LONG BEACH – Sunday’s Pangos Best of the SoCal Fall Showcase proved another ideal “evaluation” event for a look at some of the better high school players in the region – and using it to gauge how some of the teams will look, too, in the 2022-23 season.
Five games – across the classes of 2027 (current eighth grader), ’26 (freshmen), ’25 (sophomores), ’24 (juniors) and ’25 (seniors) – were played at McBride High, which will also play host to the Pangos All-Frosh/Soph West Camp next Saturday and Sunday.
Some highlights:
*Zyier Beverly (6-foot-9, L.A. Washington), DeShawn Gory (6-7, Oak Hills), Ariik Mawien (6-4, Capistrano Valley Christian), 6-4 Antony Ivey (St. Monica), 6-7 Bowen Hammer (Fairmont Prep) and Ryan Enos (6-8, San Diego Cathedral Catholic wrapped up strong weekends with their Sunday efforts at McBride.
Each was among the standouts, too, Saturday night in Downey during the Beach City Hoops’ SoCal Clash.
Beverly scored 25 points to help the dark jerseys knock off their white counterparts, 96-83, in the final game (12th graders) of the event.
The 6-4, left-handed Mawien continued to look like one of Orange County’s best seniors at both ends of the court.
Gory (a standout at Riverside Hillcrest last season) is one of the more athletically explosive juniors in the state, and Enos is a top-three junior in San Diego County.
Hammer (a recent move-in from Utah) should be one of the top scorers in Orange County by way of his deep jump shots and resounding finishes.
And Ivey, a skilled scorer and passer, was one of four players who stood out Sunday from a St. Monica that could be one of the “surprises” in Southern California this season.
Also playing well from Coach Roy Walker’s program were senior guards Daniel Kirakosyan and Chris White Jr., and 6-5 Muhammad Kandji – well on his way to being one of Southern California’s most promising sophomores.
*Among the other senior standouts Sunday was the Bishop Montgomery trio of 6-4 Will Smith (shot very well) and the 6-9 duo of Xavier Edmonds and Will Brenner.
A late-arrival (got there just before the second half) was 6-8 Kevin Patton, a recent transfer from Arizona to Rancho Christian. Ala Beverly and Gory, he, too, spent most of the time with his hands well above the rim.
*Joining Gory and Enos among the 2024 players who had strong performances were 6-7 Kendyl Sanders (St. Bernard), 6-2 Jaden Hubbard (Mission Viejo, by way of Fairfax High) and 6-8 Noah Williams (a recent addition to the Sierra Canyon roster after an all-CIF SS sophomore season for Village Christian).
*And the sophomore class was well-represented as well (and look for a bunch of these guys to be at this Frosh/Soph Camp).
Issac Williamson of Riverside Poly had his elite jump shot on display, as well as his rapidly improving play-making and defensive cache – so much so that he was one of several 10th graders who were added to the rosters for the junior game.
Other “double-dipping” sophomores were Kandji, Tariq Bridges (St. Pius X/St. Matthias), Jeremiah Hampton (Windward), E.J. Vernon (Crossroads), E.J. Spillman (Newport Pacifica Christian), Elijah Bragg (Chula Vista Mater Dei Catholic) and Kellen Hampton (from Hayward Moreau Catholic/he’s one of the best in the class of 2025 in the northern chunk of the state).
The 6-3 Jeremiah Hampton joins Windward teammate Gavin Hightower as the two halves of one of the superb “sophomore duos” anywhere in the west for 2022-23.
Jeremiah’s brother, Jordan Hampton, was one of the players who sizzled in the eighth-grade contest that tipped things off Saturday afternoon.
Jordan Hampton scored 19 points and Jaylin Conrad added a team-high 23 in the white jerseys’ 100-72 loss to the black jerseys.
The winning squad got 26 points from Josiah Nance and 25 (including seven 3s) from Jackson Edwards.
*The freshman game is likely the biggest overlap for the Frosh/Soph Camp will be found.
The “usual suspects” – based upon their performances at a multitude of Pangos and other grassroots events the past couple of years – were on hand.
Four Corona Centennial guards, Justice Griffith, Isaiah Rogers, Jordan Askew and Izaiah Fiallos, combined for 39 points. Griffith led the way (with 17).
Griffith was the top scorer for the winning (99-84) black jerseys, with Kaiden Bailey (Crean Lutheran) added 16 and Jalen Bailes (San Diego St. Augustine) 14.
Tajh Ariza (pictured/St. Bernard) paces the white jerseys with a game-high 19 points while Jason Crowe Jr. (Lynwood) added 14.
Ariza (6-4, going on 6-8 by the time he’s a junior) is the son of Trevor Ariza (Westchester High, UCLA and a bunch of NBA stops).
There were also a couple of soon-to-be Trinity League standouts on hand in 6-8 Brannon Martinsen (Mater Dei) and 6-7 Brayden Kyman (Santa Margarita).
And two players who are working to crack the rotation of one of the top three or four high school teams for the 2022-23 – 6-8 Bryce Williams and 6-2 Amir Jones of Harvard-Westlake – also put the work they’ve put in over the past month or so on display.
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