ONTARIO, CA – The host Colony High team joined its counterparts from Rancho Christian, Riverside Poly, Eastvale Roosevelt and Rancho Verde in going 2-0 Saturday during the Hoops by Ugland Fall High School Showcase Saturday.
*Junior guard Brenton Knapper (pictured) scored 29 points as Colony, trailing by seven points late, edged Sonora (La Habra), 70-67, in the last of 18 games played in the event.
Freshman guard added Kylan Boswell added 17 for Colony while sophomore forward Marqui Worthy led Sonora with 25 and junior guard Daniel Esparza (who scored 27 points a few hours earlier in his team’s 69-49 loss to Riverside Poly) chipped in with 16.
About seven hours earlier, senior Fred Burton’s 40-footer banked in at the buzzer to give Colony its 69-68 decision against L.A. City power Birmingham.
Boswell (20), Knapper (19) and Burton (12) combined for 51 points while brothers Elijah (21) and Corey Cofield (19) collected 40 for Birmingham.
*The nation’s top high school player, 7-foot Evan Mobley, had his usual cadre of spectacular plays as scorer, rebounder, defender and playmaker as Rancho Christian toppled Canyon of Anaheim and Phhoenix Red (a club team with some of Arizona’s best-in state players; and, yes, it’s spelled with two hhs) by eased up margins of 22 and 15 points, respectively.
The Eagles continued to look like viable candidates to be the state’s top-ranked team going into the season
Junior forward Luke Turner (a week after a strong effort at a John Lucas camp in Houston) and Gonzaga-bound guard Dominick Harris were also strong in both games.
Sitting courtside for the games were a couple of USC freshmen and future teammates of Evan Mobley’s with the Trojans, Isaiah Mobley and Ethan Anderson.
*Riverside Poly seniors Lamont Butler, Jr. (committed to San Diego State) and Evan Oliver (vastly underrated) showed why they’ll make up one of the state’s best backcourts while leading their team to its wins against Sonora and Santa Clarita Christian.
*Roosevelt (Eastvale) used a 3-point from the left wing from junior guard Godfrey Little with seven seconds remaining to edge Birmingham, 56-53, in one of the two opening games Saturday morning.
The Mustangs later toppled Fountain Valley, 60-49.
*And yet another Riverside County-based program, Rancho Verde (despite several key players), got some exceptional jump shooting from sophomore Khemanni Davis to hold off Beckman of Irvine and Gardena Serra.
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