9th ANNUAL THE CLASSIC AT DAMIEN: Early turnovers leads to La Mirada’s loss in opening round of prestigious tournament

December 31, 2025

By Loren Kopff • @LorenKopff on X

LA VERNE-Just three days after winning the Nike Division of the Tarkanian Classic in Las Vegas, the La Mirada High boys basketball team was hoping to keep the momentum going in a stacked Platinum Division of the 9^th Annual The Classic at Damien tournament, one of the best in the nation. First up for the Matadores was a meeting with Richmond-based Salesian College Preparatory, a MaxPreps.com Top 25 team.

Head coach Randy Oronoz knew it was going to be a battle with anyone in the Platinum Division, a who’s-who of the best high school boys basketball teams in the nation. But he didn’t anticipate his team would turn the ball over 10 times in the first half, leading to 20 points as the Pride did not trail the final 30:22, easily defeating La Mirada 80-60 last Friday at the Damien Athletic Center.

“That team is really good; that team is a top 25 team in the nation, and they’re good for a reason,” said Oronoz. “They’re probably the best team in Northern California, and we kind of shot ourselves in the foot by turning the ball over early. Once we reduced those turnovers, we played them even. They had [20] points off turnovers and you can’t do that in this division. So, we were constantly playing from behind.”

La Mirada won the opening tip and five seconds later, junior Gene Robuck scored the first points of the game. From that point on, it would be all Salesian as it went on a 13-0 run and never looked back.

The Matadores tried to stay close with the Pride, reeling off three straight baskets late in the first quarter to make it a 15-10 contest. But three straight three-pointers from Juelz Richo, Tayshaun Bozeman and Asante Johnson quickly made it a 24-10 game and the Matadores would not got get closer than 11 points the remainder of the contest.

And if it wasn’t the perimeter shooting that was hurting La Mirada, which had allowed over 80 points once through the first 12 games of the season, it was its ball handling. Meanwhile, the Pride turned the ball over twice in the first half, connected on 19 of 30 shots from the field and had 12 rebounds to La Mirada’s 10 as part of a 45-26 lead at the break.

“That’s what they do; Salesian is known for that type pf pressure,” said Oronoz. “They’re very Redondo Union-like where they’re just non-stop pressuring. It’s good for us to get into this Platinum Division and face an Open Division team like that and kind of see where we’re at. Sure, if we don’t turn it over, we give ourselves a better chance because offensively, we’re not bad. But when you give up 45 points in the first half, you’re not going to win a lot of games.”

The Matadores came out strong in the second half, going on a 6-2 run in the first 1:19 on a basket from senior Andrew Castro, an offensive putback from Roebuck and a steal and basket from senior King Riley-Owens. But Salesian immediately responded with a 6-0 run of its own and La Mirada’s deficit would be anywhere from 16 to 22 points in the second half.

Roebuck led the Matadores with 24 points, had three assists and grabbed three rebounds while Riley-Owens added 13 points, four assists and four rebounds.

“Gene is trying to improve on the little things,” said Oronoz. “Everyone knows he can score; everyone knows he can put the ball in the hole. He’s trying to work on getting better at defense, rebounding, playmaking, keeping an even keel on not being too emotional.”

La Mirada would fall to Layton Christian Academy out of Layton, Utah 63-58 last Saturday as Roebuck scored 28 points and pulled down seven rebounds while junior Cisco Munoz added 12 points and had a pair of steals. The Matadores would get back to their winning ways with a 62-46 victory over American Fork (UT) High this past Monday as Roebuck scored 22 points, had nine rebounds and four assists while junior Jordyn Houston pitched in with 17 points and six rebounds while Riley-Owens had a dozen points and three assists. La Mirada closed out the tournament with a 65-56 win over Owyhee High out of Meridian, ID this past Tuesday as Houston scored a game-high 16 points and had six rebounds while Castro added 13 points and five rebounds. Munoz chipped in with 10 points and had four assists while Riley-Owens had six assists. La Mirada lost to the Storm 64-57 in this tournament two seasons ago in the Gold Division. This is La Mirada’s fifth straight season in The Classic at Damien, second straight in the Platinum Division.

“There are no easy games; it doesn’t matter,” said Oronoz. “Everyone who is on the left side where we’re at are really good teams or have a chance to be really good and special. We know going into the Platinum Division that…whoever is in Platinum Division, you have a chance to be facing collegiate players. But that’s what we signed up for; that’s what we like.”

La Mirada, which improved to 10-6, will host Crespi High on Friday and open Gateway League action on Monday with a home game against Dominguez High before going to Bellflower High on Wednesday.