Earlier this month, Crossroads and Brentwood met in the latest edition of the heated rivalry between the two southern California private schools. Past games between the two have featured some high-profile names, including Bronny James and Shareef O’Neal, and it’s always testy when they share a court.
The rivalry made national waves recently with James and O’Neal’s involvement, plus the play and treatment of Crossroads guard Yuuki Okubo. Okubo stands at 5-foot-5, yet gets to the rim, finishes and distributes like he has a few more inches on him. He has been a target for heckling from Brentwood fans in the past, and the 2020 iteration of this rivalry was no different.
BallerVisions was at the game and released a video that condenses the contest down to almost 16 minutes, providing you with all the most exciting and important plays, the atmosphere, the build up, and naturally the goofy man who danced on the court in between the third and fourth quarters.
It was a back-and-forth affair, with both teams going on long runs that helped establish momentum. I won’t spoil the ending of this Crossroads versus Brentwood classic, but in came down to it at the end, and you can feel the intensity throughout the entirety of the game. It means a lot to the players, fans and communities around these schools, and that’s the magic of basketball and sports in general.
The Spin on Yuuki Okubo
Okubo has been garnering attention for a few years as he has been a fixture of the Crossroads team for longer than just the senior season he’s in the midst of now. Back when he was at the school, O’Neal received most of the publicity on the squad, but as his notoriety brought more eyeballs to Crossroads, Okubo was noticed in the process.
The point guard of Japanese descent has been featured on BallerVisions since 2017. In a video from that year, he described himself as a “pass-first point guard who likes getting his teammates involved … it’s really hard to guard me.” When you watch him play, you can see it for yourself.
For more from Okubo, you can find his Instagram here.