CORONA, CA – The second Basketball Hall Of Fame Championship Series/California got under way early Saturday morning.
And the first day’s festivities weren’t a wrap until more than 12 hours later.
But, all in all, it was time well worth spending in the Players’ Edge Gymnasium.
Some of the western region’s top prep underclass basketball talent was on display and impressed, indeed, while setting the stage for what should be some pretty cool individual and team matchups on Sunday.
Three championship (Gold) quarterfinals in the event’s top tip off at 9:10 Sunday morning, with the Compton Magic Elite getting a bye to the semifinals (11:30 Sunday morning) after rolling to three pool-play victories Saturday.
That team’s roster is stockpiled with some of the best underclassmen anywhere, including juniors Roschon Prince and Jordan Bell of Long Beach Poly; Payton Banks of Orange Lutheran; Chaunce Hill of L.A. Fairfax and Jordan Wilson of L.A. Windward.
Sophomores Elston Jones (Goodyear, AZ, Millennium) and Justin Bibbins (Torrance, CA, Bishop Montgomery), along with senior Daviyon Draper (L.A. Locke), are also on the squad.
The Belmont Shore club, which plays Branch West Elite in one of the quarterfinals, is likewise loaded with elite underclassmen.
Among those are juniors Eric Cooper Jr. (La Verne Lutheran) and Chris Sandifer (Garden Serra); sophomores Daniel Hamilton (Bellflower St. John Bosco) and Bear Henderson (Mission Hills Alemany); and freshman Tyler Dorsey (L.A. Ribet Academy).
Six-foot-eight, 250-pound senior Zena Edosomwan (North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake), who plans to attend Harvard University after a year at a prep school, mopped up inside for Belmont Shore Saturday.
The semifinals in the Gold Bracket get underway at 11:30, with the title tilt set for 2 o’clock.
Check back for results Sunday night.
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