Boys’ basketball: Ryan Bailey tries to deliver title for Brentwood

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Ryan Bailey was the accidental coaching hire two years ago at Brentwood. He was an assistant at Loyola and had just decided he wasn’t interested in coaching at the college level. Brentwood had hired a new coach who suddenly left at the start of the school year.

Bailey applied, got the job and the rest is going to be history. He has created a program on the rise. The Eagles will be bidding for their first Southern Section title since 1991 on Saturday in an all-Alpha League 4A final against Pacific Hills at 7:30 p.m. at Mater Dei.

Last season, Brentwood relied almost exclusively on center Leland King and guard Tra Holder. The reason Brentwood is 27-3 and playing in the final this season is that the Eagles have developed a supporting cast, including senior Max Shapiro, junior Yonathan Napoleon and sophomores Ountae Campbell and Maxwell Kupchak. They help King and Holder when needed.

Brentwood and Pacific Hills split their two league games. Pacific Hills has one of the best guard trios in Southern California in Namon Wright, Jahmel Taylor and Marcus Jackson.

Bailey, a former UCLA guard, knows what it takes to stop a good guard. Unfortunately for Brentwood, he can’t play on Saturday, so it will be up to him to figure out a way to contain the Pacific Hills trio from the sideline.

-- Eric Sondheimer