Brayden Burries’ record-setting night leads Roosevelt boys basketball to state Open Division championship

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Brayden Burries #5 of Roosevelt Mustangs holding the trophy hugs his mother Hannah as the Roosevelt Mustangs defeated Archbishop Riordan Crusaders 80-60 to win a boys CIF State Open Division championship basketball game at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento on Saturday, March 15, 2025. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Orange County Register/ SCNG)

SACRAMENTO – Brayden Burries can do it all.

And he did Saturday in a record-setting performance.

Burries scored 44 points for Roosevelt as the Mustangs defeated Archbishop Riordan of San Francisco 80-60 in the CIF State Open Division boys basketball championship game at Golden 1 Center, home of the NBA’s Sacramento Kings.

Dominic Copenhagen #11 of Roosevelt Mustangs hoists the championship trophy as the Roosevelt Mustangs defeated Archbishop Riordan Crusaders 80-60 to win a boys CIF State Open Division championship basketball game at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento on Saturday, March 15, 2025. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Orange County Register/ SCNG)

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Burries set the state Open Division boys basketball single-game scoring record. His 44 points also set the state championship record for most points by a player on a winning team in the finals across all divisions, a mark previously held by Santa Margarita’s Klay Thompson since 2008.

The single-game record for most points in a state final is 64 set by Tracy Murray of Glendora in 1989; Glendora lost to Menlo-Atherton in that state Division II final.

It is Roosevelt’s second CIF State boys basketball championship. The Mustangs won a CIF State title in 2017. Mustangs coach Stephen Singleton coached that team, and coached Dominguez of Compton to a CIF State championship in 2001 when future NBA player Tyson Chandler was Dominguez’s star player.

Roosevelt finished the season 35-2 and won its final 12 games, including a 74-67 win over Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks in the CIF Southern Section Open Division championship game. Burries scored 37 when the Mustangs beat Notre Dame again, in the CIF Southern California Regional Open Division final, a win that sent them to Sacramento for the state finals. He scored 29 in a regional first-round win over Harvard-Westlake.

Singleton was asked to describe this season’s Mustangs.

“Toughness,” he said. “Competitors and winners, and not afraid of the big moments. They love each other and they’re a tight-knit group.”

Riordan concluded at 29-2. Senior guard Jasir Rencher led the Crusaders with 22 points.

Burries had 27 points in the first half when he made 10 of his 13 shots. He scored in multiple ways – three 3-point baskets, pull-up jumpers from the 10-17 feet range, and two back-to-back, coast-to-coast layups that left the crowd breathless.

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Burries, a 6-5 senior guard who is a McDonald’s All-American, finished the game 15 of 22 on all shots and 4 of 6 on 3-point attempts. He was 10 of 12 at the free-throw line and grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds and had a game-high three blocked shots.

He said he sensed before the game that he was going to have a special night.

“I felt like in the beginning of the day, going to shootaround with my teammates, that my shot was on,” he said. “My teammates were making me feel great. I was just loving the vibe.”

Burries’ first basket was a 3-pointer that tied the game 7-7. He followed with another 3 to put the Mustangs on top 10-7. Riordan had a brief lead, at 14-12, but that would be the last time the Crusaders had it.

Brayden Burries #5 of Roosevelt Mustangs drives to the basket against the Archbishop Riordan Crusaders in the second half of a boys CIF State Open Division championship basketball game at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento on Saturday, March 15, 2025. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Orange County Register/ SCNG)

Roosevelt was ahead 23-19 at the end of the first quarter and a flurry of Burries baskets in the second quarter, including one of his long-stride driving layups in the closing seconds gave the Mustangs a 44-33 lead at halftime.

The Mustangs were up 63-46 at the end of the third quarter, with the state championship pretty much secured.

Mustangs senior point guard Myles Walker scored 15 points with four assists and three steals. Junior guard Jackson Haggins scored 12 points and was 6 of 6 at the free-throw line. Roosevelt as a team was 21 of 23 at the line.

Burries, who went into Saturday averaging 29 points a game, has offers from many colleges, including Arizona, Duke, Kansas, Michigan, UCLA and USC among others. It is unusual that a high school senior of his skills and stature has not committed, but Burries it seems is an unusual player in more ways than one.

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He said his plan all along was to wait until his final high school game before choosing his college destination. That is a decision he will make with plenty of input from his father.

“I wanted to wait until after the playoffs,” Burries said. “Now that we just won, I’m going to try to figure it out with him.”

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