Hoops happenings in Garden Grove and the LBC

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LAGUNA NIGUEL, CA – There were four major high school club/travel ball events on tap in Southern California this past weekend.

Time and travel – and scheduling; naturally, there was a whole lot of overlap – meaning, unfortunately, that I could only attend two of them.

But I’m sure I’ll see most of the teams and players that participated in the Muscle Milk Shootout (at Redondo High in Redondo Beach) and the Compton Magic/Hall of Fame of Fame Classic (at the Players’ Edge facility in Corona) multiple times during the rest of the spring.

I did, however, make stops at the 10^th Southern California Hoop Review (most of Saturday, and Sunday afternoon) at the Next Level Sports Complex in Garden Grove and the second Mark Mayemura Memorial Tournament at Cabrillo High in Long Beach.

As is the case with all Gerry Freitas-fronted events, the Hoop Review was well-organized, with a solid collection of teams – across the age-level and regional spectrums – and quality officiating.

Easily the most dominant and efficient team on hand in Garden Grove was Marshawn Cherry’s San Diego All-Stars/17-U Pump squad.

The San Diego lads won their four games by an average margin of 20-plus points and just about every player on Cherry’s roster was impressive.

The most notable of those was 6-foot-3 Trey Kell (San Diego St. Augustine), who is in serious contention to be rated the No. 1 “2” guard in the Western Class of 2014 going into next season.

Along with point guard Jordan McLaughlin of Etiwanda High (who played for the Cameron Murray-coached Prodigy/Double Pump Elite squad in Garden Grove), Kell was one of the two-most impressive seniors-to-be I watched over the weekend.

And extremely impressive during the team’s Sunday afternoon game with the Inland Empire Basketball Program 17 All-Stars was 6-3 point guard Justin Moore (San Diego Mission Bay), one of the better sophomores-to-be in California – if not anywhere in the West.

Another point guard from San Diego County, and the Class of 2016, who dazzled at times during the weekend was Eric Monroe – who is expected to start in the same St. Augustine backcourt with Kell next season.

Monroe, who plays for the Game Point 16U Black squad, was as impressive a passer – in the open or half court – as I saw at either venue, in any grade.

Others who caught my attention at the Next Level Sports Complex included:

*The 2015 trio of guards Khalil Simplis (North Hollywood Campbell Hall) and Darius Henderson (Woodland Hills Taft) and 6-7 wing Roman Davis (L.A. Windward) of the LAX Hoops squad;

*Forwards Chandler Hutchinson and Dallas Hartmann (both of Mission Viejo High) and 6-3 point guard George Buaku (Lake Forest El Toro High), each of which plays for Team East Bay/Saddleback Valley;

*Juniors-to-be Justin Simon (6-3, Eastvale Corona) and Brady Twombly (6-5, Carlsbad La Costa Canyon), of the Gamepoint 16U Red team, and;

*Posts Andre Adams (6-9, Avondale, AZ, Westview; he’s a senior-to-be who plays for the Arizona Magic Elite squad) and Chance Comanche (6-10, Los Angeles View Park; he plays for Elite Prospects, Inc.).

I got a chance to watch the best team matchup over the event’s two days when the Double Pump Elite squad took on the Los Angeles Rockfish early – 9:30 a.m. – Sunday at the Mark Mayemura Memorial Tournament at Cabrillo High.

They figure to be two of the strongest Southland-based travel squads this spring and summer.

But, Sunday morning, at least, the Double Pump squad had it all over its Rockfish counterpart while rolling to a 69-47 victory.

Each team is packed with talent from the 2014 class.

Double Pump got strong efforts from guards Kyron Cartwright (Compton High) and Maleke Haynes (Woodland Hills El Camino Real), power forward Jack Williams (West Hills Chaminade) and 6-7 jump shooter Max Hoetzel (Calabasas).

The Rockfish team has two players from the Class of 2014 who already being heavily recruited in 6-11 Thomas Welsh (L.A. Loyola) and point guard Robert Cartwright (La Canada Flintridge Prep).

And – based on how well he played off the bench while keeping the team reasonably within striking distance, until midway through the second half – look for 6-7 Joshua Rideaux (L.A. Westchester) to join his Rockfish teammates in that “heavily recruited” category before too much deeper into the spring.

The Pump 16s squad had two of the very best players from California Class of 2016 on its roster – 5-8 Max Heidegger (Encino Crespi) and 6-9 Trevor Stanback (West Hills Chaminade).

Each was terrific during the game I watched Sunday.