LAGUNA NIGUEL – Some of Southern California’s best high school basketball teams will be in Las Vegas and Hawaii this week, with potential semifinal showdowns involving four of them during high-profile tournaments.
*Rancho Christian(No. 2 in the BurlisonOnBasketball Southern California Top 25) is joined by Chino Hills (No. 10) and Orange Lutheran (No. 17) in the Platinum Division of the Tarkanian Classic, which tips off Wednesday in the Orleans Hotel Arena and continues over the next three days at Bishop Gorman High.
Rancho Christian and Chino Hills are in the upper bracket of the division, and could meet in a Friday night semifinal at Bishop Gorman.
If so, it wouldbe a rematch of a Battle Zone Classic (at Corona Centennial) played on Nov. 30 and won by Rancho Christian, 72-67.
The squads could meet a third time in the third round of the Platinum Division of the Classic at Damien on Dec. 28.
Orange Lutheran, located in the lower bracket, faces Little Rock (AR) Hall Wednesday at 11 a.m.
Rancho Christian takes on Philadelphia Constitution at 5 p.m., with Chino Hills facing Ft. Lauderdale (FL) Dillard at 8 o’clock in the last game played Wednesday.
If Chino Hills and Federal Way of Washington (which opens with Oakland Bishop O’Dowd Wednesday) win their first games, it would set up a dazzling Thursday match-up between two of the best “big” players in the national class of 2019 in Onyeka Okongwu of Chino Hills and Jaden McDaniels of Federal Way.
Okongwu (PICTURED), who signed with USC last month and was the California Player of the Year as a junior, scored 22 points, with 20 rebounds, five blocked shots and four assists in his team’s win over San Diego Mission Bay Saturday night.
*Sierra Canyon (No. 1) and Westchester (No. 4) are part of the top division of the Iolani PrepClassic in Hawaii and, if each wins its first two games, would hook up a championship semifinal Friday night.
*Looking a week ahead, the third Classic at Damien tips off on Dec. 26 and concludes three nights later.
Thirteen teams in the BurlisonOnBasketball Top 25 (and 11 of the top 16) are part of the 16-team Platinum Division while two more will compete in the Gold Division.
Here’s the updated BurlisonOnBasketball Top 25:
(With CIF section and record, thru games of Dec. 15)
- Chatsworth Sierra Canyon (Southern Section/9-0)
- Temecula Rancho Christian (SS/8-0)
- Fairfax (L.A. City/10-0)
- Westchester (LAC/6-0)
- Torrance Bishop Montgomery (SS/7-2)
- Corona Centennial (SS/7-2)
- Etiwanda (SS/10-1)
- Santa Ana Mater Dei (SS/10-1)
- Bellflower St. John Bosco (SS/11-0)
- Chino Hills (SS/4-1)
- La Verne Damien (SS/10-1)
- Sherman Oaks Notre Dame (SS/8-4)
- RSM SantaMargarita (SS/10-3)
- Riverside Notre Dame (SS/7-4)
- Studio City Harvard-Westlake (SS/8-2)
- Moreno Valley Rancho Verde (SS/8-3)
- Orange Lutheran (SS/10-2)
- St. Augustine (San Diego/9-1)
- Loyola (SS/10-4)
- Washington Prep (LAC/8-4)
- Long Beach Poly (SS/5-3)
- Woodland Hills Taft (LAC/5-1)
- Riverside Poly (SS/9-3)
- Camarillo (SS/10-2)
- Woodland Hills El Camino Real (LAC/6-2)
New: El Camino Real, Loyola
Dropped: Mission Bay (SDS/3-4), Torrey Pines (SDS/10-2)
Oh-So-Close: Brentwood (SS/12-1), Windward (SS/10-2)
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