CARLSBAD – The fifth Crème of the County was responsible for a long – and entertaining – Saturday of top-flight high school basketball at the Army-Navy Academy in this San Diego suburb.
The overwhelming major of the very best hoopsters in San Diego County – from the Classes of 2023 (current middle school eighth-graders) thru 2020 – were on hand and participated in a collective 10 games, tipping at 9 a.m. and wrapping at about 7:30 that evening.
The brainchild of Aaron Burgin – journalist/media specialist/hoops impresario – was capped with the Crème de la Crème contest, pitting players from across each of the classes and that made up the first nine contests.
The “East” squad ran over its “West” counterpart, 114-91, as Foothills Christian senior Jalai O’Keith ripped off 15 points late in the first half and finished with 24 to bag Game Most Outstanding Player in a poll of a handful of media and scouting-“types”.
If I was the sole voice in the vote, I’d have gone with San Ysidro freshman Mikey Williams, who scored 21 points for the winners and was easily the most spectacular player on hand all day with six of his nine buckets coming via nifty slams.
Junior guard A.J. Burgin (who helped lead San Diego High as sectional titles as a freshman and sophomore) nailed four well-beyond-the-arc 3s on his way to 20 points for the West.
Among the other guys in the game, for the East, were Torrey Pines senior forward Brandon Angel (who is considering signing with Utah, Wisconsin, Cal and Stanford) and standout juniors Chris Howell (formerly of San Marcos but now an Angel teammate at Torrey Pines) and Obinna Anyanwu (Cathedral Catholic).
West members, beside Burgin, included St. Augustine forward Chibuzo Abgo (a standout in the spring and summer with the Compton Magic, he plans to sign with Texas Tech in November) and O’Keith’s Foothills Christian teammate, guard Yassine Gharran. He will be a Yale freshman in 2020-21.
The most competitive of the 10 games was the Class of 2021 Crème contest, won by the West, 95-93.
Nico Meza (Foothills Christian) and Tyson Robinson (El Camino) – pictured, left to right – shared MOP honors.
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