LAS VEGAS – Thursday’s games set up “Friday Final Fours” in each of the five boys divisions of the sixth Tarkanian Classic.
The Best of the Best of the teams are competing in the “Platinum Division” and there are compelling matchups of each of the semifinals – each including a gifted Las Vegas program.
In the first of those, Las Vegas Clark (9-0) takes on Oklahoma’s Putnam City North (6-0) at 4:30 (PT) Friday afternoon at Bishop Gorman, with the host Gaels (7-1) facing off against one of Northern California’s very best in Richmond Salesian (6-0) at about 6 or so.
Both games will be televised live by BallIsLife on Facebook.
Yours truly will be providing on-air analysis, with play-by-play coming from Orange County-based broadcasting legend Paul Westphal.
Each of the four teams rallied from half-time deficits of from one (Clark) to 10 (Bishop Gorman) points with top-notch efforts, from both ends of the floor, to move a step closer to a spot in Saturday evening’s championship game.
Putnam City got double-figure scoring out of four players in its 54-49 victory over Chino Hills and its 6-9 junior standout Onyeka Okongwu, who was swarmed on defense and didn’t score in the second half before fouling out with about two minutes to go.
Clark got another terrific all-around performance from 6-6 junior Jalen Hill to grind out its 44-36 victory over L.A. City power Westchester.
Bishop Gorman got peppered by the all-sophomore perimeter of Corona Centennial’s D.J. Davis, Jaylen Clark and Paris Dawson over the first half before turning the trick via Washington-bound Jamal Bey (37 points), sophomore Noah Taitz (19) and freshman Namon Collins (13) and prevailing, 83-69.
And Salesian came from six down at the half (FYI, there are 16-minute halves in Nevada instead of eight-minute quarters) to overwhelm Post Falls of Idaho down the stretch and prevail, 74-61.
Post Falls collected an upset of sorts in the first round Wednesday by knocking off then-unbeaten Temecula Rancho Christian of Southern California.
But some of the most impressive individual efforts turned in at Bishop Gorman Thursday came in non-Platinum contests.
In a contest also broadcast by BallIsLife via Facebook, 6-6 Julian Strawther led his Henderson (NV) Liberty squad past 6-5 Jalen Green’s Fresno San Joaquin Memorial team, 82-64, in a Select Division game.
Each is considered among the very best sophomores, nationally, and it was easy for first-time viewers to see why as Strawther dropped in 38 points to Green’s 31.
But Strawther was able to do more things, as a playmaker and defender, than did Green which is why Liberty (just 2-3 going into the game) was able to pull off a bit of an upset.
And, in an Orleans Division game played in Bishop Gorman’s “auxiliary gym” Thursday evening, Jaime Jaquez – one of the elite prospects out West in the Class of 2019 – scored 50 points but Camarillo dropped a 92-83, second-round game to Plano (TX) Prestonwood Christian.
Jaquez scored 28 in his team’s opener Wednesday.
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