Burlison on Basketball

Frank Burlison | High School Basketball | College Basketball

North meets South in HoopHall West finale

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MESA, AZ – From my perspective, from six to eight boys’ basketball teams have the best opportunities to represent the North or South in the 2025 California State Open Division title game in Sacramento on March 15.

And two of those will be tipping off against one another at about 9 o’clock, MT, Saturday night in the final game of the bracketed division of the HoopHall West in the Highland High gymnasium.

Studio City Harvard-Westlake (17-1 and No. 4 in the BurlisonOnBasketball SoCal Top 30) and Concord De La Salle (14-0 and, IMO, the best team in NorCal as I write this Saturday morning) earned the spot in the finale after Friday night semifinal wins against Washington, DC, Gonzaga College Prep, and St. Louis Chaminade, respectively.

That clash isn’t the only championship game set for in or around Mesa Saturday night.

There are title matches in the 13, eight-team divisions of the first-ever Nike Tournament of Champions, with six SoCal-based programs playing in five of them.

*Redondo Union (15-2 and No. 7 in the SoCal Top 30) faces 10-3 Basha (Chandler, AZ) at 7:30, MT, at Skyline High for the Saguaro crown.

*Rancho Cucamonga (14-6 and No. 27 in SoCal) faces defending State D-II champion Oakland Tech (11-2) in the Jackrabbit bracket, 7:30, at Red Mountain High.

*Long Beach St. Anthony (8-4 and No. 22) takes on Oak Hills of Hesperia (12-4) at 6 o’clock in the Pioneer finale at Mesa High.

*La Canada St. Francis (13-4) and Tualatin of Oregon (8-2) clash for Camelback hardware at Red Mountain at 6 o’clock.

*Orange Lutheran (10-6) is a win against Henderson (NV) Liberty (5-5) in a 6 o’clock game at Mountain View away from bagging Trailblazer hardware.

*And, in their last of three “Showcase Division” games in three days Saturday at Highland, Roosevelt (17-1/No. 1 in SoCal) plays Layton Christian Academy (8-7) at 3 o’clock; St. John Bosco (16-1/No. 2) takes on Henderson (NV) Coronado (4-8) at 1:30; and Notre Dame (14-2) faces Phoenix Sandra O’Connor (10-5) at 6 o’clock.

*Harvard-Westlake – in a game that didn’t wrap up until about 10:30 Friday night at Highland – trailed Gonzaga College Prep by seven points deep into the third quarter.

The Eagles (11-2) came into the contest with just a loss to Boozer Bros-led Miami Columbus, and a No. 2 spot in the MaxPreps Top 25 on their resume.

But Coach David Rebibo’s Wolverines executed near-flawlessly on offense over the final 10 minutes or so of “game time” and contested every pass and shot while rebounding assertively in that stretch to move into the Saturday night finale with the Spartans via the 66-63 win.

On, and having 6-foot-8 senior Nikolas Khamenia (16 points, four assists and two steals) and junior guard Joe Sterling (a game-high 19 points, 14 after intermission) suited up for the Wolverines was a nice advantage, too.

Sterling recovered nicely from an off-shooting night (four of 17 from the field, missing seven of eight from behind the arc) Thursday night in the 57-54 win over previously unbeaten Gilbert (AZ) Perry by hitting seven of 13 from the field, including three of five 3s.

The “physicality” of post play in the Harvard-Westlake vs. De La Salle clash should be considerable – and then some.

The Wolverines got a superb combined 32 minutes out of juniors Dominique Bentho and Barron Linnekens (teaming for 16 points and eight rebounds, and determined defense against 6-9, 235-pound and Virginia Tech-bound  Christian Gurdak).

The Spartans will respond with seniors Braddock Kjellesvig and David Balogun, each of which goes about 6-7 and 230 pounds, and who’ve combined for 45 points and 28 rebounds in the team’s wins over Duncanville (TX) and Chaminade here.

And De La Salle Coach Marcus Schroeder  can counter Rebibo with the player that most resembles Khamenia in physical and basketball “dimensions” among California seniors.

