WESTMINSTER and LONG BEACH, Ca. – For those who are vested in knowing who the best of the high school basketball teams and players in Southern California are – you should have no problem identifying at least one of those – Sunday was quite the profitable day.
The day — for yours truly, at least – began late Sunday morning at Westminster High, where I watched parts of five games during the final day of the Compton Magic’s The League.
It wrapped up about eight hours later at McBride High in Long Beach, where I watched three quality matchups during the first-ever Pangos’ Lute Olson Legacy Classic.
Some of what I watched during those eight-or-so hours:
*St. John Bosco missed out last season but appears well-equipped in a return to return to the CIF Southern Section’s Open Division playoff bracket in 2023.
With their core of sophomores Elzie Harrington and Kade Bonam, junior Jack Turner and 6-foot-9 senior transfer Xinyi Le, the Braves were sharp and dominant during their 68-54 victory over a quality Newport Pacifica Christian team in the opener at McBride.
The 6-5 Harrington, who missed nearly the final two months of his freshman season and much of the spring and summer grassroots activity, looked every bit the part of one of the elite guards in the regional and national classes of 2025 Sunday.
Harrington (pictured dunking with Pacifica Christian standout guard Parker Strauss looking on), scored a game-high 18 points – hitting eight of 13 from the field, with his final two buckets being 3s) to go with six assists and four rebounds.
It was a bit too casual and/or careless on some of his passes (six turnovers) but he will, no doubt, tighten that up the time the regular season begins in a couple of weeks.
The 6-7 Bonam had an efficient (seven of 10 shooting) 17 points to go with six rebounds and three blocked shots.
Turner recently committed to Loyola-Chicago and was often pitted against Northwestern-bound Strauss is a cool matchup.
Turner added 17 points (seven of 10 shoots) and was as solid in his shot selection and dribble decisions as I’ve seen him.
Li added 10 points inside the lane to go with eight rebounds.
Pacifica Christian played earlier at Westminster and led by as many as 17 points before knocking off a quality opponent from the L.A. City ranks, Fairfax, 68-59.
The quality shots they got in Orange County didn’t come quite as easily against the SJB defense though, as Strauss and top-flight sophomores E.J. Spillman were limited to 13 and 12 points, respectively.
*The most compelling of the games I saw at Westminster, though, was the clash between defending CIF Southern Section Division I champion St. Bernard and L.A. City Section member Narbonne.
St. Bernard, with its terrific Tyler Rolison-led backcourt, led by as many as 17 points in the first half before hanging on to win, 81-76.
As good as Rolison was (and he was, as is usually the case, superb with his dynamic dribble, penetration, scoring and passing skill), the best player in the game – and the best player, by quite a bit, I saw all day was Narbonne’s 6-7 Marcus Adams.
Adams, who played as a freshman and sophomore and junior at Narbonne before spending the 2021-22 academic at AOSS Prep in Corona, scored 35 points to go with 10 rebounds and four assists in the loss.
I’m not sure there is a better offensive player on the high school level anywhere in the west – and, maybe, a whole lot of distance east, too.
* In the final two games at McBride, St. Bernard – against leading by as many as 17 points in the first half – needed a frantic rally and a right-corner 3 by senior guard Raymond King to put things into overtime before the Vikings knocked off San Diego San Ysidro, 108-103.
San Ysidro was without social media superstar Mikey Williams (he was a no-show at Westminster, too) but still had enough offensive skill to lead by as many as nine points late against the Vikings.
The 6-1 Rolison scored 28 points – all but three of those after intermission – while 6-7 junior Kendyl Sanders added 15 and 6-1 sophomore Caleb Versher added 17.
Six-five freshman Tajh Ariza, with dad/former NBA player Trevor Ariza looking on, chipped in with 11 points.
Senior Gerardo Guerrero (31) and freshman Ty Ingram (29) combined for 60 points for the team that is expected to be defending Open Division champion St. Augustine’s biggest competition in the San Diego Section.
In the final game at McBride, Southern California Academy – led by Providence-bound Drew Felder and Garwey Dual – held off a much-younger and smaller Crean Lutheran team, 70-59.
The 6-5 Dual scored 16 points while the 6-9 Felder added 15.
Six-two freshman Kaiden Bailey led the Saints with 27 points.
I don’t think the title of your article matches the content lol. Just kidding, mainly because I had some doubts after reading the article.