The head-to-head battles should sizzle at Section 7

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GLENDALE, AZ – One hundred and sixty high school basketball teams – and eight from the prep school ranks – will hit the court on Friday when the 5^th Section 7 Boys’ Weekend tips off.

Specially, they will hit 12 courts spread across the floor of the home of the NFL Cardinals, the State Farm Stadium, setting the stage for nearly, non-stop action – with, usually, a dozen options – from 10:45 Friday morning until Sunday evening.

Hundreds of coaches from colleges, coast to coast, will be on hand to evaluate prospects from the classes of 2025, ’26, ’27 and even ’28 – freshmen-to-be.

High school and prep school programs from 15 states will be represented but the event –again – will have a pronounced California flavor.

Harvard-Westlake (winner of the past two State Open championships), Roosevelt (No. 2 in the final state ratings last March) and St. John Bosco (the State D-I champion) head a collection of 60 Cali teams that will converge on the stadium.

Roosevelt (located in the Riverside County city of Eastvale), led by the terrific trio of Brayden Burries, Issac Williamson and Myles Walker, is expected to be the biggest threat to the Wolverines’ hopes of a third consecutive state title.

But they’re in different 16-team divisions this weekend, with Harvard-Westlake sitting atop the NFHS (National Federal of High Schools) City of Glendale bracket and the Mustangs leading the NFHS Legacy Foundation field.

St. John Bosco, scheduled to return three starters and several key reserves from its 28-7 season, should go into the ’24-25 season ranked No. 3 in the state.

But the Braves, who are in the bottom portion of the City of Glendale bracket, will be without one of the top players in the country while 6-foot-5 Brandon McCoy Jr. competes with the USA 17U squad in Istanbul.

Also short-handed, via the USA 17U event, will be three-time Arizona State champion Perry of Gilbert. Six-eight, senior-to-be Koa Peat – on track to have the greatest prep career in the state’s history – is also on the USA squad.

Perry is in the City of Glendale field, and will open with Idaho’s defending state champion, Owyhee of Meridian, at noon on Court 9.

Unless you’ve already purchased tickets, your best viewing option for the Section 7 competition will be via the BallerTV app. All seating for the weekend has been sold out.

You can get updated results and schedules via the ABCA app.

Here’s a look at some of the most compelling of the Friday matchups, each of which  is expected to attract a large collection of college recruiters:

*The Battles of the Centers: Four “big men” in the 6-10 to 7-foot range, will go head-to-head Friday.

Seven-foot, 260-pound Nate Garcia (a first-team, all-SoCal selection last season) of La Verne (CA) Damien will face 6-10, 255 Tee Bartlett of Henderson (NV) Coronado at 5 o’clock, on Court 4, in a City of Glendale game.

At 3:45, on Court 5 in a Coco5 Division game, one of the best western-based centers in the Class of 2026, Jamyn Sondrup (Springville, UT), will be challenged by the best shot blocker in the national Class of 2025, 7-1 Xavion Staton (las Vegas Sierra Vista).

*Harvard-Westlake opens at 3:45 (Court 4) against Timpview of Provo, which has the best collection of prospects on any high school program in Utah.

That clash could see a lot of head-up-action between the Wolverines’ 6-8 Nikolas Khamenia (a top 15, at worst, prospect in the National Class of 2025) and Timpview’s likewise multi-skilled (and same-sized) junior-to-be, Dean Rueckert.

*Santa Maria (CA) St. Joseph plays Gilbert (AZ) Millennium at 7:30, on Court 9, in a Legacy Foundation clash.

The biggest hook to that one? It’s the likely face-off between one of the west’s most heavily recruited prospects in the Class of 2025, 6-6 Tounde Yessoufou, and one of the best prospects in a strong Arizona Class of 2026, 6-6 Caleb Holmes.

*Sierra Canyon ­ – one of six programs, including Harvard-Westlake and Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, from SoCal’s powerhouse Mission League participating here – plays Phoenix St. Mary’s in a 6:15, Legacy Foundation tilt on Court 4.

Coach Andre Chevalier’s Trailblazers return 6-6 Bryce Cofield and 6-5 Bryce James and has picked up notable transfers in 6-7 forwards Kade Bonam and Chris Nwuli.

St. Mary’s returns 6-7 senior-to-be Caspian Jones and features one of the top 2026 prospects in the west in 6-10 Cameron Williams.

*St. John Bosco may be missing McCoy this weekend. But Coach Matt Dunn will have no shortage of backcourt skill available via seniors-to-be Elzie Harrington (pictured/scheduled to play in this event for the fourth time, he committed to Harvard last week) and Chris Komin, as well as junior-to-be Gavin Dean-Moss.

The Braves’ 3:45 (Court 9, City of Glendale) opponent, Rainier Beach, has a gifted backcourt of its own, via 6-5 Kaden Powers and Auburn (WA) transfer Jaylen Petty.