Sierra Canyon gets rematch after close loss to Oak Hill

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Sierra Canyon (Calif.) and Oak Hill (Va.) met last season, with Oak Hill claiming a 4-point win in California.

The West Coast and East Coast powers will meet again nearly a year later, this time in the middle of the country with a Tournament of Champions title at stake.

Oak Hill (24-1 overall) will be going for its second straight title in the event. Opposing them will be nationally ranked Sierra Canyon, who went 26-4 last season and won the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Division V state championship.

“We played (Sierra Canyon) last year and it was a 4-point game,” said Oak Hill coach Steve Smith. “They have basically the same team that they had last season. They’ll be tough.”

Oak Hill featured seven seniors last season, with all of them currently playing Division I basketball.  It’s pretty much a brand new roster, with the lone returnees to Springfield being Khadim Sy and Rodney Miller.

The Warriors hope to again use the Tournament of Champions as a second-half launching point for its ultimate goal: a national championship, Smith said. Montverde Academy, which won the T of C in 2014, beat Oak Hill 70-61 last year in the Dick’s Sporting Goods High School Nationals title game.

Backcourt play may determine the game.

Sierra Canyon  (14-1 overall) returns basically the same team from last year’s meeting with Oak Hill. Cody Riley, Devearl Ramsey, Remy Martin and Adam Seiko are back after serving as the Trailblazers’ top four scorers last season.

Oak Hill may have the size advantage again in the rematch, but the Trailblazers seem confident with the speed they have in the backcourt.

“Remy and Devearl, both, might be the two quickest guards – tandem – in the country. We haven’t seen anyone quicker yet,” said Sierra Canyon coach Ty Nichols.

Sierra Canyon’s small-ball look was needed against Chaminade in Friday’s semifinals, with power forward Cody Riley saddled with second-half foul trouble.

The Trailblazers, going with an all-guard lineup, battled back from a second-half deficit to ultimately beat Chaminade and advance to earn a rematch with Oak Hill.

“That’s what we’ve been doing and we don’t want to get away from it,” Martin said. “We want to use our speed to our advantage. That’s what we do. We want to keep it in control, because sometimes we get out of control. But we’ve out-grown that.
“We call ourselves the fastest backcourt. We’re just having fun with it.”

Ramsey, Martin and Saiko will be matched up against the likes of Oak Hill guards Mario Kegler (Mississippi State), Matt Coleman (uncommitted/No. 29 in 2017), Devontae Shuler (uncommitted/No. 38 in 2017), Ty-Shon Alexander (uncommitted/No. 86 in 2017) and Lindell Wigginton (uncommitted/No.  98 in 2016).

The Trailblazers, though, seem confident they can keep up.
 
 

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