St. John Bosco's Brandon McCoy Jr. dominates with a 23-point performance in the playoff rout of Heritage Christian

Five-star junior Brandon McCoy Jr. was in his element on Friday. He delivered 23 points and 13 rebounds to power St. John Bosco to a commanding 69-39 victory against Heritage Christian at the 2025 CIF Southern Section Boys' Basketball Championship.

The victory was more or less a straightforward one for the Braves, who led throughout the game. Apart from McCoy, four-star junior forward Christian Collins contributed nine points and eight rebounds to the victory.

The 6-foot-2 senior guard Chris Komin added nine points, while senior shooting guard Elzie Harrington and junior point guard Gavin Dean-Moss delivered eight points each.

Although the Braves delivered a good offensive performance to secure the victory, much of the credit also goes to the defence too. They restricted Heritage Christian to single-digit points in three of the four quarters of the game.

Speaking on the team's performance, St. John Bosco coach Matt Dunn expressed his satisfaction with the Braves' defensive display and overall performance:

"I thought our guys executed a defensive game plan. Our guys really locked in and we did a pretty good job sharing the ball. It was a good effort by our guys for sure."

With the win, St. John Bosco improves to 26-5 this season. Up next, they face Roosevelt High School on Tuesday in the final Pool B game. The Mustangs, who are currently on a 30-2 record, edged out the Braves 56-55 earlier this season when McCoy was sidelined with an injury.

Now, with their star man McCoy, they hope to defeat the Mustangs this time. A win for St. John Bosco would send them to the CIF Championship final against Notre Dame. The final is scheduled to take place on March 1 at the Toyota Arena in Ontario.

"It took a lot": Five-star junior Brandon McCoy Jr. on St. John Bosco's victory against Heritage Christian

Despite the dominant 69-39 scoreline, five-star junior Brandon McCoy Jr. said that the Braves victory against Heritage Christian on Friday was a hard-fought one. Speaking on the game, he said:

"It took a lot. It was a rough game, physical game. I know we beat them in the past when I wasn't playing, but it's still an Open Division team, still a good team, so it took a lot."

Although he's only featured in 17 of the 31 games St. John Bosco has played this season, McCoy has been a crucial part of the team. He currently averages 17.0 points, 4.9 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 3.8 steals per game.