A belated wrap-up on what I saw during the first week of the “regular” high school basketball season:
*The Pacific Shores Tournament (at Redondo High/I attended games on Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday): It was no surprise that L.A. Loyola and Long Beach Poly reached the final (they were No. 2 and 4 in my preseason SoCal ratings).
I didn’t watched the final but Loyola, after trailing by five points in the first period, built a double-digit advantage late before holding off a Jackrabbits’ rally and winning, 70-65.
It was no surprise, either, that sophomore point guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright of the Cubs was selected the event’s Most Outstanding Player – he may be the best player, regardless of class, in Southern California right now.
Poly juniors Roschon Prince (27 points in the final/he scored 32 in the opener against L.A. Pacific Hills) and Jordan Bell (the most vertically explosive front-court player in SoCal) were also outstanding.
Loyola has remarkable depth, up front and in the backcourt, with exceptional jump shooters – most notably senior Jacob Hazzard.
It will take a stunning upset – or two – to keep either the Lions or Jackrabbits out of the CIF Southern Section’s 1AA “Final Four” in March.
Another preview of another potential March showdown came in the fifth-place game, where the Southern Section’s two-best 2A squads – from Mayfair and Compton – hooked up with Compton prevailing, 80-74.
Each team is led by one of Southern California’s best unsigned seniors, Mayfair by 6-5 Dion Wright (who scored 31 in the game) and Compton by 6-6 Victor Robbins.
Torrance Bishop Montgomery, after a loss to Mayfair in the opening round, went on to win the consolation final (toppling L.A. Westchester in that game).
Coach Doug Mitchell has a lot a promising underclassmen, including juniors Lamond Murray (6-5), Larry Taylor (6-0) and Stephon Jovanovic (6-9), and sophomore Justin Bibbins (5-7).
Another junior who was tremendous was Redondo’s 6-1 Derek Biale. He has a quick release with lots of range on his almost-always on-target jump shot.
*Rose City Classic (at Pasadena High/I attended the third-place and championship games on Saturday night): I got to watch two tremendously entertaining – and enlightening – contests in an event that was hampered by the scary winds that rocked the area last week, leaving power outages and mangled trees in their wake.
Props to Pasadena Coach Tim Tucker and Bulldogs’ assistant Greg Newell (son of the late and great Pete Newell) for keepings things operating as smoothly as possible!
The third-place game was played at a frenetic pace, with L.A. Price prevailing, 71-69, despite some terrific guard play via senior John Haygood (“spectacular” only touches upon his vertical and horizontal explosiveness) and sophomore Ajon Efferson. I’m not sure if Efferson is a “Sade” fan or not but he should be – he’s a “Smooth Operator”, indeed.
Price’s depth is matched (and, maybe, exceeded) by only Santa Ana Mater Dei and L.A. Loyola among Southern California programs this season.
Price is just one element to what could be the most intriguing Southern Section championship race, where the 4AA division also includes La Verne Lutheran, L.A. Windward, Torrance Bishop Montgomery, Gardena Serra, Oaks Christian, Encino Crespi, Compton Centennial and North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake. There are going to be some hellacious second-round games in those playoffs!
La Verne Lutheran – led by the most polished post player in the national high school class of 2012, 6-9 Grant Jerrett – steadily pulled away to prevail over Etiwanda in the final, 72-61.
I had Jerrett with 27 points (10 of 12 from the field/he buried his only 3-point on a nifty pull-up in transition) and nine rebounds.
Junior guard Eric Cooper Jr. (his dad is the team’s coach) hit enough jump shots over the first three periods to keep his team in front of Etiwanda (which started two sophomores) then made a spectacular pass to Jerrett for a key layup in the fourth quarter, when he played an overall solid floor game.
This is supposed to be a “rebuilding” season for Etiwanda but don’t take that to mean that the Eagles are going to struggle, at times.
I think this is one of the four best teams in the IAA division (along with Mater Dei, Loyola and Poly).
Six-foot Jordan McLaughlin (20 points vs. Lutheran, including four 3s) is the program’s next standout.
*Diablo Classic (at Mission Viejo High/I watched three games on Nov. 28): Mater Dei – led by the seniors Katin Reinhardt and Xavier Johnson, along with sophomore Stanley Johnson – wasn’t remotely challenged.
You think I’m being flippant?
The Monarchs’ average margin of victory over Mission Viejo, Los Alamitos, San Juan Capistrano San Juan Hills and Mission Viejo was 45.5 points.
Coach Gary McKnight suited up 23 players for the game I watched (vs. Mission Viejo).
He’ll have plenty of opportunity to go as deep into that bench as often as he is inclined this season.
*Other events of note: I wasn’t able to attend either the Cerritos/Gahr or Orange El Modena tournaments.
But the teams that were expected to prevail – Bellflower St. John Bosco in the former, Orange Lutheran in the latter – did exactly that.
Six-four Isaac Hamilton – my top-ranked junior in Southern California – averaged 28.0 points as the Braves won four games by an average of 23.3 points at Cerritos/Gahr.
His sophomore brother, 6-5 Daniel Hamilton, averaged 16.8 points, 5.0 assists and 6.8 rebounds.
Orange Lutheran beat a very well-coached Downey club in the El Modena final, 68-63, behind 6-2 Gabe York’s 42 points – 14, apparently, coming in the final four minutes.
York – like Jerrett, bound for the University of Arizona – averaged 30.0 points during four games.
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