Five Takeaways: Braves Winter Classic

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>BELLFLOWER — We were at St. John Bosco high school Wednesday night for the first day of quarterfinal action at the Braves Winter Classic and came away with a talking points to take a deeper dive into. Below are our five takeaways from the three games we saw on the evening.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4>Bonam, Harrington lead Bosco to gritty win</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>When St. John Bosco needed players to step up in order to survive an inspired Long Beach Poly team, the talented sophomore duo of [player_tooltip player_id='1630622' first='Kade' last='Bonam'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1630620' first='Elzie' last='Harrington'] stepped up to the plate. Bonam, a 6-foot-7 forward, scored a game-high 19 points - 12 in the second half - to go along with eight rebounds, while Harrington added 13 points with and controlled the pace of the game down the stretch. The Braves still have plenty of kinks to workout on both sides of the floor, but Matt Dunn &amp; Co. have a reason to be encouraged after pulling out that win.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4>Walnut trio has Mustangs off to impressive start</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Walnut is as entertaining of a team as you'll find in the Southland due to their fast-paced and free-flowing offensive style of play. The 9-0 Mustangs' run-and-gun attack is led by three seniors - [player_tooltip player_id='994941' first='Malik' last='Khouzam'], Joby Barnes and Adrian Triplett. In its most recent win, Walnut defeated Riverside Hillcrest, 81-72, with that trio combining to score 70 of those points. Khouzam went for 32, Triplett added 22 and Barnes pitched in 16 to help Walnut move into the tournament semifinals where it will face host St. John Bosco Friday night.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4>Hillcrest sophomore deserves more attention in 2025 class</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>With 7-foot-1 Minnesota-bound center [player_tooltip player_id='1434417' first='Dennis' last='Evans'] sidelined due to illness/injury, sophomore guard [player_tooltip player_id='1630646' first='McKel' last='Shedrick'] stepped up in a big way to help Hillcrest push Walnut to the brink in a quarterfinal matchup. The left hander tied Khouzam for game-high honors with 32 points and scored in a variety of ways from catch and shoot threes to mid-range jumpers and driving finishes. Because SoCal's 2025 class is so deep and talented, Shedrick's name sometimes gets lost in the shuffle when talking about the best 2025 prospects in the region, but he showed that he belongs in those conversations.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4>Long Beach Poly's record doesn't reflect season's potential</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Jackrabbits are off to a 1-5 start to the season and while that doesn't look great on the surface, the deeper you look, the more you understand it and see encouraging signs for the rest of the year. Poly is a young team that is still looking for its identity and to do that while playing a pretty tough schedule might not yield immediate results. Everyone in the state knows the talents of 6-5 sophomore guard [player_tooltip player_id='1630619' first='Jovani' last='Ruff'], but some other Jackrabbits have shown their worth in recent games. Six-foot-4 junior forward [player_tooltip player_id='1502832' first='Ryder' last='Maddox'] is a great complimentary player at the high school level, 6-3 junior Cash Stokley adds energy and a scoring punch and sophomore Austin Unegbu is starting to be a productive fifth starter.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4>Grand Terrace sophomore has potential</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It's always good to get a look at a team you don't always get to see during the season and our first look at Grand Terrace produced an intriguing prospect in the 2025 class. Six-foot-4 point guard Reggie Caldwell flashed an intriguing skill-set and high basketball IQ that immediately put him on our radar. Caldwell operates with impressive pace with the ball in his hands, doesn't get sped up under pressure, makes great reads and passes and is a very unselfish, team-first style of point guard. The lefty is a smooth ball handler who does a great job of creating space from defenders off the dribble.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->