Boys’ basketball: Parker Cartwright is MVP as Loyola beats LB Poly

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

To be continued. That’s how everyone should look at Los Angeles Loyola’s 70-65 victory over Long Beach Poly in the championship game of the Redondo tournament on Saturday night.

Loyola is ranked No. 2 by The Times. Poly is ranked No. 3. They could meet in three months in the Southern Section Division 1AA championship game or semifinals. But for now, the Cubs have bragging rights because they made eight three-pointers and used balanced scoring to knock off the Jackrabbits.

Sophomore point guard Parker Cartwright was named the tournament MVP. He had 13 points. Jacob Hazzard made three three-pointers in the second half and finished with 15 points. Julian Harrell had 14 points and Justin Childress 10.

But the unsung hero was Khaliq Bedart-Ghani, the 6-foot-6 senior. He made a decisive three-pointer in the fourth quarter to halt a Poly comeback from a 62-47 deficit. And it was his defense that neutralized and frustrated 6-7 Poly center Jordan Bell, who was limited to two points. Roschon Prince led Poly with 27 points.

Fairfax defeated Redondo, 52-34, for third place. Bishop Montgomery won the consolation title over Westchester, 53-48. Derick Newton had 32 points in Harvard-Westlake’s 84-83 win over Dominguez. Santa Monica defeated Palisades, 60-54. The Dolphins were without injured guard Donovan Johnson. Pacific Hills defeated Bakersfield, 66-54. Compton defeated Mayfair, 80-74. Dion Wright had 31 points for Mayfair.

-- Eric Sondheimer