LA VERNE, Ca. – Four teams that have already won a collective 48 games a month into the season make up the Thursday night championship semifinal field in the Gold Division of the first-ever Classic at Damien basketball tournament.
The host Damien Spartans (14-0) faces the Eastvale Roosevelt Mustangs (7-3) at 7 o’clock, with top seed Santa Ana Mater Dei (14-1) following against Corona Roosevelt (12-2) at approximately 8:30 in Damien’s Athletic Center.
Day IV of the tournament also includes championship semifinals in the Silver and Bronze divisions.
Hacienda Heights Los Altos (10-0) takes on Vista (10-2) at 4 o’clock with top seed Woodland Hills Taft (10-3) meeting Compton Dominguez (8-4) at about 5:30. Both of those games are also scheduled to be played in the Athletic Center.
The Bronze Division semis will be contested at San Dimas High, with Pasadena La Salle (7-4) playing Hesperia (8-4) at 7 p.m., and top seed La Canada (9-3) taking on Diamond Bar (10-2).
Each of the three division’s championship games are set for Friday in Damien’s Athletic Center, starting with the Bronze (4 p.m.), followed by the Silver (5:30) and Gold (8:30).
The Gold Division third-place game is scheduled for the Athletic Center at 7 o’clock Friday.
Sixteen games are scheduled to be played on the Damien campus on Thursday, eight of those (beginning at 9:30 a.m.) in the school’s Event Center and the others in the Athletic Center (starting at 10 a.m.).
Not only does The Classic at Damien include many of the elite programs in the Southern California (and the entire western region) but there is also a plethora of college prospects scattered among the event’s 48 rosters.
Ten players from the Gold Division – center Miles Brookins of Mater Dei (with La Salle University), guard Brandon Davis of Alemany (UC Santa Barbara), center Jalen Hill and guard Gio Nelson of Corona Centennial (with UCLA and UC Davis, respectively), guard Troy Brown and center Darian Scott of Las Vegas Centennial (with Oregon and Missouri State, respectively), forward Zafir Williams of Long Beach Poly (with Loyola Marymount), guard Damari Milstead of Hayward Moreau Catholic (with Grand Canyon), guards Jemarl Baker and forward Matt Mitchell of Roosevelt (with UC Berkeley and Cal State Fullerton, respectively) – signed with NCAA Division I-affiliated programs in November.
An abbreviated list of some of the better “unsigned” seniors who will be on display in the Athletic Center on Thursday includes forward Justice Sueing (Mater Dei), guard Isom Butler (Corona Centennial), forward Justin Hemsley (Damien), guards Devante Doutrive and Deschon Winston (Birmingham), guard Miles Oliver (Etiwanda), guard J.J. Watson (St. John Bosco) and center Myles Johnson (Long Beach Poly).
Along with the many exceptional juniors, sophomores and freshmen on hand, those unsigned seniors are why the event is expected to be visited by coaches from a multitude of college programs throughout on the country on Thursday and Friday.
Thursday’s schedule:
Damien Athletic Center: 10 a.m., Lake Balboa Birmingham vs. Etiwanda; 11:30, Long Beach Poly vs. Bellflower St. John Bosco; 1 p.m., Oak Park vs. Mission Hills Alemany; 2:30, Temecula Rancho Christian vs. Santa Monica; 4, Vista vs. Hacienda Heights Los Altos; 5:30, Woodland Hills Taft vs. Compton Dominguez; 7, Eastvale Roosevelt vs. La Verne Damien; 8:30, Santa Ana Mater Dei vs. Corona Centennial.
Damien Event Center: 9:30 a.m., San Luis Obispo Mission Prep vs. L.A. Price; 11, Playa del Rey St. Bernard vs. Palmdale Knight; 12:30 p.m., Palmdale Highland vs. Moreno Valley Rancho Verde; 2, Ontario Colony vs. Long Beach Jordan; 3:30, Claremont vs. Lawndale Leuzinger; 5, L.A. Windward vs. Rancho Cucamonga; 6:30, Lynwood vs. Las Vegas Centennial; 8, Hayward Moreau Catholic vs. Encino Crespi.
San Dimas High: 3 p.m., Fontana Kaiser vs. San Dimas; 4:30, West Covina vs. Riverside La Sierra; 6, Pasadena La Salle vs. Hesperia; 7:30, La Canada vs. Diamond Bar.
Life Pacific College: 1 p.m., Rialto vs. Pomona; 2:30, Buckeye (AZ) Verrado; 4, Valencia Trinity Classical vs. Victorville Victor Valley; 5:30, Victorville Silverado vs. Alta Loma.
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