“I seen, you know, Alijah [Arenas] this summer. And he just kind of reminded me of myself in the sense of just, you know, playing against pros and as a junior… in high school.” A few months ago, James Harden heaped praise on Gilbert Arenas’ son’s ability in high school. The Chatsworth’s star recent performance on both ends of the floor to help his team to the regional final. However, his younger brother is not completely aboard the hype train.

Lucca Trujillo conducted a sit-down interview with both Alijah and Aloni and asked the latter. “How do you think your brother played?” The 13-year-old replied, “He did alright!” The performance in the Division II Southern California Regional semifinals was more than all right. The eldest son of Gilbert Arenas scored 15 points, 11 rebounds, and five steals to a redemption win over Westchester. Aloni even had advice for his brother, which probably helped him win.

“Start doing good plays, you know, shoot better. Just think!” In a hotly contested game, a 75-61 win was enough for Chatsworth to secure its place in Tuesday’s regional final. The winner advances to the state championships in Sacramento on March 14-15. In terms of feedback on Alijah’s performance, Aloni was quite reserved. “Naa.” But the 17-year-old knows his brother better than anybody else and was ready for the feedback at home.

“He will tell me the truth at home. He will give it to me,” said Alijah Arenas. The 6’6 guard in the previous encounter had 33 points in the losing effort. Despite the loss, the USC Commit was ready for the showdown, as Agent Zero helped him with tips for the crucial game.

Gilbert Arenas helped his son to beat the son of former NBA star Trevor Ariza

The Chatsworth and Westchester rivalry was led by Alijah Arenas and Tajh Ariza. Their first game was back in November, where Alijah led Chatsworth to a nail-biting 58-56 win, dropping 25 points and grabbing 13 rebounds. On the other hand, Tajh Ariza dropped  14 points. For the second game, last week, Westchester won their 16th City title. In that 65-55 victory, Ariza delivered 19 points and eight boards.

To win in the Division II Southern California Regional game, Gilbert Arenas helped his son with key advice. “He (Gilbert Arenas) was saying stay disciplined, stay working hard, stay with your team, move it, communicate, and you know what you can do.” The five-star recruit spoke as the Chatsworth boys basketball were victors. “We also got, you know, encourage your teammates uplifting and then just keep pushing forward.”

After the win, the next opponent is the fifth-seeded Bakersfield Christian in Tuesday’s regional final. Despite losing the City title, Alijah Arenas will be eager to have a silverware in his resume for his USC journey next season.