LYNWOOD, Ca. – The third annual, two-day Ron Massey Memorial Fall Hoops Classic will eventually be looked upon as quite the primer for the 2016-17 boys Southern California basketball season.
Twenty-seven teams, including one from outside the SoCal confines (Las Vegas Bishop Gorman), participated in the event that began Saturday afternoon and wrapped up Sunday evening with the championship game of an eight-team tournament.
That field included seven squads that almost assuredly will be part of the 16-squad CIF Southern Section’s Open Division playoff field at the end of upcoming regular season, as well as Nevada- and regional power Bishop Gorman.
And Coach Gary McKnight’s Santa Ana Mater Dei Monarchs were the last team standing – and posing for the championship picture that tournament officials quickly posted on the Internet – after knocking off Torrance Bishop Montgomery, 62-55.
Senior forward Justice Sueing led the way with 25 points while junior point guard Spencer Freedman added five points and team highs in rebounds (eight) and assists (five).
Sophomore point guard Gianni Hunt scored 19 of his team-high 22 points after intermission for the Knights while senior guard Ethan Thompson added 16 points.
Noteworthy, though, was that Bishop Montgomery reached the championship game minus two starters – each an all-Southern Section last season – in San Diego State-bound forward Jordan Schakel (recovering from a summer knee procedure) and junior guard David Singleton (a hairline fracture in his right foot was discovered early Sunday morning).
Schakel didn’t play all weekend but Singleton had 26 points in the team’s opening-round win over Eastvale Roosevelt (73-64) Saturday night before the Sunday morning trip to the ER to check on the sore foot.
Each is expected to be fine, physically, long before the start of the regular season.
Thompson scored 13 points and junior forward Fletcher Tynen added 12 in the Knight’s 48-44 win over Bishop Gorman earlier Sunday afternoon while Charles O’Bannon Jr. and Christian Popoola Jr. scored 14 and 11 points, respectively for the Gaels.
Bishop Montgomery – which could have the deepest roster of quality players in California this season – got strong efforts from sophomore forward Will Crawford and junior Cyrus Johnson (the son of the 1977 John R. Wooden Award-winning Marques Johnson, who played for UCLA and also was an NBA all-star before turning to a career in broadcasting).
Mater Dei had double-digit deficits in the first half of its games with Crespi on Saturday evening and Corona Centennial Sunday morning before pulling away for 68-52 and 67-57 victories.
Besides those turned in by Sueing and Freedman, the Monarchs also got strong efforts over the weekend from 6-4 junior Harrison Butler (21 points vs. Crespi; two spectacular “And 1” dunks vs. Centennial; nine points vs. Bishop Montgomery) and 6-3 freshman Aidan Prukop (three 3s vs. Bishop Montgomery).
In third-place game, Bishop Gorman trailed of the first half before knocking off Centennial, 77-68, as 6-7 junior Jarvis Thomas did a lot of rim-crunching while scoring a game-high 21 points.
Six-nine, UCLA-bound senior Jalen Hill scored 20 for Centennial, including some forceful finishes of his own.
Six-five Charles O’Bannon, one of the best “big guards/wings” in the national Class of 2017, didn’t play in the third-place game as Bishop Gorman Coach Grant Rice used that tilt as an opportunity to give a lot of playing time to reserves and newcomers.
Encino Crespi picked up a couple of down-to-the-wire victories Sunday over Long Beach Poly and Eastvale Roosevelt to finish fifth in the tournament.
Junior guard Taj Regans got a steal and turned it into a 3-ponter with five seconds to go in the Celtics’ 49-47 victory in the fifth-place semifinal with the Jackrabbits. Regans led all scorers with 18 points.
And, despite trailing by four points with about 40 seconds to go, Crespi got a layup by Kyle Dosa for the win against Roosevelt.
Earlier on Sunday Roosevelt saw a well-into-double-figures advantage get whipped out by Santa Margarita.
But 6-6 Matt Mitchell (who didn’t play Saturday night because he was on a recruiting visit) scored on a five-footer with 1.4 seconds to go for a 75-73 win.
Mitchell – one of the better “uncommitted” college prospects in the SoCal Class of 2017 – scored 24 points while teammate Jemarl Baker (he’s committed to Cal) added 19 points.
Sophomore forward Jake Kyman had a big Sunday for Santa Margarita, scoring 24 points against Roosevelt and 20 in the 60-42 win over Long Beach Poly for seventh place.
An “NBA-flavored” matchup took place in the “showcase” game in which Santa Monica Crossroads knocked off Beverly Hills, 44-31.
Six-nine junior Sharrief O’Neal scored 15 points the winner and 6-6 senior Ronald Artest III had 14 for Beverly Hills.
I’ll let you figure out who their respective fathers are.
My “unofficial” all-Ron Massey Memorial Fall Hoops Classic selections:
(note: Only players from the eight-team tournament were considered, and among those each must have played in all three of his team’s games)
Most Outstanding Player: Justice Sueing (6-6 Mater Dei/Sr.)
All-Tourney (alphabetical): Jemarl Baker (6-4 Roosevelt/Sr.); Jamal Bey (6-6 Bishop Gorman/Jr.); Harrison Butler (6-4 Mater Dei/Jr.); Spencer Freedman (6-0 Mater Dei/Jr.); Jalen Hill (6-9 Centennial/Sr.); Gianni Hunt (6-1 Bishop Montgomery/So.); Jake Kyman (6-7 Santa Margarita/So.); Christian Popoola Jr. (6-4 Bishop Gorman/Sr.); Taj Regans (5-8 Crespi/Jr.) and Ethan Thompson (6-4 Bishop Montgomery/Sr.).
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