ANAHEIM, Ca. – The Pump N Run/Rebibo edged Prodigy Elite in overtime Sunday afternoon to cap the Asics Double Pump Spring Hoop Fest Tournament at the American Sports Center.
The PNR squad was led by the stalwart play of seniors-to-be in 6-foot-3 DeAnthony Melton (Encino Crespi) – who hit the game-deciding bucket – and 6-9 Trevor Stanback (Pasadena Maranatha).
Prodigy Elite’s leading scorer all weekend was 6-foot Brian Beard, who graduated from Rancho Cucamonga High last June and now attends “Elite Prep”.
Among Prodigy Elite’s better underclassmen are 6-4 senior-to-be Bryce Peters (La Verne Damien) and 6-1 Miles Oliver (who was a second-team all-CIF Southern Section Open Division selection at Etiwanda this past season).
Another unbeaten team in the “17U” division (although I’m guessing there were a whole lot of 18 or older players in action over the weekend) was the Big Ballers VXT Black, which scored more than 100 points in each of its five games behind the play of 6-6 senior-to-be Lonzo Ball of Chino Hills and several of his prep teammates, including brothers LiAngelo (Class of 2017) and LaMello (who will be a freshman in the fall).
Yet another was Team Bibby from Phoenix, which was led by J.J. Rhymes (a 6-3 wing who will be a senior at Phoenix Shadow Mountain in the fall), as well as two of the best football prospects in the West in Byron Murphy (a cornerback at Scottsdale Saguaro) and N’Keal Harry (a wide receiver a Chandler) who also could play college hoops somewhere if they so desired.
All three of the aforementioned teams didn’t participate in “bracket play” hence competed in pre-determined matchups that didn’t include one another.
Here are some of the better underclassmen I saw in Anaheim and in Garden Grove (for the 12th SoCal Hoop Review) over the weekend (alphabetically):
Lonzo Ball (2016/6-5/Chino Hills/Big Ballers)/Spring Fest
Spencer Freedman (2018/6-1/Santa Monica/SoCal All-Stars Red)/ SoCal Review-Spring Fest
Alfred Hollins (2017/6-5/San Francisco Sacred Heart/Oakland Soldiers 16U)/SoCal Review
Jayce Johnson (2016/6-10/Santa Monica/SoCal All-Stars Red)/SoCal Review-Spring Fest
Spencer Johnson (2016/6-3/American Fork, UT/Utah Basketball Club Elite)/SoCal Review
Mitch Lightfoot (2016/6-8/Gilbert Christian/Arizona Power Black)/Spring Fest
Connor McCaffery (2017/6-5/Iowa City West/Iowa Barnstorms 16U)/Spring Fest
Riley Matticks (2016/6-3/Parker, CO, Legend/Next Level Premier)/SoCal Review
DeAnthony Melton (2016/6-3/Encino Crespi/PNR/Rebibo)/Spring Fest
Bryce Peters (2016/6-4/La Verne Damien/Prodigy Elite)/Spring Fest
J.J. Rhymes (2016/6-3/Phoenix Shadow Mountain/Team Bibby)/Spring Fest
Trevor Stanback (2016/6-9/Pasadena Maranatha/PNR)/Spring Fest
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