Burlison on Basketball

Frank Burlison | High School Basketball | College Basketball

All the Young Hoops Dudes congregate at SFS this weekend

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GLENDALE, AZ — The largest collection of the top boys’ high school teams and players in the west — and beyond — gathers in the annual Section 7 Basketball Tournament this weekend in the State Farm Stadium, home to the NFL’s Phoenix Cardinals.

The stadium’s playing field has been modified to fit 12 regulation-sized courts, where games in nine 16-team divisions and one 12-team bracket tip on Friday at noon.

The action is set to conclude with each of those 10 championship games — and the other teams get one last game, too — that are scheduled to begin at 8 o’clock Sunday morning.

The event, founded and run by a tireless group of members of the Arizona Basketball Coaches’ Association, expanded to hold a girls’ Section 7.

That proved a highly successful debut, with most of the top programs in the west playing in front of coaches from approximately 150 NCAA Division I-affiliated members’ staffs.

Ninety-six Arizona-based programs, in 12, eight-team brackets, began play Wednesday in a two-day “qualifying” competition.

The winners of those championship games (which begin Thursday morning in SFS at 9:05,  will be dropped into some of the 10 brackets for the weekend competition.

The majority of all west-based college programs — and most of the nation’s NCAA Division I powerhouse programs — are expected to have representatives among the 400 or more coaches in the SFG this weekend.

And they’ll be able to watch some of the better prospects — regionally and nationally — in what most college coaches I know deem the most ideal of “evaluation settings”: Playing with their high school teams instead of, say, on the club or camp circuits.

The weekend’s 10-bracket field is generously sprinkled with the likes of 2023 state champions Perry (Arizona), Hillcrest (Idaho), Curtis (Washington), Utah (Corner Canyon) and California’s Open (Harvard-Westlake), D-I (Notre Dame), D-II (San Joaquin Memorial) and D-V (Lynwood) title-winners.

And teams from Miami (Columbus), New Orleans (Newman) and the Minneapolis area (Brooklyn Park Center) are among those enhancing the national feel of the competition.

Columbus — 26-4 and Florida’s 7A champion in March — is led by the Class of 2025 duo of Cameron and Cayden Boozer, the twin sons of former Duke and NBA forward Carlos Boozer.

Not only was the 6-foot-8 Cameron Boozer the choice of MaxPreps as its national “sophomore of the year”, but he was also the Internet’s site’s overall player of the year.

  The Explorers lost to Harvard-Westlake in a Powerade Bracket semifinal here a year ago (hindsight showed that it wasn’t quite the upset it was seen as at the time).

Columbus and the Wolverines (who return three starters from their 33-2, first-ever State Open title squad) are in the opposite sides of the Powerade bracket so could get a “rematch”, of sorts, in a possible 11:45 title clash on Sunday morning.

Perry is led by a consensus Top 3 player in the Class of 2025 (along with Cameron Boozer and Cooper Flagg of New Hampshire by way of Montverde in Florida) in 6-8 Koa Peat.

Peat is deep onto the path of being the “best-ever” high school hooper in the state — in a field that includes the likes of Lafayette Lever, Mike Bibby and Richardson Jefferson.

He’s led Perry to 55 wins and consecutive state titles.

But a first-ever, clash between Peat’s and the Boozer Bros’ high school teams won’t take place this weekend since Perry is in the Slam Bracket.

OK, onto my choices for game-by-game viewing options Friday:

 

 

Noon

Slam Bracket

Court 4

New Orleans Newman vs. Gilbert (AZ) Perry

Why this is the call: Peat & Co. draw a team that returns most of its better players during a 40-6 (a lot of games, eh?), Louisiana State III championship run.

 

If you want to catch a different second half . . .

Powerade Bracket

Court 9

San Francisco Riordan vs. Phoenix Sunnyslope

Riordan has enough in place to represent the North in the 2024 State Open final. Sunnyslope is among the teams that will try to dethrone Perry.

 

1:15

Powerade Bracket

Court 9

Richmond (CA) Salesian vs. Orlando Oak Ridge

Why this is the call: Another candidate to finish atop its NorCal comp, Salesian was unbeaten (including wins over Roosevelt and Harvard-Westlake) in last week’s first-ever Cali Live in Orange County.

 

If you want to catch a different second half . . .

Slam Bracket

Court 4

Santa Maria (CA) St. Joseph vs. Goodyear (AZ) Millennium

St. Joseph is led by one of the more compelling prospects — in any class — in the event by way of 6-6 Tounde Yessoufou, California’s Freshman and Sophomore of the year after the past two seasons.

 

2:30

Arizona Sports Commission Bracket

Court 7

San Jose (CA) Archbishop Mitty vs. Anthem (AZ) Boulder Creek

Why this is the call: Mitty was 4-zip in its Cali Live bracket last weekend while led by two exceptional seniors-to-be in guard Tyler Jones and forward Gavin Hipp.

 

If you want to catch a different second half . . .

