CORONA, Ca. – The Dream Vision squad found itself on the short end of a 79-53 score against the QJZ Elite team in the final game of pool play Sunday afternoon during the BattleZone 17 bracket of the Ballislife Magic Memorial Day Festival.
But, after being scorched by sizzling freshman guard Lonzo Ball (Chino Hills High) and his QJZ buddies, Dream Vision righted its course in a big hurry.
Dream Vision, with mostly dominating play by sophomore center Stephen Zimmerman (Las Vegas Bishop Gorman) and standout support by the likes of juniors Namon Wright (the Los Angeles Pacific Hills standout expected to transfer to Findlay Prep in Henderson, NV) and Bear Henderson (Mission Hills, CA, Alemany), rallied from a big first-half deficit to knock off the L.A. Rockfish in its first playoff then held to edge Branch West by a point in a quarterfinal.
The wins moved “Big Zimm” and his teammates into a Monday afternoon (1:25) semifinal against the Oklahoma Magic in the Players’ Edge facility (on Court 2).
In the other semi (also set to tip off at 1:25 but on Court 3), the Superior Athletes face the Compton Magic Elite.
Zimmerman was locked in a dandy matchup with his 6-foot-11 Rockfish counterpart (Thomas Welsh, a member of the Class of 2014 at L.A. Loyola)
But Zimmerman went ever deeper into his seemingly ever-expanding bag of skills and his teammates seemed to play off his lead while methodically chipping away at the Rock Fish advantage and finally going ahead down the stretch and pulling away for a five-point win.
Another Class of 2014 product, Studio City, CA, Harvard-Westlake forward Derrick Newton, also played a solid role in the grind-it-out victory over Branch West.
Zimmerman is likely to get another challenge in the person of 6-9 Jacob Hammond, the best prep big man in Oklahoma, when Dream Vision takes on the Oklahoma Magic Monday afternoon.
The Superior Athletes-Compton Magic Elite semifinal will pit a couple of quality set of guards, with Superior Athletes led by 2015 standouts Kendall Small (Huntington Beach Ocean View), Jeremy Hemsley (La Verne Damien) and Stephen Thompson Jr. (Torrance Bishop Montgomery), and Compton Magic Elite by Justin Bibbins (Bishop Montgomery) and Victor Joseph (Rancho Cucamonga).
The title game is set to be played at 3:35 in the afternoon.
Other semifinals to be played Monday are in the 15 (10:10) and 16 (11:15) divisions.
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