Boys Hoops: Rebels Continue Playoff Dominance With Win over Blair

Opponents know that when they face the Flintridge Prep boys basketball team there’s no such thing as an automatic bucket in the paint — not with Rebels 6-foot-8 center Kenyatta Smith roaming the post.

And while Smith recorded the lion’s share of Rebels' rejections Tuesday night, it was a swatted shot by forward Jordan Whaley that jumpstarted top-seeded Flintridge Prep’s 79-57 win over No. 9 Blair in the quarterfinals of the CIF-Southern Section Division 5AA playoffs. The Rebels will face the winner of Tuesday’s St. Monica-Mission Prep game on Friday in the semifinals.

The Rebels held only a 21-16 lead early in the second quarter as the Vikings looked to cut further into what had been a nine-point Flintridge Prep lead. But when Blair’s Perris Hicks slashed to the hoop for a layup, he was rudely met at the rim by a soaring Whaley.

Whaley emphatically blocked Hicks shot, electrifying the crowd and his teammates. The Rebels immediately went on an 11-0 run to open up a 32-16 lead.

“Jordan’s been such an energy guy for us,” Flintridge Prep coach Garrett Ohara said. “He’s working in the trenches, obviously goes unnoticed a little bit, but he’s had a great senior season and has been a spark for us like that the past few games. It’s good to see him do that.”

Whaley’s effort on the defensive end carried over to the rest of the Rebels (21-6), who held Blair to only 12 points in the second quarter. Almost every shot was contested, and Smith had five of his eight blocks in the period.

“It always energizes us when our primary players that aren’t known for shot blocking go ahead and make a block like that,” Smith said. “It’s just a huge momentum boost for us and we just used that to keep us going.”

Those blocks also fed Flintridge Prep’ transition game. As soon as Smith swatted away a shot, he sent outlet passes down court to either Robert Carwright, Kory Hamane or Jedrick Eugenio, who easily beat the Vikings’ defense for easy baskets.

“I think we showed in the second quarter how dominant our defense can be because I think we were able to shut them down,” Ohara said. “(It) made things easier for us offensively, and to get 26 points that quarter — it really sent a message that our defense can stop some people.”

Of course Smith wasn’t just a difference maker on the defensive end. Against a Blair zone defense designed to deny him the ball, Smith still was unstoppable down low, scoring 16 of his game-high 26 points in the first half.

“My goal was to keep doing what I’ve been doing in practice — being a dominant force” said Smith, who also finished with 16 rebounds. “Try not to put the ball on the floor as much, just go straight up as strong as I can and it seemed to work tonight.”

The Rebels led 44-26 at halftime and continued to pour it on the Vikings (14-17) in the second half, leading by as many as 30.

Cartwright finished with 18 points, while senior Jared Norsworthy added 13.

Ceandre Cade led the Vikings with 23 points.

The win over Blair marks the Rebels’ third-consecutive playoff win by at least 22 points. As Ohara said, they've lived up to the expectations of being a No. 1 seed, and now they’re in the semifinals, by far the deepest any of the current Rebels have advanced in the playoffs.

“(We’re) beyond excited,” Smith said. “This is just amazing for us to have this opportunity — it hasn’t happened for us in a long time. So we’re just going to try to take that and move onto the next round and keep going.”