Powerade Bracket

Court 9

Santa Ana (CA) Mater Dei vs. Sammamish (WA) Eastside Catholic

The Monarchs, with four returning starters (including 6-8 Brannon Martinsen) from a CIF Southern Section D 1 title run, added 6-5 Brandon Benjamin — the Orange County Player of the Year last season at Canyon in Anaheim. Eastside Catholic has one of the top posts in the Pacific Northwest in 6-9 Jacob Cofie, in his third Section 7 appearance.

 

3:45

Powerade Bracket

Court 9

Corona (CA) Centennial vs. Draper (UT) Corner Canyon

Why this is the call: The Huskies return just one starter from the team that won the Powerade Bracket a year ago but he’s a dandy: 6-4 Eric Freeny (recruited by many of the upper-tier programs in the west). And he’s been joined by 6-8 transfer Carter Bryant, who’s already committed to the University and is the No. 1 prospect in California’s Class of 2024. The lads from Utah will try to counter Freeny and Bryant with 6-6 Taylor Feroah and  6-7 Brody Kozlowski, respectively.

 

If you want to catch a different second half . . .

Slam Bracket

Court 4

            Sherman Oaks (CA) Notre Dame vs. American Fork (UT)

Each of these teams are led by a guard that is among the upper tier in the Class of 2024: 6-3 Mercy Miller and 6-4 Tiger Cuff, respectively. Miller was a Top 10 player at the Pangos All-American Camp earlier this month. And Notre Dame is familiar with Cuff: He hit seven 3s against the Knights in a Classic at Damien game in Southern California last December.

 

5

Powerade Bracket

Court 5

Fresno (CA) Clovis North vs. Brooklyn Park (MN) Park Center

Why this is the call: Clovis North is led by, IMO, the best “sub-six-footer” on display this weekend. Connor Amundsen (who missed all his junior season following early-winter surgery on both shoulders) averaged 26.5 ppg last weekend at the Cali Live, including 23 and 33 in losses to Harvard-Westlake and Windward, respectively.

 

If you want to catch a different second half . . .

Slam Bracket

Court 4

Scottsdale (AZ) Desert Mountain vs. Northridge (CA) Heritage Christian

Another set of twins from a former NBA player (Class of 2026 guards Kaden and Kalek House, sons of Eddie House) lead Desert Mountain. The team from the San Fernando Valley has a couple of junior-to-be forwards, Tae Simmons, and Dillan Shaw, who had nifty Cali Live weekends.

 

 

6:15

Arizona Sports Commission Bracket

Court 7

North Hollywood (CA) Campbell Hall vs. Idaho Falls Hillcrest

Why this is the call: Former Centennial (in Arizona) Coach David Grace was hired by a Campbell Hall program that returns four talented veterans (notably 5-8 junior-to-be Isaiah Johnson) and is expected to have Sierra Canyon transfer Bryce James — son of you-know-who — in the mix this weekend. Hillcrest was 25-1 last season and is led by 6-7, 240-pound Isaiah Davis.

 

If you want to catch a different second half . . .

Slam Bracket

Court 4

Eastvale (CA) Roosevelt vs. Henderson (NV) Coronado

Roosevelt returns just one starter (6-3 Darnez Slater, who is getting a lot of recruiting attention) but is considered a likely 2024 CIF SS Open team because of a group of four transfers. The most notable of those is Brayden Burries, IMO, one of the Top 5 in the west Class of 2025. Coronado is expected to have the most talented roster, in and around Las Vegas, in the fall.

 

7:30

Slam Bracket

Court 4

Bellflower (CA) St. John Bosco vs. Meridian (ID) Owyhee

Why this is the call: The Braves return four starters (including 2025 standouts Elzie Harrington and Kade Bonam) plus one of the best 2026 prospects anywhere in 6-4 Brandon McCoy. Owyhee has one of the better guards in the west (6-5 Liam Campbell) and quality transfers from Idaho (sophomore point guard Logan Haustveit) and Oregon (6-5 junior Boden Howell), respectively.

 

If you want to catch a different second half . . .

Powerade Bracket

Court 9

Studio City (CA) Harvard-Westlake vs. Chandler (AZ) Basha

Coach David Rebibo’s HW teams returns three of the better players anywhere (seniors-to-be Robert Hinton and Trent Perry, and a Top 5 Class of 2025 western player in Nik Khamenia). Basha has one of the better groups of underclassmen anywhere in the region.

 

8:45

Arizona Sports Commission Bracket

Court 5

La Verne (CA) Damien vs. Las Vegas Arbor View

Why this is the call: Damien has a plethora of quality jump shooters surrounding one of the west’s top centers (6-11, 250-pound junior-to-be Nate Garcia). Arbor View picked up 6-7, 230-pound Pharoah Compton from Arizona’s Compass Prep (he’s originally from Las Vegas).

 

If you want to catch a different second half . . .

Financial Solutions Bracket

Court 6

La Mirada (CA) vs. Henderson (NV) Liberty

La Mirada is led by 6-2, crafty left hander Julien Gomez (twice an all-CIF selection) while Liberty start’s the “post Dedan Thomas Jr. Era” while being led by his sibling, sophomore-to-be Tyus Thomas.

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