SCOTTSDALE, Az. – Apparently Evan Mobley and Jaden Hardy had no intention of letting Jalen Green “one-up” them with his startling performance Thursday night.
Twenty-four hours – give or take – after Green dropped 33 points on Hillcrest Prep during Prolific Prep’s 88-71 pounding of the Phoenix-based squad at Chaparral High during a nationally televised HoopHall West contest, Mobley and Hardy did their oh-so-impressive things Friday night in the same building and event.
*The 7-foot Mobley (pictured) showed off the kind of skill that fewer than a dozen or so – maybe – athletes at that size in the world have with a basketball in their hands, leading his Temecula (CA) Rancho Christian squad to a 95-75 victory over Seattle’s Rainier Beach by way of his 16 points (via eight of 10 from the floor), 11 rebounds, six assists and five blocked shots.
Mobley, the consensus top-ranked player in the national class of 2020, and his crew will get another pop at HoopHall action Saturday when they take on New York City’s Christ the King.
*And the 6-4 Hardy continued to provide compelling evidence as to why he should be the No. 1-ranked junior in the west, helping Henderson (NV) Coronado topple Phoenix Paradise Honors, 85-62, with a 27-point effort (including five 3s, two of those beating the first- and second-quarter buzzers) to go with a couple of assists and four blocks.
Coronado and Hardy also get a second taste of HoopHall action on the event’s final day Saturday when they face another Phoenix-based squad, Shadow Mountain.
Mobley and Hardy certainly didn’t go it alone Friday, though.
Gonzaga-bound guard Dominick Harris went for a team-high 25 points, hitting eight of 10 shots (including five 3s) to go with four assists while junior forward Luke Turner chipped in with 15 points, six of those from behind the arc, for Coach Ray Barefield.
And 6-7 sophomore Jaxon Kohler (a transfer from Wasatch Academy in Utah) added 13 points – hitting four of eight from the floor and all five free throws – to go with seven rebounds, two blocks and three assists.
In other games Friday:
*Shadow Mountain got 32 points from senior forward Shemar Morrow (who only seems to have been in high school for as long as I’ve been writing about basketball) in its 76-68 defeat of Aurora (CO) Regis Jesuit;
*Santa Monica (CA) Crossroads School, behind a 20-point effort from senior forward Miles Ceballos Phoenix Pinnacle, 65-54;
*and Gilbert of Arizona rallied to trim Phoenix Sunnyslope, 59-57, via a four-minute overtime.
Saturday’s action closes with eight games split into two sessions, beginning at 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., respectively.
The second session is SOLD OUT, for those close enough to thinking about attending.
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