Burlison on Basketball

Frank Burlison | High School Basketball | College Basketball

Damien High the headquarters for the best of high school hoops this week

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LAGUNA NIGUEL – Twenty members of the updated BurlisonOnBasketball Southern California Top 30 boys’ teams are among the 128 squads set to play in the 7th annual Classic at Damien, which tips off Tuesday morning and runs through Saturday evening.

Games will be played in the Athletic and Event Centers on the Damien campus in La Verne, as well as on other near-by campuses.

First-round action in the Silver, Bronze, Green, Copper, and Iron divisions begins Tuesday morning, with the Platinum, Gold, and Diamond divisions — which include 19 of the teams in the Top 30 — following Wednesday.

Notable Tuesday games in the Athletic Center include a clash between No. 30 Lynwood and L.A. Palisades at 11:30 in the morning in the Silver Division.

Lynwood, the California State Division V champion last March, starts an all-sophomore lineup led by 6-3 Jason Crowe Jr., the Maxpreps.com National Freshman of the Year last season.

Crowe scored 50 points twice in his team’s four games at the Tarkanian Classic in Las Vegas last week and is averaging 36.2 points, 5.5 assists and 4.2 steals per game.

Other games in the Athletic Center include San Gabriel Academy (the CIF SS Division 3 champion last season) against Paraclete at 2:30 in the Silver; and, in the Bronze, Las Vegas Democracy Prep (the Nevada State D-II champ last spring) and Lakewood at 5:30 and Bosco Tech (the CIF SS 5AA winner) and South of Bakersfield at 7 o’clock.

The Platinum and Gold games will be played in the respective Athletic and Event Centers, with Platinum play beginning at 10 Wednesday morning with Heritage Christian against American Fork of Utah in the Athletic Center, and West Ranch facing two-time defending Washington Large Division State champion University Place Curtis at 11 o’clock in the Event Center.

Diamond play starts at 9:30 in the morning at near-by Ramona MS when Valencia (the CIF SS 4AA and State Div. IV winner last spring) plays Rancho Verde and its San Jose State-bound guard Jermaine Washington.

A multitude of college coaches are expected to gather on the Damien campus Wednesday (the first day, post-Christmas, the NCAA permits coaches from its member schools to view games in person) and shuffle between the Athletic and Event centers all day.

Ten players from the 16 squads in the Platinum bracket signed National Letters of Intent last month, including Carter Bryant (Arizona) and Eric Freeny (UCLA) of Corona Centennial, which faces Chandler (AZ) Basha in the final game in that bracket, at 8:30.

Centennial is No. 10 in the BurlisonOnBasketball ratings, and is joined in the Platinum bracket by No. 2 St. John Bosco (vs Fresno Clovis North at 7 p.m.); No. 5 Eastvale Roosevelt (at 4 o’clock against Branson of Northern California); No. 9 La Mirada (vs. Idaho powerhouse Meridian Owyhee at 2:30); No. 12 Damien (the host Spartans take on another Arizona power, Phoenix Sunnyslope, at 5:30); No. 16 Windward vs. unbeaten Richmond Salesian at 1 o’clock; No. 19 Heritage Christian against American Fork at 10 a.m.; and No. 26 Campbell Hall vs another NorCal unbeaten, Concord De La Salle, at 11:30.

Salesian, De La Salle and Branson are No.’s 1-3 in Ronnie Flores’ CalHi Sports NorCal rankings.

Headlining the Gold Division are No. 3 St. Pius X/St. Matthias, which climbed five spots in the ratings after a Dec. 15 home win against La Mirada, and a Platinum Division championship in the Tarkanian Classic; 11-0 Etiwanda; and the 2022 Gold Division champion, San Ramon Valley.

St. Pius X/St. Matthias will be challenged by Utah’s Lone Peak (which knocked off the Warriors in Section 7 competition last June in Arizona) at 3:30, with Etiwanda and St. George (UT) Dixie at 5 o’clock and San Ramon Valley taking on Rancho Cucamonga at 8.

Wednesday wins by both squads would set up a Thursday clash at 6:30 between the Warriors and No. 13 Redondo (which opens vs. 9-1 Dublin of NorCal Wednesday at 12:30).

*Players with SOP (“Sit-out-period”) designations after transfers are set to become eligible for Tuesday and Wednesday tournament openers.

The most notable of those is junior 6-5 Brandon Benjamin (the Orange County Player of the Year last season at Canyon of Anaheim), who makes his debut with No. 7 Mater Dei in the Rancho Mirage Desert Classic against San Diego Hoover at 2 o’clock on Wednesday.

Transfers expected to make their first appearances for their new programs at the Classic at Damien include 7-foot sophomore Howard Wu (Heritage Christian to St. John Bosco); 6-10 senior Tochi Anigbogu (Centennial to Roosevelt); 6-7 senior Jedidiah Wilfred (Etiwanda to Damien); 6-10 senior Tracy Bryden (Faith Baptist to West Ranch); 6-9 junior James Bass (Kissimmee, FL, Central Pointe Christian to Campbell Hall); 6-4 junior Shane Frazier (Windward to Brentwood); and 5-9 senior Jeremy Loredo (Buena Park to Canyon).

