MaxPreps & Under Armour hoops events tip Saturday

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The post-Christmas of high school basketball gets underway in a big way in tournaments throughout the United States on Saturday.

Two of the most notable of those will take place in the outer regions of Southern California.

Those are the 13^th MaxPreps Holiday Classic (the main site is Rancho Mirage High) and the 26^th Under Armour Holiday Classic (the main site Torrey Pines High in San Diego).

There is quite a headliner at Rancho Mirage High:

Southern California’s Chino Hills (9-0) is the top seed in the 16-team MaxPreps “Open Division”.

The Huskies have earned “best team in the country” accolades in some quarters after winning the Battle Zone (Corona, CA) and City of Palms (Ft. Myers, FL) tournament crowns, with the best point guard in the country, 6-foot-5 senior Lonzo Ball, bagging Most Valuable Player at both events.

Coach Steve Baik’s squad averaged 108.4 points in five games in Corona, capping the run with a 106-86 victory over another of California’s best squads, El Cajon Foothills Christian.

The Huskies then knocked off four “nationally ranked” opponents in Florida: Brooklyn Thomas Jefferson, Montverde (FL) Prep (the two-time USA Today “national champion” which came into the game No. 1), High Point (NC) Christian and, 66-60 in overtime of the title game, Elizabeth (NJ) Patrick School.

Ball’s younger brothers, junior LiAngelo – who scored 41 points against High Point Christian – and freshman LaMelo, were also all-tournament selections at Ft. Myers.

The other two starters, 6-9 freshman Onyeka Okongwu and 6-5 junior Elizjah Scott, have also played quite impressively over the first nine games, as have two reserves, 6-7 Andre Ball (the first cousin of Lonzo, LiAngelo and LaMelo) and 6-1 sophomore Cameron Shelton.

The Huskies open play Saturday night at 6:30 (PT) against Seattle Prep (3-2) and – as will be the case in every game Lonzo & Co. play this season, home and away – those who attend are advised to arrive ASAP to assure a spot in the bleachers.

The other top three seeds in the Open Division are No. 2 Bentonville of Arkansas; No. 3 Las Bishop Gorman and No. 4 Jonesboro (GA).

The Bishop Gorman and Jonesboro programs won state titles last March while Bentonville was beaten in its state final.

Bishop Gorman and Bentonville are led by highly touted seniors in center Zach Collins (who signed with Gonzaga last month) and guard Malik Monk (who is bound for Kentucky).

But the field looks competitive enough so that it wouldn’t be a surprise any or all the top four seeds – short of Chino Hills, of course – were tripped up getting to Tuesday night’s championship semifinals.

Complete first-round Open Division schedule on Saturday (all at Rancho Mirage main gym with one exception): 12:30 p.m., Rancho Santa Margarita (CA) Santa Margarita vs. Milwaukee Rufus King; 2, Los Angeles Windward vs. Jonesboro (GA); 3:30, Hayward (CA) Moreau vs. Mission Hills (CA) Alemany; 5, Las Vegas Bishop Gorman vs. Sacramento Capital Christian; 6:30, Chino Hills vs. Seattle Prep; 8, St. Petersburg (FL) vs. Bentonville (AR); 8:15 (Rancho Mirage small gym), Redondo Beach (CA) Redondo vs. Folsom (CA); 9:30 Plano (TX) Prestonwood Christian Academy vs. Concord (CA) De La Salle.

Corona Centennial (7-2) is the top seed in the National (top) Division in the Under Armour event and will open against another Southern California squad, Diamond Ranch, at 1:10 p.m. Saturday at Torrey Pines.

But the Huskies will be without a key component of their squad’s success in 6-9, UCLA-bound post Ike Anigbogu for each of the four games they are scheduled to play.

Anigbogu, an extraordinary rebounder, shot blocker and dunker who was all-tournament at the Battle Zone and Tarkanian Classic events, is with his family in Nigeria to honor a recently deceased unless and to be with his ill grandfather.

But Coach Josh Giles team still has plenty of quality players, notably 6-3, Long Beach State-bound guard Jordan Griffin and a 6-9 junior who already committed to UCLA in Jalen Hill.

A second-round meeting in that same upper bracket of the National Division could be a whopper – assuming El Cajon Foothills Christian (led by yet another future UCLA Bruin in 6-9 T.J. Leaf) and San Diego St. Augustine (8-0 after beating the host squad in the Santa Margarita Christmas Classic Monday afternoon) aren’t upset on Saturday.

That possible clash between San Diego County’s two best teams – and two of the best 10 to 15 teams in all of California – would tip off at 5:55 Monday night.

Foothills Christian is 5-1 – with that only loss coming to Chino Hills.

Among the squads in the lower bracket is L.A. Fairfax (8-1), with only a loss to prep school power La Porte (IN) LaLumiere in the Iolani Tournament in Honolulu Monday night soiling its record.

The Lions – winners of the National Division after knocking off Redondo Beach (CA) Redondo (now playing in the MaxPreps tournament) a year ago – open defense of their title when they play Issaquah of Washington Saturday at 5:55 in the evening.

Complete National Division first-round schedule for Saturday (all games at Torrey Pines, with two exceptions): 11:35 a.m., Cerritos (CA) Gahr vs. Oak Park (CA); 1:10 p.m., Corona (CA) Centennial vs. Diamond Ranch (CA); 2:45, San Diego Torrey Pines vs. San Leandro (CA); 4:20, Carlsbad (CA) Army-Navy vs. Mableton (GA) Pebblebrook; 5:55, L.A. Fairfax vs. Issaquah (WA); 7:30, San Diego St. Augustine vs. Bellevue (WA) and (at La Jolla Country Day) San Jose Mitty vs. Brooklyn Jefferson (Mitty advances to second round regardless of outcome of this game); 9:05, El Cajon (CA) Foothills Christian vs. Oakland Bishop O’Dowd.

Action at both ends takes off on Sunday, resumes on Monday morning, continues on Tuesday and wraps up on Wednesday.