LIVERMORE, Ca. – It was a Sunday sweep for the Southern California squads during the first-ever Prep2Prep All-Star Basketball Classic at Los Positas College.
But while the Class of 2017 squad from the southland rolled to an eased-up 135-114 in the opener of the double-dip (played in front of an estimated 1,400), its 2016 counterpart had a much more arduous task before finally holding off the lads from Northern California.
Concord Del La Salle guard Jordan Ratinho – mostly terrific throughout the 48-minute contest affair while finishing with 20 points – missed a 3-point attempt from out top with about two seconds to go and the southerners held on for the 137-134 decision.
Guards that attend Chatsworth Sierra Canyon – whose coaching staff, led by head honcho Ty Nichols, coached the winning 2016 squad – picked up Most Outstanding Player honors for each game in votes taken of the media and scouts in attendance.
Remy Martin – who could be the fastest player, on the dribble, from free-throw line to opposite rim in California – scored 14 first-half points while finishing with 17 points, six rebounds, two assists and three steals in the 2017 victory to bag MOP honors for the 2017 team that was coached by Reggie Morris Jr. (Redondo Beach Redondo Union).
And his senior backcourt mate at Sierra Canyon, Devearl Ramsey, also chipped in with 14 first-half points before finishing with 20 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals for MOP hardware after the win in the 2016 clash.
Other SoCal-based players also performed well enough to rate strong MOP consideration.
Six-foot-eleven Brandon McCoy (who attended Morse in San Diego as a freshman and sophomore but is now enrolled at Cathedral Catholic in the same city) went for 20 points, a day-high 17 rebounds and three blocked shots in a bit more than 22 minutes.
His improvement – even since late spring, when he played so well at the Pangos All-American Camp in Carson – has been remarkable. There may not be a better prospect in the Class of 2017 in the West.
Seven players for the SoCal 2017 team scored in double figures, including Ethan Thompson (Torrance Bishop Montgomery/18 points, 11 rebounds and three blocked shots), LiAngelo Ball (Chino Hills/15 points and 10 rebounds), Jalen Harris (L.A. Windward/17 points, seven rebounds and six assists), Earnie Sears (Mission Hills Alemany/11 points and six rebounds) and Cody Riley (Sierra Canyon/14 points and two blocked shots).
Six-five Alfred Hollins (San Francisco Sacred Heart) was the most impressive of the NorCal 2017 squad, finishing with 25 points (10 of 17 from the field) and seven rebounds.
LiAngelo Ball’s older brother, Lonzo, also merited strong MOP consideration for the 2016 Southern California team after his 19-point (seven of nine from the field), five-assist, three-rebound and four-steal effort.
With his team down eight points in the third quarter, Ball came into the contest and hit all three of his shots to go with four steals, two rebounds and two steals to a lead a 20-point turnaround that put the SoCal team up 12 late in the quarter.
He had a couple of buckets (including the day’s most impressive dunk that was set up by a Ramsey pass) and two free throws down the stretch of the contest.
Also playing quite well for the SoCal team was 6-6 Keith Fisher (L.A. Westchester), who scored 22 points and grabbed nine rebounds.
There is a strong likelihood of his being the 2016 L.A. City Player of the Year.
The guy who would have been the 2016 game’s MOP had the NorCal team pulled out the win is 6-1 Jordan Ford (Folsom), who finished with a day’s-best 28 points to go with three assists and four rebounds.
He got plenty of jump-shooting support from the De La Salle duo of Ratinho and Nikil Peters. They combined for 45 points.
Ford, Ratinho and Peters racked up a collective 14 buckets in 24 attempts from behind the arc.
The SoCal team got strong efforts from centers Ike Anigbogu (Corona Centennial/like the Ball brothers, he has already pledged for UCLA), with 14 points, 10 rebounds and four blocked shots, and Mubashar Ali (Playa del Rey St. Bernard), who added eight points, 10 rebounds and three blocks.
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