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Frank Burlison | High School Basketball | College Basketball

NorCal + 2 on display at Dublin High Saturday

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DUBLIN – If you’re in the market for “one-stop shopping” for an early-season look at some of the best that Northern California has to offer in boys’ high school basketball, there is only one option:

Gerry Freitas’ 17th NorCal Tip-Off Classic, set for Saturday, has a nine-game field spread across approximately 14 hours in the Dublin High gymnasium.

And, as a bonus, two of Southern California’s top teams, Redondo Union (No. 7 in the BurlisonOnBasketball preseason Top 70) and Crespi (No. 16), are also among the 18 squads on display during the post-Thanksgiving Festival of high-level hoops.

Not only are there 18 terrific teams to watch but plenty of future college players will also be on display: Eleven of the athletes in the event have already committed to NCAA Division I programs.

Bring your coffee to stifle the yawns early-morning yawns – action tips at 8 a.m., with Concord’s Ygnacio Valley (26-9 last season) vs. Branson of Ross (23-8).

And the final game is set to get underway at 8:30 p.m., when Hayward’s Moreau Catholic (21-8) takes on Modesto Christian (28-6).

In a chilly gym – yes, it will be “cool”, literally and figuratively in the building that early in the a.m. – the outcome of the Ygnacio Valley vs. Branson game could down to the play the teams’ point guards.

And each has one of the best in the state, Ygnacio Valley in senior Antonio Kellogg and Branson in sophomore N.J. Gray.

And the Moreau Catholic-Modesto Christian finale features veteran rosters, the former led by 6-foot-7, University of Pacific-bound Kellen Hampton (who returned “home” after spending last season at SoCal Academy), and the latter by 6-2 junior Myles Jones (already
“committed” to Stanford).

In between? There seven games’ worth of battles between programs with legit league, sectional, regional and – yes – even state title aspirations.

*San Francisco St. Ignatius (21-8) vs. Fairfield Vanden (24-9), 9:30 a.m.: The S.I. Wildcats return multiple key players, notably 6-2 Raymond Whitley, one of the better juniors in the Bay Area, while adding another gifted junior in 6-7 Ty Landers (transfer from Branson). Vanden Coach Michael Holloway has a strong junior class that includes James Carraway and Nate Hibbert.

*Santa Rosa Cardinal Newman (26-4) vs. Santa Cruz (27-7), 11: Santa Cruz returns a solid foundation of players from the squad that lost to Bishop Alemany in the State D-III title game in Sacramento, including another upper-tier junior in 6-6 Demarco Hunter, who averaged 15.6 points and 6.9 rebounds. And Newman returns its entire starting lineup, including seniors Mahdi Camara, Diego Flores Gonzalez and Tatum Kurpinsky.

*Concord Clayton Valley (23-10) vs. Stockton Weston Ranch (26-4), 12:30 p.m.: Clayton Valley’s three returning starters are paced by one of the west’s top point guards, Elijah Perryman (bound for Utah State). Weston Ranch has a new head coach (Eddie Menzel) and returns a strong, 6-4 senior in Darrion Lilly as its only ’23-24 starter back.

*Danville San Ramon Valley (29-8) vs. Stockton Lincoln (26-7), 2: SRV has four key players back (seniors Luke Issak, and Elliot and Thomas Conley, and Mason Thomas) from the squad that lost to St. John Bosco in the State D-I finale in Sacramento. And this could prove to be a better team. Lincoln also has the bulk of its ’23-24 firepower back, led by Weber State-bound Anthony Moore.

*Dublin (24-10) vs. Sacramento Destiny Christian Academy (23-9), 3:30: The hosts have a lot of veterans in their rotation, including 6-7 junior Cameron Anderson. Destiny Christian (formerly Capital Christian) could be the best team in Sacramento, with 6-3, all-purpose guard Jaylen Valdez leading the way.

*Redondo Union (25-6) vs. Folsom (17-12), 5:15: Coach Reggie Morris, Jr., returns all but one key contributor from last season, with senior Hudson Mayes (Central Michigan) and junior S.J. Madison keys to a potential CIF SS Open Division spot. Folsom has its own college-bound senior in 6-5 Chase Rawlins (UC Davis).

*Concord De La Salle (25-6) vs. Encino Crespi (24-8), 7: This could prove to be the event’s top matchup, with two of the top teams in the state led by college-bound forwards in Alec Blair (De La Salle/to Oklahoma/pictured) and Peyton White (Crespi/to Nevada). Their head-up battle should be physical and relentless. Crespi is coached by former Lakers guard Derek Fisher, and has sophomore twins Carter and Isaiah Barnes, the sons of former NBA forward Matt Barnes.

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