Six-foot-seven, 210-pound Alec Blair – who committed to the University of Oklahoma to play basketball and baseball for the Sooners – might be cranking 400-foot dingers and throwing BBs from the outfield in Major League parks three or four years hence.

For now, though, he’s one of the best overall high school basketball players anywhere – and, IMO, the No. 1 senior in NorCal.

Blair is not nearly as effective a jump shooter as Khamenia is. And that isn’t surprising since Blair probably spends more time on diamonds, swinging lumber or aluminum, in the spring and summer than he does in the gym, for example, getting 500 shots up every morning and night.

He’s averaged 19 points, 6.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists here while missing all three of his attempts from behind the arc.

And file this under the “That freakin’ Frank sees everyone early, doesn’t he?” category:

In July of 2021, in Corona’s “The Draft Complex”, I watched Blair, as a skinny, 6-5 guard, running the offense for a Sacramento Magic team that had no one else taller than 6–foot, lead his team to a win over the BTI (Basketball Training Institute) 15s.

Who were some of the guys on that BTI squad?

Khamenia . . . Peyton White (Crespi) . . . Isaiah Johnson (Campbell Hall) . . . Trent MacLean (a Thousand Oaks senior playing for SoCal Academy) and Tounde Yessoufou (Santa Maria St. Joseph).

In November, Khamenia signed with Duke; White, with Nevada; Johnson, with Colorado; MacLean, with West Virginia, and Yessoufou, with Baylor.

I have no idea if any of Blair’s Magic teammates are college-bound but, hopefully, someone will read this and let me know.

*The Redondo Union-Basha final at Skyline Saturday came about by way of Basha’s win against La Mirada (72-67), and the Sea Hawks’snapping Albuquerque Volcano Vista’s 28-game win streak (69-60).

Basha, which opened the event by knocking off another Southern California-based team (Corona Centennial) Thursday night, trailed the Matadores (14-4 and No. 5 in the SoCal Top 30) by 10 points midway through the fourth quarter.

But then junior point guard Mason Magee of the Bears orchestrated as impressive a “comeback” as I’ve witnessed this season.

Magee, who missed both of his shots from the field and three of six free throws in a first half that ended with his team trailing by nine points, scored 13 points in the fourth quarter – all of those over the final 3:09.

He sliced his way into the lane for four layups in a minute and a half, the last of those putting the Bears up, 63-60, with 1:26 remaining.

Sophomore Gene Roebuck of La Mirada (hampered with foul issues nearly all game, he was “held” to 12 points while missing 11 of 16 shots) converted an “and 1!” to tie the score with a minute to go.

But Magee (pictured/he finished with 20 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and four steals), after being isolated against defender Julien Gomez near the arc on the right wing, burst to the rim for another layup while being fouled with 33.8 seconds to go.

His free throw gave the Bears a three-point edge – and then he picked off the inbound pass that was intended for Roebuck.

Four free throws by senior Drew Alexander – sandwiched around two more by Magee and a follow shot by La Mirada reserve junior Andrew Castro – closed out the scoring.

Six-four, junior DeSean Middlebrook (with six rebounds and two blocks) and freshman Kingston Montague added 17 points apiece for the Bears while Alexander scored nine of his 11 in the fourth quarter.

Gomez scored 21 points for the Matadores.

Redondo followed in the other semi against a program that – led by 6-8, University of Montana-bound Kenyon Aguino – had won consecutive New Mexico State titles, 49 of its previous 50 games and 96 of its past 100.

But the Sea Hawks forced two turnovers to take a quick 6-zip advantage and, although the Hawks were within two points at intermission and up by four early in the third quarter, were able to keep their opponents’ offense mostly out of sync via their full-court pressure and combination of half-court defenses.

The team from New Mexico was led by Aguino’s 15 points, eight rebounds and five assists, and 14 points from freshman guard Dreyden Montgomery and 12 from sophomore forward David Lunn.

The Sea Hawks – who forced 17 turnovers (six in the fourth quarter) – got 19 and 15 points from juniors S.J. Madison and Chace Holley, respectively, along with 12 from senior Hudson Mayes and 11 from sophomore Chris Sanders.

Sixteen of Madison’s points – including five jump shots, two of those behind the arc – came in the second half.

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