SANTA ANA, Ca. – The 19th Nike Extravaganza wraps up Saturday night with a hook-up of McDonald’s All-Americans when the host Mater Dei Monarchs take on Chicago Whitney Young at approximately 8:45 p.m. PT.
The other 13 games that begin Friday afternoon at 3 o’clock should be pretty cool as well!
The Monarchs (21-0 after Wednesday’s action) are top-ranked in California and in some of the national polls, as well.
They’re led – of course – by Arizona-bound Stanley Johnson, one of just two Californians (along with future UCLA center Thomas Welsh of L.A. Loyola) on the 2014 McDonald’s squad that was unveiled on Wednesday.
Whitney Young (15-4, including a win over Las Vegas Bishop Gorman and loss to Bellflower St. John Bosco – both in the event) has one of the imposing and skilled posts in the Class of 2014 in McDonald’s selection Jahlil Okafor, who signed with Duke in November.
Gorman, led by the terrific all-junior frontcourt of Stephen Zimmerman, Chase Jeter and Nick Blair, faces JSerra of San Juan Capistrano (which belongs to the same Trinity League that Mater Dei is a member) Saturday at 4:15 in the afternoon, followed by another Trinity member – Bellflower St. John Bosco – hooking up with SoCal powerhouse Etiwanda.
SJB is led by 6-foot-7 senior Daniel Hamilton while Etiwanda is fronted by future USC guard Jordan McLaughlin.
One of the best matchups of the event could be in the showdown between teams likely to get high seeds in the CIF Southern Section’s new “Open” playoff division (along with Mater Dei and Etiwanda), Redondo Beach Redondo and Corona Centennial.
That tips off at 1:15.
Westchester, the defending L.A. City champion and heavy favorite to repeat as such, takes on the team from legendary program Hyattsville, MD, DeMatha and its boatload of terrific underclassmen (including 6-6 sophomore Joe Hampton) at about 7:15 Saturday.
Westchester is led by Loyola Marymount-bound Elijah Stewart, who is expected to earn L.A. City Player of the Year honors in March.
Mater Dei faces Southern California opponent Sun Valley Village Christian Friday night at 7:30.
The schedule:
FRIDAY: 3 p.m. PT, Huntington Beach Ocean View vs. Anaheim Servite; 4:30, Rialto Eisenhower vs. San Juan Capistrano Valley Christian; 6, Fresno Bullard vs. Rancho Santa Margarita Santa Margarita; 7:30, Sun Valley Village Christian vs. Santa Ana Mater Dei; 9, (girls) Playa del Rey St. Bernard vs. Mater Dei.
SATURDAY: (Morning session) 8:30 a.m., Ontario Colony vs. Los Alamitos; 10, Gardena Serra vs. Upland; 11:30, Mission Hills Alemany vs. L.A. Fairfax.
(Evening session) 1:15 p.m., Redondo Beach Redondo vs. Corona Centennial; 2:45, Santa Ana Foothill vs. Orange Lutheran; 4:15, San Juan Capistrano JSerra vs. Las Vegas Bishop Gorman; 5:45, Bellflower St. John Bosco vs. Etiwanda; 7:15, L.A. Westchester vs. Hyattsville (MD) DeMatha; 8:45, Chicago Whitney Young vs. Mater Dei.
Admission: Friday and Saturday morning sessions ($12 general admission apiece); Saturday evening session ($12 general admission and $22 reserved seating).
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