All of the kids in San Diego County have been back in their classrooms for more than couple of weeks now.
But why quibble with semantics when there is basketball to be played?
And the first-ever BruinsSportsReport.com “Back to School Showcase”, held on Saturday morning and early afternoon at Palomar Community College (in San Marcos), provided a nifty display of the caliber of hoops talent occupying those classroom seats.
Some 50 players were on hand for games that tipped off a bit after 9 a.m. and then wrapped up at about 2 p.m. following the conclusion of the Top 24 All-Star game.
Highlighting the contests was the present of many members of the county’s exceptional Class of 2016 that is currently composed of sophomores.
Foremost among those 10th graders – at least in terms of their Saturday performances – were 6-foot-3 Brandon Cyrus (Del Mar Torrey Pines) and 6-4 Johnny McWilliams (San Marcos).
McWilliams, one of the standouts of the Compton Magic 2016 travel squad, scored the bulk of his points via his jump shots.
Cyrus hit a lot of jumpers as well but did more of his damage via dribble penetration.
Others from that terrific group of second-year preps who stood out on Saturday included 6-6 Tim Harrison (San Diego Francis Parker), as well as the St. Augustine duo of slick passing point guard Eric Monroe and rapidly improving 6-5 post Martin Tombe, and S.D. Serra wing Omajae Smith.
Among the freshmen to follow in 2013-14 were point guard Jailen Moore (Lakeside in Lake Elsinore), 6-6 Robby Robinson (San Diego Kearny) and 6-3 Kale Baldado (Serra).
Moore and Monroe, in my humble opinion, were the most effective passers in the event.
Among the juniors (2015) were a snap-the-twines-from-deep jump shooter that I’ve seen a bunch of over the past year (6-3 Dalton Soffer, of Poway), along with 6-5 forwards Sam Bockman (Oceanside El Camino) and Justin Young (Chula Vista Eastlake), and 6-foot point guards William Christmas (Oceanside) and Torin Webb (Temecula Great Oaks).
I was not aware of Christmas (the player, not the holiday/sorry! I couldn’t resist) before Saturday morning. But no one impressed me more during those five or so hours.
One of the better scorers – not only on Saturday but throughout San Diego County – was 6-4 Chad Morrison (Oceanside El Camino), who had a productive July with the San Diego All-Stars program.
*****
Later Saturday afternoon, after about a 90-minute or so figurative north-bound crawl on the 5 (there was a bumper-to-bumper due to an accident in San Clemente), then quick dashes on the 405 and 605 freeways to Gahr High in Cerritos College, I caught the action at the Fullcourt Press Fall Hoops Classic.
The field (just eight area travel teams) was smaller than usual but there was no shortage of quality high school players-high school prospects.
Advancing to Sunday’s championship game (played at 12:30 p.m. at Cerritos College, just a couple of miles north of Gahr High, in Norwalk) were Belmont Shore and Pangos Elite.
Belmont Shore edged Team Compton (better known as the Compton High team), 56-51, in the first of the semifinals contested Saturday night.
The usual Belmont Shore standouts, Daniel Hamilton and Tyler Dorsey of Bellflower St. John Bosco, didn’t participate.
Seniors Antonio Singleton (Long Beach Cabrillo) and Terrell Carter (Redondo), junior Sequan Walker (Cabrillo), and 5-9 freshman Spencer Freedman (who is from Pacific Palisades/he will not attend high school this year while studying in Europe) played well for Belmont Shore.
In the second semi, Pangos built a 20-point advantage only to see the Las Vegas Gaels (the Bishop Gorman High squad) gets to within seven points with about five minutes remaining.
But Pangos pulled away down the stretch for the 55-40 victory.
Pangos got strong play (literally and figuratively) from the “Serbian connection” of Basha Dragovich (a 6-9 junior who played for Cantwell-Sacred Heart in Montebello last season) and Gligorije Rakocevic (a 6-8 junior who also attends Cantwell-Sacred Heart after coming to the U.S. a few weeks ago), who did a good job of at least neutralizing the Gaels 2015 duo of Stephen Zimmerman and Chase Jeter.
The biggest difference, though, was on the perimeter where the Pangos crew of juniors Jeffery McClendon (Quartz Hills), Tommy McCarthy (Carlsbad La Costa Canyon), New Williams (Santa Monica) and Marquise Mosley (La Canada Renaissance Academy), as well as sophomore Leland Green (Redondo) dominated their Gaels’ counterparts with their quickness and tenacity.
[…] Frank Burlison (BurlisonOnBasketball.com McDonalds Vote) – (Frank Burlison is a well-regarded basketball writer who was inducted into the U.S. Basketball Writers Association Hall of Fame in 2005. His opinions on the potential of high school and college players are widely respected and sought by college coaches and NBA scouts, personnel directors and general managers from coast to coast.) Wrote this about the camp – All of the kids in San Diego County have been back in their classrooms for more than couple of weeks now. But why quibble with semantics when there is basketball to be played? And the first-ever BruinsSportsReport.com “Back to School Showcase”, held on Saturday morning and early afternoon at Palomar Community College (in San Marcos), provided a nifty display of the caliber of hoops talent occupying those classroom seats. Some 50 players were on hand for games that tipped off a bit after 9 a.m. and then wrapped up at about 2 p.m. following the conclusion of the Top 24 All-Star game. Highlighting the contests was the present of many members of the county’s exceptional Class of 2016 that is currently composed of sophomores. – To read the rest click here BurlisonOnBasketball.com […]