ORANGE, Ca. – Rancho Christian High’s Evan Mobley strapped on the tool belt over the Memorial Weekend and did a nice job of reminding those who showed up at Orange Lutheran just how good a basketball player he is.
And, at the same time, he and his buddies demonstrated that the Compton Magic Elite 17s squad is in no hurry to abdicate its 2018 status as the best club on the adidas Gauntlet circuit – or anywhere else, for that matter.
Mobley led the squad to eight wins in as many games in that event that began Friday night, wrapping up things Monday afternoon with a gritty 53-48 over a gifted Dream Vision NEXT club that has a roster chock-full of top-notch players from the Class of 2021.
Mobley finished with 17 points, seven rebounds, three blocked shots an two assists in the BattleZONE final, not quite a couple of hours after he and his teammates pulled away in the second half for a 68-50 decision against a game BTI squad that had toppled Compton Magic-Premier and Las Vegas Team Uneek Sunday evening in Round of 16 and quarterfinal contests.
Six-foot-six Dalen Terry (Phoenix Hillcrest Academy) and 6-5 Jaylen Clark (expected to transfer from Corona Centennial to Etiwanda) were also very good Monday at both ends of the floor for the Magic, as was underrated guard Darryl Jackson (Etiwanda).
But the DV-NEXT squad never folded, largely because a (for the most part) stout half-court defense and the play of juniors-to-be Obinna Anyanwu (a first-team, all-San Diego Section selection at Cathedral Catholic) and Las Vegas guards Will McClendon (Bishop Gorman) and Frankie Collins (a two-year standout at Clark who is transferring to a prep school-program in Arizona for his junior year).
Collins was his team’s best all-around player while going 7-1 (including a win in the final of the eight-team “16U Battle Cup” that was played Friday night and Saturday before joining 17U BattleZone competition Saturday evening.
He scored his team’s final five points, including a catch-and-shoot 3 from the left with that put DV-NEXT up with 32 seconds remaining, in its 56-53 semifinal win over Team Harden (Arizona) earlier Sunday afternoon.
Mobley & Co.’s most impressive victory – in terms of start-to-finish performance relative to the quality of opponent – was its 68-48 beat-down of Dream Vision’s “top squad” Saturday afternoon in the “Battle Cup Boost” 17U final.
Dream Vision was 8-0 in the Irvine and Dallas stops of the spring adidas Gauntlet while the Compton Magic Elite squad dropped a couple of games in that same stretch, and then doing a bit of re-tooling with the loss of Johnny Juzang after he moved into the Class of 2019 and shortly after signed with the University of Kentucky.
But the defending champions snatched back the favorite’s role over the weekend by way of their 8-0 performance and Dream Vision’s top squad’s loss Saturday and stunning upset loss to Team Harden in the Round of 16 Saturday evening.
The Magic and Dream Vision (both of its squads) could hook up again during the adidas Summer Championships (July 11-14, Hoover in Alabama) and/or in the adidas Gauntlet Gold Finale (the following week in Ladera Ranch in Orange County).
Mobley may not be with his Magic teammates in Alabama – or, at least, if he is, he could be suffering from a serious jet lag.
He’s one of 13 players from the Class of 2020 invited to the June 15-18 trials in Colorado Springs for the USA U19 team that will play in the World Championships in Greece (June 29-July 7).
As the consensus choice as the No. 1 prospect in the national Class of 2020, it would be a considerable upset if he isn’t one of the 12 players bound for Greece.
“I’m looking forward to it (the trials),” Mobley – schedule to play in the Pangos All-American Camp at Cerritos College in Norwalk this weekend – said after Monday afternoon after his team had run its eight-game Memorial Weekend table.
“It’s a good opportunity to play against a lot of guys who’ve already had a year in college or will be in college this coming season. It could only help me get better and prepare for my senior season (at Rancho Christian) and for college.”
Winning the other BattleZONE titles Monday afternoon:
In the 16U division, Team Lillard (41-40 over Gamepoint) and, in the 15s, Dream Vision (55-54 over L.A. Elite-Premier).
Caden Flowers (a Class of 2021 guard from Capital Christian in Sacramento) scored on a driving layup – despite what seemed to a solid attempt by A.J. Burgin (San Diego High) to take a charge – with three seconds to go for the Team Lillard victory.
And two of the better Class of 2022 “posts” anywhere in the west – and beyond – in Joshua Jefferson (Henderson, NV, Liberty) and Jeremiah Nyarko (Bellflower St. John Bosco) led Dream Vision past L.A. Elite Premier in the 15U division.
It didn’t come as easy as it did in the team’s previous six wins, though, and that’s because guard Tajavis Miller (Servite in Anaheim) was un-guardable, hitting six of eight shots from behind arc while scoring 31 points.
Leave a Reply