Boys’ basketball: Guards lead Fairfax to 67-56 win over Cathedral

When Steve Baik was coaching Chino Hills to a 35-0 record last season, no opponent tried a box-and-one defense against the Huskies, because which of the three Ball brothers would you want to stop?

So Baik got some rare practice on Tuesday in his new job at Fairfax when Cathedral decided to employ a box-and-one against junior guard Jamal Hartwell. “It was a lot of respect for Jamal,” Baik said.

Hartwell didn’t miss too many shots when he was open (he had 13 points), but the defense created opportunities for sophomore guard Ethan Anderson, who finished with 20 points in a 67-56 win over the Phantoms in an opening game of the Huntington Park tournament.

Fairfax is 9-1. That’s pretty impressive considering the Lions’ most versatile player, Robert McRae, hasn’t played this season because of a broken hand. McRae is scheduled to return on Jan. 17, one day before Fairfax plays Westchester.

“We can’t wait for him to get back,” Baik said.

Noah Fernando had 15 points for Cathedral.

In other games, Brentwood defeated Saugus, 75-65. Braelee Albert had 28 points and Charley Wadler 17 for Brentwood. Zach Phipps led Saugus with 26 points.

Village Christian defeated Hart, 71-62. Jalen Riley finished with 31 points. Majur Majak had 14 points, 10 rebounds and six blocks. Daniel Boatwright had seven points and six rebounds in his season debut.

Jack Roggin scored 25 points and Max Cheylov 21 in Calabasas’ 92-71 win over San Gabriel Academy.

University stayed unbeaten with a 99-78 win over Grant. Gabe Okmin had 25 points.

Rolling Hills Prep (2-0) defeated LACES, 59-33. Chris Koon scored 18 points.

Heritage Christian defeated Valencia, 74-62. Najeem Nawabi made seven of seven threes and finished with 26 points.

Buena Park defeated Los Alamitos, 69-55. Elijah Jones Church had 29 points.

Van Nuys defeated North Hollywood, 67-38. Matthew Sykes had 19 points and 14 rebounds.

In a Heritage League game, Valley Torah (12-1, 3-) defeated Trinity Classical, 65-33. Max Leibowitz had 28 points and Ryan Turrell added 23 and 12 rebounds.

Bell-Jeff defeated Sylmar, 81-75, despite 23 points from Dayquan Williams.

Edison defeated Perris, 43-42, on a basket by Randall Walker with nine seconds left.

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