LOS ANGELES – The third day of the 29th Nike Fairfax High Summer Tournament is on tap Wednesday, with a schedule highlighted by some potentially compelling team and individual match-ups.
In fact, it could serve as a “preview” of sorts to the 2016 CIF Southern Section Open Division playoff bracket.
Consolation games will be played at 1:30 p.m. (L.A. Brentwood vs. El Segundo) and 3 (L.A. Loyola vs. Pasadena Maranatha).
After that things could get really interesting.
Set for 4:30 is a clash between Santa Ana Mater Dei and Santa Monica (it’s actually first-round game; the other teams are already into the second round of play).
What makes this one extra noteworthy is the presence of sophomore-to-be point guard Spencer Freedman and senior-to-be center Jayce Johnson.
Freedman was a standout for the Santa Monica varsity as a freshman before transferring to Mater Dei recently.
And Johnson played as a freshman at Mater Dei before spending his sophomore year at J Serra in San Juan Capistrano and then finishing at Santa Monica as a junior (after a two-month stop at Findlay Prep in Henderson, NV).
If Johnson and Michael Cage Jr. of Mater Dei are in uniform and playing, it would create nice matchup of two of the very best big men in the Western Class of 2016.
Scheduled to play at 6 o’clock are Corona Centennial and the host Lions.
The Centennial Huskies return a lot of talented players from a team that lost to Chino Hills in the State Southern Regional Division I final last spring, most notably posts Ike Anigabogu (a senior-to-be who is committed to sign with UCLA in November) and Jalen Hill (a 15-year-old junior-to-be) and Jordan Griffin, a 6-2 member of the Class of 2016 who may be as good a jump shooter as there is in Southern California.
Fairfax returns key members of its 2015 L.A. City championship team in center Babacar Thiombane and guard Antoine Monroe.
The 7:30 game pits the finalists of the Maranatha Tournament last week – Chino Hills and Long Beach Poly.
Chino Hills won that game, 69-56, behind the Ball brothers trio of Lonzo (who was MVP of the event; he’s a senior-to-be point guard who is committed to UCLA), LiAngelo (a junior-to-be) and LaMelo (a 13-year-old who will be a freshman in September).
Poly returns 2014-15 starters in guard Drew Buggs and post Zaire Williams.
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