a dozen players scored at least a point. Cerritos will host Servite High on Friday and Los Alamitos High on Tuesday before going to Kennedy High on Thursday.
“After last year making that [CIF-Southern Section Division 4AA] championship run, it’s nice,” said Watanabe. “But we have to reset, and we have a new group of guys. We have a young squad; we have some experience with our starters, but overall, we have a pretty young squad, only returning one starter. So, we knew things were going to be a little different. We scheduled extremely tough in the beginning of the season so that they could understand the level that we want to get to.
“I told the guys don’t worry about wins and losses,” he later said. “We’re here to win championships. It doesn’t matter what our record is in the preseason. We just want to get to league and try to go 10-0 in league.”
