Jason Crowe is shown during introductions on his historic night when he scored 51 points to break the state’s all-time scoring mark. Photo: Nick Koza.
Inglewood standout guard moves to No. 1 on the all-time state career scoring list with 51 points in a victory over Beverly Hills on Tuesday evening at Morningside High School’s gym in front of a festive crowd in the City of Champions. We have all of the record-breaking details, what is now the motivation for the Sentinels, and we have done a special update of our all-time state career scoring list.
TO SEE UPDATED ALL-TIME STATE CAREER SCORING LIST AFTER THIS WEEK’S GAMES (GOLD CLUB), CLICK HERE.
FOR STORY WHEN RECORD WAS BROKEN IN 2004 by DEMARCUS NELSON, CLICK HERE.
FOR STORY WHEN RECORD WAS BROKEN IN 2025 by TOUNDE YESSOUFOU, CLICK HERE.
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When Tounde Yessoufou broke the hallowed California high school scoring record in February of this year, it was quite a festive atmosphere at his school, St. Joseph of Santa Maria. Head coach Tom Mott and his staff went all out to celebrate the occasion that was 21 years in the making.
As the festive night concluded when he surpassed the then standing scoring record of DeMarcus Nelson (Sacramento Sheldon) of 3,462 and eventually moved the mark up to 3,659 points, from a record-keeping perspective it was not hard to look ahead early to the 2025-26 season and anticipate the moment Jason Crowe Jr. of Inglewood would pass his friend and eventually send the state’s career scoring mark into another stratosphere from the previous record-holders.
With a torrid pace to begin his senior season, the moment came perhaps a bit earlier than expected for his father and Inglewood head coach Jason Crowe Sr. In the days leading up to the anticipated date and game, Crowe Sr. (who played at Inglewood himself in the early 90s) was a bit hesitant to go into detail about the possibility of an impromptu ceremony during Tuesday’s Beverly Hills game. After all, his son and best player has to go out and score the points. But inside, the Sentinels’ fans, Inglewood players, father and son knew the moment was coming.
Crowe had 43 points in his season opener vs. Lynwood (the school “J2” spent his first two seasons of high school) and 24 in his second game vs. Long Beach Cabrillo. He had 46 points vs. Long Beach Millikan in his third game and from that point on, it was apparent the Tuesday home date would come in focus. Since the Cabrillo game, J2 hasn’t scored less than 41 points in any game.
The memorable moment did indeed take place on the anticipated date and it was on the first play of the second half vs. Beverly Hills. State No. 18 Inglewood led 57-32 at halftime and Crowe had 24 points before the break. The second half started with the Sentinels shooting two technical foul shots from a play at the end of the second period. Crowe knocked down both and it was the Sentinels’ possession. He then knocked down a 3-pointer off a curl in front of the Inglewood bench to give his team a 62-32 lead and the game was stopped, as the moment finally arrived at 7:51 of the 3rd period that gave him 29 points for the contest and 3,660 for his career. His teammates mobbed him and his family celebrated at mid-court while Cal-Hi Sports honored the accomplishment with a commemorative plaque and with a commemorative basketball reading “3,660” on behalf of the SoCal scouting community.
“Some people mentioned based on his pace it could happen vs. Beverly Hills, but he’d have to average 40 points and you look up and he’s averaging over 40 points,” Crowe Sr. said. “But it’s like the seventh inning of a no-hitter in baseball, you don’t talk about it. I didn’t talk to him about it, and we didn’t talk about it as a team, but his mother (Irene) bought things and brought things to the gym (for the moment).
“We came out and called a set play after the foul shots and he did what he had to do. His demeanor is crucial in these type of situations. Give the kid credit.”
Jason Crowe Jr. is up to 41 points, as ING leads @ end of 3rd period, 83-57.
Here is the moment where @CalHiSports presented J2 with a commemorative plaque for passing Tounde, and on behalf of the SoCal scouting community, gave him a 3,660 ball courtesy of @Spalding #J2 pic.twitter.com/gDHZmDtBzu
— Ronnie Flores (@RonMFlores) December 10, 2025
“You try not to think about it going into the game,” Crowe Jr. said. “You want to make the game easy while going through it. You want to make it a regular game. Thanks to my teammates, you have to give it to them for playing their game.”
Crowe scored 17 points in the third period and ended up with 51 points (15-of-28 field goals, 17-of-18 free throws) in Inglewood’s 112-75 Ocean League victory over Beverly Hills at the old Morningside gym after coming out of the game to an ovation with 2:55 remaining. He now has 3,682 points in 100 career games (36.8 ppg) going into the Elite 8 Tournament beginning Thursday at St. Joseph of Santa Maria, where of course, Yessoufou played many of his 127 career games at. There were plans at St. Joseph to happily embrace Crowe Jr. breaking the record up there and in the same gym where it fell last February.
The game flowed a bit differently early than if it had been just another Tuesday league contest, as Beverly Hills doubled Crowe as soon as he crossed half court. Inglewood (7-1) eventually adjusted with quicker passes and got into the bonus with 2:05 remaining in the first quarter. The Sentinels led 24-7 after a period with Crowe netting 11 points. In the second period, the Normans picked up the offensive pace, but couldn’t stop Inglewood on the other end.
At a program that has produced seven NBA players (Noel Felix, Jason Hart, Jay Humphries, Ralph Jackson, Harold Miner, Paul Pierce, Reggie Theus), Crowe and his family acknowledged the Sentinels’ legends and J2 was happy the moment came in front of the home crowd.
Inglewood now plays its games at a gym that was long the home of Morningside and that program had many memorable moments, too, on the same floor. The school that produced names such as Bryon Scott and the late Elden Campbell may be closed, but there was plenty of pride for the hometown kid by a crowd that loves its high school basketball. It’s also the same gym in which Morningside girls legend Lisa Leslie once scored 101 points in one half of game that was not played in the second half when the opposing team left.
“This is where I grew up,” Crowe Jr. said.
Baylor’s Tounde Yessoufou (@ToundeYessoufou) has a congratulatory message for Jason Crowe Jr. on his big night 👏, as J2 broke his California (CIF) scoring mark of 3,659 points set on Feb. 1 tonight.
The two are quite familiar with each other’s game…. pic.twitter.com/ibcSVq2RQH
— Ronnie Flores (@RonMFlores) December 10, 2025
Crowe Jr. also acknowledged the terrific player he passed on this special night who is on the fast track to the NBA.
“I played with Tounde for two years. That’s a great player right there. I’m sure I’m going to talk to him tonight and I’m looking forward to him going to the league.”
If Crowe keeps up his torrid pace (43.9 ppg through eight games), it’s not inconceivable he could become the first player in state history to surpass 4,000 career points. That would likely come with playoff success and even on a memorable night, that is one thing coach and son are more focused on than the running point total.
“In 100 games, we’ve won 73 of them,” Crowe Sr. said while Jr. was getting up shots long after the well-wishers had departed.
Ronnie Flores is the managing editor of CalHiSports.com. He can be reached at ronlocc1977@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow him on Twitter: @RonMFlores
