NORWALK, Ca. – The two best high school basketball teams in California – and, in reality great distances north, south and east – hook up at 7 o’clock Saturday night at Cerritos College during the most high-profile of the eight games being played in the 8th James Samson/Fairfax State Preview.
And, it reality, it could be the first of three times that Chino Hills and Torrance Bishop Montgomery – No.’s 1 and 2 in the BurlisonOnBasketball SoCal Top 25 ratings – meet over the next six weeks or so.
The Huskies and Knights – each 20-0 going into league games Friday night – almost assuredly will be the top two seeds when the CIF Southern Section Open Division’s 16-team bracket is unveiled on Feb. 12.
So they could, conceivably, meet in the SS championship game at the Honda Center in Anaheim on March 5 – and then again in the State Southern Regional Open Division playoffs two weeks later.
Chino Hills, led by McDonald’s All-American guard Lonzo Ball, is averaging 100.2 points per game while hitting or surpassing the century mark 10 times. The Huskies play host to Rancho Cucamonga Los Osos in a Baseline League game Friday night at 6:30.
Bishop Montgomery, led by juniors Ethan Thompson and Jordan Schakel (starters on the team that won the CIF SS Open Division title last March), averages 71.5 while allowing 46.1 points per game. The Knights play at Gardena Serra (5 o’clock) Friday night in a Del Rey League game.
Admission is $13 and tickets will only be sold at the door, beginning prior to the 9:30 a.m. opening contest between El Segundo and San Pedro Rollings Hills Prep.
Those who purchase tickets will NOT be allowed to leave the gym and return.
With the interest in the Chino Hills-Bishop Montgomery being at such a strong level, those hoping to attend are advised to arrive at Cerritos College and purchase their tickets as soon as possible.
The complete Saturday schedule: 9:30 a.m., El Segundo vs. San Pedro Rolling Hills Prep; 11, Calabasas vs. L.A. Brentwood; 12:30 p.m., Las Vegas Durango vs. L.A. Loyola; 2, Gardena Serra vs. Santa Monica; 3:30, Carlsbad Army-Navy vs. Orange Lutheran; 5, L.A. Windward vs. L.A. Fairfax; 7, Chino Hills vs. Torrance Bishop Montgomery; 8:30, Pasadena Maranatha vs. Chatsworth Sierra Canyon.
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