LOS ANGELES – The second annual Take Flight Challenge, presented by Redondo Union High, proved a veritable smorgasbord for the high school basketball connoisseurs who made their way into the Jordan Hangar for 12 hours or so Saturday.
There were seven games and among the highlights were:
*A remarkable comeback in Game 1, during which the Compton High Tarbabes overcome double-digit deficits in the second half to edge Lawndale, 54-52, behind the drive, finish “And 1” by senior Robert Lewis with 11.9 seconds remaining;
*A strong performance by USC-bound forward Bennie Boatwright, who scored 20 points, grabbed 16 rebounds and blocked a couple of shots to lead Sun Valley Village Christian to a 54-42 victory over Santa Monica;
*The terrific outside shooting of junior Jacob Davison (18 points, including three of four shots from behind the arc) to go along with the strong post punch of Gligorije Rakocevic and Balsa Dragovic as Montebello Cantwell Sacred-Heart held off short-handed L.A. Loyola, 62-55;
*Dazzling efforts from the two best guards in California, junior Lonzo Ball (28 points, 12 rebounds, 11 assists, seven steals, three blocks and seven turnovers) in Chino Hills’ 88-72 win against Mission Hills Alemany, and senior Stephen Thompson Jr. (26 points, three rebounds, four assists, four steals and five turnovers) during Torrance Bishop Montgomery’s 71-58 domination of the host Redondo Sea Hawks;
*And the first-ever “matchup” of Classes of 2017 and 2016 standouts DeAndre Ayton (San Diego Balboa) and Thon Maker (Canada’s Orangeville Prep), respectively.
The other scores were: Corona Centennial 63, L.A. Westchester 54; and, Orangeville Prep 55, Balboa Prep 48.
A rundown on each of the games:
*Lawndale, with its potent frontcourt punch of Chimezie Metu (USC) and Buddha Jones (San Diego State), played about as well as I’d seen it all season and seemed in reasonable control with a seven-point advantage going into the fourth quarter.
But turnovers and questionable shot selection (relative to “time and score”), coupled with some big offensive rebound buckets by junior Raysean Scott, as well as the clever offensive skill of Lewis (13 points and three assists), doomed the Cardinals.
*Bennie Boatwright is one of the best long-range jump shooters, not only in Southern California but anywhere on the high school level of hoops.
He drilled a couple of shots from behind the arc Saturday against Santa Monica but it the inside dominance of the 6-9 Boatwright the helped Village Christian crush the smaller Vikings under the backboards.
Teammates Clifton Powell and Jerrick Ahanmisi helped the cause with a couple of 3s apiece while Powell (17 points) grabbed six rebounds off his team’s offensive glass.
*Centennial broke out to an early eight-point advantage after the first quarter then had to overcome a five-point deficit late in the third quarter against the Comets.
And the Huskies did so by way of back-to-back 3s from reserve guard Courtney Moffatt.
SMU-bound point guard Sedrick Barefield and 6-foot-9, just-turned-15 (the middle of last month) sophomore center Jalen Hill led the Huskies with 16 points while another guard, soon-to-be Cal State Fullerton Titan Kahlil Ahmad added 14.
Junior forward Evan Council led Westchester with 16 points.
*Alemany led by six points in the second quarter against Chino Hills before the presence of Lonzo Ball created too much havoc for the Warriors.
Speedy (and then some) junior point guard Shacquille Dawkins (24 points) did his best to keep Alemany as close as possible even against the Ball-led onslaught.
*The Redondo Sea Hawks and Bishop Montgomery Knights are the two best teams in the “South Bay” region of Southern California.
Saturday night, at least, the Knights left no doubt as to what the pecking order is.
When Thompson wasn’t scoring via a variety of fashions – deep jumpers, pull-up/mid-range jump shots, “floaters” or either-hand layups – he was pitching passes to the likes of sophomores Ethan Thompson (yeah, his younger brother) and Jordan Shakel and freshman David Singleton (who hit three 3s).
Relative to the quality of opponent (Redondo, like Bishop Montgomery, borders on being a “lock” to be a part of the CIF Southern Section’s 16-team Open Division field late next month), this was the best 32-minute performance I’ve seen from a Southern California-based program this season.
*Who “won” the individual matchup of DeAndre Ayton and Thon Maker?
And who came out looking like the “best prospect” among the two superb talents?
That depends on your perspective, I suppose.
First the numbers:
The 6-foot-10 (or so) Ayton, who migrated to San Diego by way of the Bahamas (with a brief top in Dallas), scored nine points (four of nine from the field, and one of three from the free throw line) with 12 rebounds, two assists and four blocked shots.
The 7-foot (or so) Maker, who came to the U.S. by the way of the Sudan (then was in Australia for a while), scored 17 points (five of nine from the field and seven of 10 on free throws), with three rebounds, two assists and three blocks.
And, for the bottom liners out there, the most important numbers: Orangeville 55, Balboa 48.
The biggest reason for the outcome of the game was that Orangeville had the “third-best prospect” on the floor, and, in reality, the most “polished” player in 6-5 junior point guard Jamal Murray (10 points and a short-changed three assists).
His decision making and ability to deliver the ball – passing or dribbling – where and when it needed to go was why the team from Canada seized control of things in the second quarter and never surrendered them.
Put Murray in a Balboa uniform Saturday night and Ayton’s scoring numbers are much more impressive and Balboa wins the game.
Any rating pecking order of Ayton and Maker, relative their respective “games” is rather pointless:
They are different players with different sets of skills and different approaches to the game.
Neither has been taught a lot of the rudiments of back-to-the-bucket offense.
But Ayton is a much better rebounder – especially in traffic – and, more or less, a “pure power forward” that passes especially well from the low or high posts and is almost unselfish, in terms of hunting scoring opportunities, to a fault.
What “is” Maker, position-wise?
That’s a tough call. He’s so wiry and plays so “upright”, without a strong base, that he can be pushed off the low block by a strong and savvy defender.
He often appears (based on Saturday night and the numerous other times I’ve watched him) to aspire to be a “wing” and his handle and passing skills are impressive, indeed, especially for a player of his size.
But his accuracy and range as a jump shooter doesn’t justify the number of jumpers he “hunts”, often quickly into an offensive possession.
All that aside, though, both are exceptional talents with exceptional futures if they continue to stay focused, work hard, develop their still mostly raw skills and not look too far into the future, career-wise.
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