Boys Hoops: House Divided? Not Really

Rhett Anderson first noticed there was the potential for an uncomfortable matchup the minute he saw the bracket for the CIF State Boys Division III Basketball Championships.

Seeded No. 1 in the Southern California Region was La Cañada, for whom Anderson starred for four years, winning the 2006 Rio Hondo League Most Valuable Player award. Placed in the lower half of the bracket was La Verne Lutheran, where his younger brother, McKay Anderson, now plays.

Anderson knew there could be a future collision between the two clubs, but he viewed it as an unlikely outcome.

“I didn’t think that it was going to happen to be honest,” said Anderson, who now plays basketball at Yale. “I could see it might happen. I didn’t think it would.”

Flash forward to the present, the Trojans and Spartans will face each other Saturday at noon at USC’s Galen Center for the Southern California Division III Regional title, and Anderson now must choose between his ties to his former school and his allegiance to his brother. But despite his deep rooted history with the Spartans, it’s an easy call for Anderson.

“Well I guess I can see how it would be a difficult decision,” Anderson said. “I gotta go with my family on this.”

Anderson said that he keeps tabs on both the Spartans and Trojans while away at school. Anderson received a text from his father the night La Cañada upset Price to claim its first CIF-Southern Section title since 1992.

“I was floored,” said Anderson, who advanced to the divisional semifinals his junior and senior year at LCHS.

Anderson also attended the Spartans win over Crespi in the second rounds of the state playoffs, and he chatted with La Cañada coach Tom Hofman after the game.

But Anderson said he pays closer attention to the events at La Verne Lutheran — for obvious reasons.

McKay Anderson transferred to La Verne Lutheran this past summer from Flintridge Prep to play for Trojans coach Eric Cooper, who also coaches McKay’s club team. McKay, a 6-foot-4 sophomore, averages 5.8 points and 3.8 rebounds per game for a Trojans squad that sits at 24-5 and features multiple Division I prospects. Junior forward Grant Jerrett and sophomore point guard Eric Cooper Jr. are each verbally committed to the University of Arizona.

The Trojans lost to Price in the semifinals of the CIF-Southern Section Division 3AA playoffs, but they’ve picked up their game in the state playoffs. La Verne Lutheran knocked off University City by two points in the first round and then topped Orange Lutheran and Harvard-Westlake to advance to the finals.

“I’m very excited,” McKay said. “Ever since we got kicked out of CIF by Price we thought we didn’t have a second chance. … We brought just a whole different energy level into state.”

“I’m ecstatic (for McKay),” Rhett said. “It’s an awesome opportunity to play at a really high level.”

McKay said he has resisted the urge to talk a little smack to his older brother in the days leading up the Saturday’s game.

“I didn’t talk trash to him,” he said. “I know that La Cañada is a very good team. They have a very good coaching staff.”

McKay, who Rhett describes as a Tayshaun Prince type player, grew up around the La Cañada program, attending just about every home game Rhett and other his brother, Clarke, played for the Spartans.

But now McKay will look to end the Spartans’ historic postseason run and send the Trojans to the state championship game next weekend at Sacramento’s ARCO Arena.

And while Rhett will sit Saturday in the La Verne Lutheran section and there’s no doubting who he wants to ultimately win the game, a tiny part of him will still done Spartan maroon and gold.

“I guess definitely a part of me,” he said. “I have fond memories of playing there.”