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LAGUNA NIGUEL, Ca. – The first 2015 CIF Southern Section Open Division playoff game doesn’t tip off until Thursday night at 7 o’clock.

But here is a first look at what the field might look 12 months from now.

One note: If Ethan Thompson returns to Bishop Montgomery for his junior season (instead of possibly re-locating with his family to Corvallis, where his father is an assistant coach at Oregon State), then certainly the Knights will be strongly in the hunt for a return to the Open Division.

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SANTA ANA, Ca. – To beat a Mater Dei High basketball team, especially within the walls of the program’s snazzy Meruelo Athletic Center, an opponent is best advised to bring its “A game” – and then some.

The L.A. Fairfax Lions brought a 25-0 record into the building for the end of a nine-game Saturday schedule of the 20^th Nike Extravaganza.

But Coach Harvey Kitani’s club was well short of “acing” its performance against the Monarchs – most especially on the offensive end of the floor.

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SANTA ANA, Ca. – It was touted as one of the most intriguing of matchups among the 12 boys’ hoops games set to be played over the two-day, 20^th Nike Extravaganza at Mater Dei High.

And the Friday night clash between Mouth of Wilson (VA) Oak Hill Academy and Chatsworth (CA) Sierra Canyon certainly handled all of those expectations quite well, thank you very much.

Oak Hill (27-0, with one of those victories coming as a forfeit by Memphis Hamilton for use of an ineligible player) seemed on the verge of pulling away from its Southern California opponent a few times, including with just a bit more than two minutes to go while holding an eight-point advantage.

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SANTA ANA, Ca. – Based upon some of the matchups on hand, the 20^th version of the Nike Extravaganza, hosted by Mater Dei High, could rival some of the best of the first 19.

Four games (including a girls’ clash) will be played on Friday, with Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson) – currently top-ranked nationally – taking on one of the best teams in California in Chatsworth Sierra Canyon at 7 o’clock.

Among the Oak Hill Academy standouts are McDonald’s All-American Dwayne Bacon (who signed with Florida State in November) and point guard Terrence Phillips, who committed to the University of Missouri recently and is the brother of Detroit Pistons’ standout Brandon Jennings.

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LOS ANGELES – Nine games, spread over approximately 14 hours, provided a quasi-marathon of some of the best of high school basketball offered by Southern California this season during the seventh James Samson/State Preview Classic hosted by, and held Saturday at, Fairfax High.

And three teams demonstrated that they have legitimate CIF section and state championship aspirations.

*Coach Harvey Kitani’s host Lions pushed their record to 23-zip while handling Chatsworth Sierra Canyon (now 16-2) with surprisingly little fuss or muss, 64-47.

Barring a stunning upset by way of LACES or L.A.

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