And soon-to-be-playing newcomers that will enhance already-strong rosters include 6-8 junior Jarne Elouna Eyenga (Belgium) for No. 4 JSerra, as well as 6-3 senior Ethan Johnson (Chaminade), 6-7 junior Michael Baba (San Gabriel Academy and Alemany) and 6-6 sophomore Stephen Kankole (Crespi) for No. 8 Sierra Canyon.

 

Updated Top 30 (games of Dec. 23)

Team/Record/Previous Rating

  1. Harvard-Westlake/12-0/1

Next up: Wednesday, Les Schwab Invitational, vs. Hillsboro (OR) Liberty, 7:30 p.m.

  1. Saint John Bosco/10-1/2

Next up: Wednesday, Classic at Damien/Platinum, vs. Fresno Clovis North, 7 p.m.

  1. Saint Pius X-St. Matthias/8-1/8

Next up: Wednesday, Classic at Damien/Gold, vs. Highland (UT) Lone Peak, 3:30 p.m.

  1. JSerra/12-0/11

Next up: Wednesday, Torrey Pines Holiday Classic, vs. Torrey Pines, 12:40 p.m.

  1. Eastvale Roosevelt/12-1/3

Next up: Wednesday, Classic at Damien/Platinum, vs. Ross Branson, 4 p.m.

  1. Sherman Oaks Notre Dame/11-0/6

Next up: Wednesday, South Pasadena Tournament, vs. Sylmar, 7 p.m.

  1. Mater Dei/10-1/4

Next up: Wednesday, Rancho Mirage Tournament, vs. San Diego Hoover, 2 p.m.

  1. Sierra Canyon/10-1/7

Next up: Wednesday, Santa Barbara High Showcase, vs. Burbank Burroughs, 7 p.m.

  1. La Mirada/11-3/12

Next up: Wednesday, Classic at Damien/Platinum, vs. Meridian (ID) Owyhee, 11:30 a.m.

  1. Corona Centennial/8-6/5

Next up: Wednesday, Classic at Damien/Platinum, vs. Chandler (AZ) Basha, 8:30 p.m.

  1. Etiwanda/11-0/14

Next up:  Wednesday, Classic at Damien/Gold, vs. St. George (UT) Dixie, 5 p.m.

  1. Damien/11-1/13

Next up: Wednesday, Classic at Damien/Platinum, vs. Phoenix Sunnyslope, 5:30 p.m.

  1. Redondo Union/9-2/10

Next up: Wednesday, Classic at Damien/Gold, vs. Dublin, 12:30 p.m.

  1. Los Alamitos/10-3/15

Next up: Wednesday, Tustin Tournament, vs. Honolulu Mid-Pacific Institute, noon.

  1. Crespi/14-1/16

Next up: Wednesday, Torrey Pines Holiday Classic, vs. San Ramon Dougherty Valley, 12:40 p.m.

  1. Windward/10-2/17

Next up: Wednesday, Classic at Damien/Platinum, vs. Richmond Salesian, 1 p.m.

  1. Mira Costa/11-2/21

Next up: Wednesday, Rancho Mirage Holiday Classic, vs. Henderson (NV) Coronado, 3:30 p.m.

  1. Santa Margarita/10-3/19

Next up: Torrey Pines Holiday Classic, vs. San Jose Bishop Mitty, 2:15 p.m.

  1. Heritage Christian/9-4/18

Next up: Wednesday, Classic at Damien/Platinum, vs. American Fork (UT), 10 a.m.

  1. Rancho Cucamonga/9-3/22

Next up: Wednesday, Classic at Damien/Gold, vs. San Ramon Valley, 8 p.m.

  1. Riverside Poly/10-4/24

Next up: Wednesday, Classic at Damien/Diamond, at Ramona MS, vs. Sacramento Inderkum, 6:30 p.m.

  1. Newport Pacifica Christian/9-5/UR

Next up: Wednesday, Classic at Damien/Diamond, at Ramona MS, vs. Glendale (AZ) Ironwood.

  1. Foothill/8-4/28

Next up: Wednesday, Classic at Damien/Diamond, at Ramona MS, vs. Lehi (UT), 8 p.m.

  1. Anaheim Canyon/7-3/29

Next up: Wednesday, Classic at Damien/Diamond, at Ramona MS, vs. St. Paul, 12:30 p.m.

  1. West Ranch/7-5/23

Next up: Wednesday, Classic at Damien/Gold, vs. University Place (WA) Curtis, 11 a.m.

  1. Campbell Hall/3-8/20

Next up: Wednesday, Classic at Damien/Platinum, vs. Concord (CA) De La Salle, 11:30 a.m.

  1. Saint Bernard/4-4/9

Next up: Wednesday, Classic at Damien/Gold, vs. Larkspur (CA) Redwood, 9:30 p.m.

  1. Rancho Verde/12-1/UR

Next up: Wednesday, Classic at Damien/Diamond, at Ramona MS, vs. The L.A. Brentwood School, 9:30 a.m.

  1. Saint Anthony/9-2/27

Next up: Wednesday, Torrey Pines Holiday Classic, vs. Minden (NV) Douglas, 2:15 p.m.

  1. Lynwood/8-4/UR

Next up: Tuesday, Classic at Damien/Silver (Athletic Center), vs. L.A. Palisades, 11:30 a.m.

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