2026 5-star Jason Crowe Jr. drops 55 points in win over Alijah Arenas, Chatsworth (Calif.)

In a blockbuster high school basketball matchup the day after Christmas, Inglewood (Calif.) star Jason Crowe Jr. put up an all-time performance at The Classic at Damien.

The 2026 five-star combo guard went toe-to-toe with 2025 five-star Alijah Arenas and got the better of him on Thursday afternoon by pouring in a game-high 55 points to lead Inglewood over Arenas’ Chatsworth squad. In a game that had to be moved from the secondary gym at the tournament to the primary one because of fan interest, both of the elite prospects gave people their money’s worth.

Crowe’s double-nickel performance included hitting 21 of his 24 attempts from the free throw line as Inglewood held off a furious rally from Chatsworth. Arenas, who started 0 for 11 from the field, finished with 34 points and even pulled his team into the lead late in the fourth quarter after they trailed by 14 at halftime.

Ultimately though, Crowe and the Sentinels — who now sit at 10-2 on the season — were too much to overcome. The 6-foot-2 scoring machine is now averaging better than 35 points per contest in Inglewood’s 12 games this season and has shown exactly why he’s considered a top-10 prospect nationally by On3.

Crowe holds offers from programs across the country in the midst of his junior season, including Washington, UCLA, USC, Arkansas, Kentucky, Georgia Tech, TCU, Miami, Villanova, Kansas and more.

More about The Classic at Damien

A brief history on The Classic at Damien from the tournament website:

“In December of 1981, the inaugural ‘Damien Cage Classic’ first took place.   At the time Ray Plutko, then Commissioner of the CIF was a part of the Damien Booster Club, as three of his sons played basketball and are alumni here at Damien.  He had the idea to start a basketball tournament and Ray served as the original tournament director.  At the time Coach Mike LeDuc was in his 3rd year as Head Basketball Coach here at Damien.”

“In January of 2016, the idea floated around to resurrect the original tournament.  The idea was to create an opportunity for quality teams to compete against quality opponents in a first class setting that was affordable to the schools without the need to travel overnight.  A group of basketball enthusiasts met and a committee was formed and met regularly to organize and plan this event.  In trying to keep a little of the history and also recognizing that it has been 35 years since its beginning, the tournament was renamed ‘The Classic at Damien” with a 48 team, 3 division format.”