Hoops Heaven in SoCal for consecutive weekends

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LAGUNA NIGUEL, Ca. – Southern California will be the boys “grassroots basketball capital of the country” over this and next weekend.

*The Nike/EYBL (Elite Youth Basketball League) will hold its fourth and final spring session this weekend, with the 17s divisions on Saturday and Sunday at the Sports Academy in Thousand Oaks (1011 Rancho Conejo Blvd.).

Forty games, spread over four courts, will be played each day. They begin at 8 a.m. and the final set is scheduled to tip off at 9:30 in the evening.

Among the 40 teams is Cal Supreme, which went 9-3 over the first three sessions and is led by Spencer Freedman and Bol Bol of Santa Ana Mater Dei; Shareef O’Neal of Santa Monica Crossroads and Devonaire Doutrive of Lake Balboa Birmingham.

The 15s and 16s divisions of the Nike/EYBL will play, in tournament formats, at the Next Level Complex in Garden Grove (12821 Knott Ave.), beginning on Friday and wrapping up with championship games late Sunday afternoon.

*The third and final spring session of the Under Armor Association (UAA) will also be played in Garden Grove (just a few blocks from Next Level) at the MAP Sports Facility (12552 Western).

Games begin at 8 a.m. each day and will be held in 17s, 16s and 15s divisions.

Among the top UAA programs is Southern California-based Earl Watson/West Coast Elite, whose 17s roster includes Cassius Stanley (Studio City Harvard-Westlake), Miles Norris (La Mesa Helix), Riley Battin (Oak Park) and Cameron Shelton (La Verne Damien).

*And the Compton Magic will play host to the adidas-fronted “
Magic Memorial BattleZone”, with games held at multiple sites in Orange and Los Angeles counties, with the headquarters (and site to Monday’s championship games in all divisions) being Orange Lutheran High (2222 North Santiago).

The Compton Magic 17s squad has one of the strongest rosters on the grassroots scene, including Jules Bernard (L.A. Windward) and Onyeka Okongwu (Chino Hills).

And, June 2-4 at Cerritos College in Norwalk, the Pangos All-American Camp will be held and is expected to include 110 of the best players from Southern California as well as the rest of the west region and the U.S. of A.