Cherry, Farley shine in Creme of the County Saturday

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LA JOLLA, Ca. – The second Crème of the County, run so adroitly by San Diego-based scribe Aaron Burgin and his family, provided that – and more – Saturday at La Jolla Country Day High.

Not only were the bulk of the better boys’ basketball players based in San Diego County on hand but the event was represented by players from a lot of other area codes, as well.

Foremost among the performers among the nine games played during the approximate 10-hour event were senior Reed Farley (La Jolla High) and junior Taeshon Cherry (San Diego St. Augustine).

The 6-foot-4 Farley, a standout for the Southern California-based Earl Watson Elite squad that captured the Fab 48 champion in Las Vegas in late July, hit six 3s while helping the dark jersey-wearing team to a 85-83 victory over its white jersey-wearing counterparts in the class of 2017 “Crème” contest.

The outstanding student – duh! – said afterward that he plans visit (on separate trips) the Harvard and Princeton campuses next month. He seemed set on ultimately committing to one of the two Ivy League programs to continue his academic and basketball careers during the 2017-18 school year.

Cherry was a key member of the St. Augustine team that won a San Diego Section title in his freshman season and then advanced to the semifinals of the State Division I Southern Regionals last March.

Cherry, who was quite impressive in the spring and summer for the Oakland Soldiers Nike/EYBL program, didn’t jump shoot Saturday as well as he did when I watched him during the Drew League High School Elite Showcase two weeks ago.

But he still did enough as a scorer and rebounder to demonstrate why he’s a consensus Top 10 or so prospect in the west in the class of 2018.

Burgin selected Cherry as the “Best in Show” as the “most outstanding player in the event” after he played in both the 2018 and ’17 “Crème” contests.

The two other class of 2017 players that most impressed me in the 2017 Crème game (there were also “Select” games for the 2018, ’19 and ’20 classes) were 6-3 J.J Overton (San Diego Rancho Bernardo) and 6-3 Blake Seits (Ramona).

The left-handed Overton was very good in the spring and summer with the San Diego All-Stars program while Seits averaged 18 points as a junior, three times hitting at least 30 points.

Both shot, drove and passed well Saturday and are not only likely all-San Diego Section selections as seniors but possible all-state honorees, as well.

A standout in the 2017 Select game was 6-2 Josh Clarke, who averaged 16 points per game as a junior at San Diego Health Sciences School, which preps students for careers in health-, science- and medical-related fields. What is the school’s teams’ nickname? Why, it’s “The “Surgeons”, of course.

He scored pretty much at well in that game. It would have been nice to see him in the 2017 “Crème” game against the likes of Overton, Seits, Charles Neal (Rancho Mirage) and Michael Diaz (Escondido Orange Glen).

Six-two Zach Reiter (Poway) was Most Outstanding Player after muscling, driving and shooting his way to 30 points for the dark jersey-wearers in a 90-88 win in the class of 2017 Crème contest.

Cherry, 6-9 Warren Washington (Escondido), 6-6 JoJo Bush (Bellflower St. John Bosco), 6-4 Matt Bradley (San Bernardino), 6-2 Knox Winkler (San Diego Rancho Bernardo), 6-2 Krystian Wilson (Etiwanda) were among players of notes in the 2018 Crème game that I’ve seen on many other occasions.

Two guys I hadn’t seen before (at least that I can recall) who impressed in the game were 6-3 left hander Thomas Marcus (San Diego Christian Academy) and 6-6 Adrian Lee (Chula Vista).

The Most Outstanding Player honors for the 2019 Crème game were shared by 6-3 Ryan Langborg (La Jolla Country Day) and 6-3 Graham Cook (Carlsbad La Costa Canyon), with Lanborg LJCD classmates Jayson Taylor (6-7) and Max Guinn (6-3) also having have strong moments in the game.

So did 6-2 Dorain Blue and 6-4 Derrick Carter-Hollinger (both from El Cajon Foothills Christian), 6-4 Christian Rose (La Jolla Bishop’s), 6-4 Travis Snider (Encinitas San Dieguito Academy), 6-7 Kirk Smith (L.A. Fairfax) and 6-3 Darius Mason-Robertson (Pasadena).

Sharing MOP accolades for their efforts in the 2020 Crème game were future Trinity League standouts in 6-5 Jordan Montrose (Orange Lutheran) and 6-2 Ryan Evans (Rancho Santa Margarita/Santa Margarita).

Four other freshmen to track this season who were also in the game are 6-4 Austin Cook (La Verne Damien), 6-6 Logan Cremonesi (Oceanside El Camino) and 5-11 Phil Kilbourne (San Ysidro).