LONG BEACH, Calif. – If you showed up at Cabrillo High over this past weekend, hoping to see some of the top prep hoopsters from the classes of 2014 through 2016, you shouldn’t have disappointed.
Heck, there was even a player knocking in shots from the Class of 2019 – yes, a current sixth-grader.
Yet, almost more than anything else, especially in the two top divisions (the Invitational and Platinum), players from the Class of 2013 dominated the proceedings.
Now, debating the “should players with no remaining high school or even prep school eligibility be competing in the same divisions with current juniors, sophomores and freshmen” is something for another place with a lot of time to play around with.
For the time being, it is what it is.
And” it” was definitely on display during the Pangos Spring Sweet 16.
That was certainly the case in the top (Invitational) division title game, where Branch West Elite edged the Earl Watson Pangos Elite squad in a double overtime finale, 56-49.
Six-foot-three Eric Cooper Jr – a senior at Long Beach Saint Anthony High and one of the aforementioned players still in search of a college, or perhaps prep school, destination for 2013-13.
Cooper was tabbed the Most Outstanding Player in the division but he got a lot of help from the likes of fellow 2013 members Jaron Martin (West Hills Chaminade) and Alpha Ndaw (La Verne Lutheran), as well as jump shooter Cole Currie (La Crescenta Crescenta Valley).
Another player knocking in shots for Coach Bob Gottlieb was a Class of 2012 performer, Sam Borst-Smith (from nearby San Pedro but he currently is enrolled at The Lawrenceville, a prep school in New Jersey).
That being said, one of the most improved players in the Southland’s Class of 2014 – 6-8 Stanley Roberts – was tremendous all weekend for Branch West. And Gottlieb also got good production by two other current juniors, both from Martin Luther King in Riverside, Chris Lott and Maurice Jones.
Earl Watson’s Pangos Elite Squad (coached and assembled by Ryan Silver, but the team’s NBA namesake was on the bench over the weekend) was led by 2014 point guard Tra Holder (L.A. Brentwood), whose presence drew a lot of college head coaches, including the likes of the Pac 12 Conference’s Lorenzo Romar (Washington), Herb Sendek (Arizona State) and Andy Enfield (USC).
Two other juniors, 6-9 Joe Furstinger (Santa Margarita High) and 6-3 Robby Berwick (Atascadero), were also the focus of a lot of recruiters’ attention for the Earl Watson club.
But two more 2013 players, forward Andre Edwards (L.A. Crenshaw) and guard Ron Lee (Oak Park), were two of the team’s key elements during its four games.
In the Platinum competition, Orange County-based Moore Management trimmed San Diego-based Top Gun Orange, 55-49.
Moore Management’s standouts included 2012 graduates of Chino Hills High – and twins – DeAndre and Deion Page (who now attempt Impact Prep School in Las Vegas) and 6-1 James McGee (who was a key reserve as a senior for State Open Champion Division Santa Ana Mater Dei this past season)
Other division champions were: Pangos Elite 16 Silver (over SoCal Grind in the Premier Division); Team Excel (over Open Gym Black in Gold Division); BTI All-Stars 15 (over BTI Select 15 in Silver Division); and Top Gun Orange 15 (over Pangos Elite 15 in Bronze Division).
There was no “all-tournament” team, per se, chosen.
But here are some of the “post-grads” or “soon-to-be grads” that impressed me most over the three days:
Jack Karapetyan (6-7/L.A. Cathedral Prep/originally Class of 2012) and Trey Mason (6-2/L.A. Loyola) of Compton Magic Red; Darien Williams (6-8/Bellflower St. John Bosco) of Belmont Shore; Malcolm Drumwright (6-2/Rancho Cucamonga) of Pangos Elite 17U; Toney Lilliard (6-1/Tucson, AZ, Rincon) of Arizona Dream Team; Mike Garcia (6-4/Inglewood) of Hoop Phi; and Jimmy Golden (6-4/La Habra Sonora) of Team Eastbay.
Along with Holder, Berwick and the other Earl Watson players, as well as Roberts of Branch West, some of the other better juniors that I watched (I didn’t see every team and every player, obviously) included Chandler Hutchison (6-5/Mission Viejo) and George Buaku (6-4/Lake Forest El Toro) of Team Eastbay; Deontae North (6-4/Corona Centennial) of Compton Magic Red; Rolando Rhymes (5-10/Phoenix Desert Mountain) of Arizona Dream Team; Keondre Dew (6-7/American Heritage in Florida) of Inland.
Some strong performances came from sophomores such guards K.J. Feagin (Long Beach Poly) and Sed Barefield (Corona Centennial) of Compton Magic 2015; and forwards Jeremiah Headley (Redondo) and Rogers Printup (Orange Lutheran) of Pangos Elite 16U.
Among the better freshmen were 6-4 Lonzo Ball (Chino Hills) of QJZ Elite; 6-7 T.J. Leafs (El Cajon Foothills Christian), 6-3 Johnny McWilliams (San Diego San Marcos) and 5-11 Dikembe Martin (Riverside JW North) of Compton Magic 2016; 6-2 Leland Green (Redondo) of Pangos Elite 16U; and 6-7 Vance Jackson (Pasadena LaSalle) of Belmont Shore.
A persuasive argument could be present that Ball is not only as many physical and basketball skills gifts as any freshman in California but that he possesses as many of those traits among any other guard in the state, regardless of class.
It was quite the remarkable experience watching the QJZ squad perform during upset wins over Belmont Shore and Compton Magic 2015, and even in a semifinal defeat to Branch West and loss to Compton Magic Red in the third-place game of the Invitational Division.
Ball was showed in the starting lineup by his eighth-grade brother, Li Angelo, and, frequently, by his sixth-grade brother, Mello, as well.
At times the youngest of the Ball Brothers was being guarded by a player as much as seven or eight years older than he is.
And their parents were on the bench helping Lonnie Hinchen Sr. coach the club in its fast-paced, 3-point shot-jacking style of play.
Only in the spring or summer, baby.
Are you going to be Long Beach 5-31 thru 6-2
for Pangos camp. I would like feed back on
Brekkott Chapman Thanks Dennis
I usually do not drop many comments, however i
did some searching and wound up here Burlison on Basketball | Lots of Ballin