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NORWALK – The Bishop Gorman High squad found itself in quite a predicament early in the second half – trailing by 15 points and facing the best big man in the country – Sunday afternoon at Cerritos College in the championship game of the 6^th Ron Massey Fall Hoops Classic.

Not to worry, though.

Coach Grant Rice’s Gaels got a superb 12 or so final minutes from their terrific backcourt – notably junior point guard Zaon Collins (pictured) – to board the charter bus north for Las Vegas afterward with title hardware following their 78-72 victory over the Evan Mobley-led Rancho Christian Eagles.

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NORWALK – Junior Jaden Hardy scored an evening-high 36 points, including two free throws with 12.7 seconds to go, as Henderson (NV) Coronado rallied from an 11-point, second-half deficit to knock off Mater Dei, 73-72, Saturday night in the last of the four Ron Massey Memorial Fall Hoops Classic quarterfinals at Cerritos College.

Coronado will take on Rancho Christian at 11:20 a.m. Sunday, on Court 2, in the second Challenge of Champions Bracket championship semifinal.

In the first semi, set to tip at 10:10, Bishop Montgomery plays Las Vegas Bishop Gorman.

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LONG BEACH, Ca. – Saturday’s Pangos Best of SoCal Fall Showcase, held at the Assumption Greek Orthodox Church gymnasium, was an eight-game affair featuring many of the best high school hoopsters in the region across all four classes.

And the event offered a bit of a preview of what to expect from a few middle schoolers when they matriculate to high schools.

The Top 20 seniors contest was the last contest of the evening and it was a whopper.

Judah Brown (pictured), a quick- and big-jumping forward at Pacifica Christian (in Newport) who plans to sign a National Letter of Intent with Coach Randy Bennett’s Saint Mary’s program in November, scored 34 points and blocked a half-dozen or so shots to lead the team wearing the dark jerseys to a 109-105 overtime victory over the white jerseys.

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  CARLSBAD – The fifth Crème of the County was responsible for a long – and entertaining – Saturday of top-flight high school basketball at the Army-Navy Academy in this San Diego suburb.

   The overwhelming major of the very best hoopsters in San Diego County – from the Classes of 2023 (current middle school eighth-graders) thru 2020 – were on hand and participated in a collective 10 games, tipping at 9 a.m. and wrapping at about 7:30 that evening.

   The brainchild of Aaron Burgin – journalist/media specialist/hoops impresario – was capped with the Crème de la Crème contest, pitting players from across each of the classes and that made up the first nine contests.

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NORWALK – The second Pangos/Kenny Smith League Guard Camp, held Sunday afternoon at Cerritos College, may have attracted only 17 high school players.

But the cumulative quality of those players, and the fact that the three or so hours of instruction, drills and scrimmaging were led by Emmy winning broadcaster Kenny Smith – an NBA point guard for 10 seasons – justified the “less is more” tag for the event.

Although the emphasis was on “guard skills” – notably ball-handling, passing and decision making – the 17 players weren’t limited to just “guards”, per se.

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