LA VERNE, Ca. – If the Sierra Canyon and Windward squads hook up in a final-day (Dec. 30) game in the fourth The Classic at Damien tournament that gets underway on Thursday, it will serve as a preview of sorts to their Gold Coast League game at Cal State Northridge on Jan. 23.
They’re on opposite sides of the 16-team Platinum Division bracket at Damien High (the division’s games will be played in the school’s Athletic Center) and an “all-Gold Coast League” platinum championship final on the evening of Dec. 30 is well within the realm of possibility.
And it would mean that, for most of the game, four of the elite players in the Class of 2022 – nationally, as well as regionally – would be on the floor at the same time.
For Sierra Canyon (which takes a 11-0 record and No. 6 national rating, courtesy Ballislife, into the tournament), its two sophomores of note are 6-foot-4 point-guard Amari Bailey and 6-5 forward Shy Odom.
Bailey was an integral part of Sierra Canyon’s CIF Southern Section and State Open Division title run last spring and appears to have become the de-facto “floor leader”, although that status might change some once Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks) transfer Ziaire Williams becomes eligible for the Trailblazers on the final day of the tournament.
And Odom (who re-located from Massachusetts after a strong spring with the Nike/EYBL BABC program) provides a rare combination of size, strength, vertical pop and basketball “feel” that he has been putting on display with increased frequently of late.
Windward (11-2) offers counterparts to Bailey and Odom in 6-3 Dylan Andrews and 6-9 Kijani Wright, each of which is already being heavily recruited by multiple high-major programs, regionally and nationally.
Bailey will be confronted by another exceptional sophomore point guard when Sierra Canyon opens the tournament at 5:30 Thursday evening against 8-0 Ribet Academy.
Barrington Hargress did much to help the Ribet “Fighting Frogs” with Southern Section and State D-IV championships last spring.
Wright’s likely first-round individual opponent has comparable size and strength, and his own evolving set of skills.
Joshua Jefferson (likely an insignificant shade smaller, at 6-7 plus, than Wright) is the top sophomore post in Nevada in large part become of admirable improvement over the course of the summer, fall and early winter for Henderson Liberty, which takes on Windward at 1 in the afternoon on Thursday.
Point guard-deluxe Skyy Clark (pictured) and Las Vegas Bishop Gorman transfer Max Allen, a 6-6ish bundle of strength, post moves and surprising shooting range, give Coach Paul Tait and Heritage Christian (11-1) a dynamic outside-inside duo that will make it a “tough out” in the Gold Division, during which it opens against Portland Westview (3-1) Thursday at 6:30 in the evening in the Event Center in the Gold Division.
When Fairfax (10-1) and St. John Bosco (10-2) have their Platinum clash (11:30 a.m. Thursday), there will be two top-flight sophomores in starting lineups, respectively, in 6-3 D.J. Dudley and 6-8 Jeremiah Nyarko.
Long Beach Poly has one of the elite juniors in the country in Peyton Watson. But his sophomore brother, 6-3 Christian Watson, is ready to burst onto the collective consciousness of a lot of college coaches and could do so with the Jackrabbits in the Platinum Division.
And two of the better sophomore guards anywhere, R.J. Smith (host Damien) and Bennie Gealer (Rolling Hills Prep) will also be playing in front of possible throngs of college coaches and members of the basketball “media”.
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