Slippage? Not for this Loyola HS program

• Tweet

• Tweet

SANTA MONICA, Ca. – Is L.A. Loyola High’s Parker Jackson-Cartwright the best player, per se, in Southern California?

Hey – that’s one of those questions that is better asked, and answered, at some point in March.

But the junior point guard certainly looked the part Saturday night.

PJC sparked the Cubs to a terrific start, a 23-point advantage at intermission and, ultimately, an eased-up 78-58 victory over Valencia West Ranch in the championship game of the third “The Tournament”, hosted by Santa Monica High under the terrific guidance of tourney director Dennis Magro and SMHS Coach James Hecht.

The Cubs – who improved to 8-0 with their second tourney title (they won the Torrance crown on Dec. 1) – needed a 3-pointer by PJC at the buzzer to send their Friday night semifinal with Santa Monica into OT before they prevailed, 83-82.

No such heroics were needed Saturday night against a squad that had already pulled off victories over Crespi (in a non-league game), Alemany and Chaminade – members of the Mission League, one of California’s top leagues for boys hoops.

But the Wildcats were never really “in it” with the Cubs, as Coach Jamal Adams’ defense need a lock-down job of surrounding one of the Southland’s best post players – 6-foot-8ish and 250-poundish, Northern Arizona-bound Ako Kaluna – and pressuring West Ranch’s jump shooters.

Offensively, Jackson-Cartwright got the ball where it needed to be, usually in a big hurry.

After losing four starters from a team that was 26-6 (with losses to eventual Southern Section IA and State Div. I champion Santa Ana Mater Dei in the semifinals of both the SS and State semifinals), the feeling in the Southland prep hoops community was something along the lines of “Loyola is going to be a bit down this season”.

PJC and his buddies are having none of that, though.

“We’d heard that,” visibly fatigued but content Jackson-Cartwright said, moments after being announced as the event’s Most Valuable Player.

“But we knew we were going to be very good and that we’re going to continue to improve.”

The superb skill and leadership of PCJ are the most obvious elements why this is a team that is going to challenge the likes of Mater Dei, Long Beach Poly and Etiwanda for the 2013 CIF SS IAA title.

Others are the continued improvement of junior center Thomas Welsh – 6-10ish on his way to 7-footish – who could evolve into a dominant low-post presence before he’s a senior; the jump shooting of senior guard Trey Mason (like Welsh, an all-tourney choice); and the sturdy play of senior forwards Andrew Johnson and Mtume Armour.

And this isn’t the last you’ll hear, or read, of West Ranch and Santa Monica – which lost to Chaminade in the third-place game Saturday.

Like West Ranch, Santa Monica has an NCAA Div. I-bound senior in 6-3 Jordan Mathews (who signed with California in November) and plenty of quality players surrounding its star.

Among those for Santa Monica is Mathews’ brother, Jonah, a 6-1 guard who is among the best prospects a deep and gifted Southland freshman class.

Remember where you read this: Santa Monica and West Ranch for the championship in the CIF SS IA division in March.

Other players that impressed be during three days (Monday, Tuesday and Saturday) of the event I watched included: 6-5 sophomore Bennie Boatwright (Alemany, which beat Crenshaw in the seventh-place game in the 16-team event); 6-9 freshman Trevor Stanback (who helped Chaminade to the third-place victory Saturday night); 6-1 junior Tra Holder (who helped his college recruiting stock immensely while leading Brentwood to a fifth-finish that including a two-OT victory over Woodland Hills El Camino Real Saturday); 6-5 senior Michael Thomas (El Camino Real); and 6-5 senior Ammar Rehman (who helped Palisades to a consolation game victory over Sylmar Saturday).

Among the other tournament champions in SoCal last week were Mater Dei (87-66 over fellow Trinity League member San Juan Capistrano Valley JSerra Saturday night at Huntington Beach Ocean View in the Jim Harris Memorial Tournament of Champions and Bellflower St. John Bosco (another Trinity League member which rolled over Los Angeles View Park, 89-55, during the final of the Big Blue Tournament at El Rancho High in Pico Rivera).

The respective MVPs of tournaments were senior point guards Jordan Strawberry (Mater Dei) and Isaac Hamilton (St. John Bosco).

St. John Bosco has one of the most gifted teams in California and seems a lock to get to the CIF SS IIIA final, where the opposition could be Chaminade.

Mater Dei, of course, has another squad capable of winning Southern Section and State crowns.

I attended games at those tournaments at Wednesday and Friday.

I wasn’t able to get out to the Trevor Ariza Tournament (host by his prep alma mater, L.A. Westchester).

But the host Comets were knocked off by Torrance Bishop Montgomery in the title game Saturday night, 70-63.

In March, look for Westchester to be in another L.A. City title game and for Bishop Montgomery to be in the CIF SS IVAA finale.