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LAGUNA NIGUEL, Ca. – There are three solid options on Saturday for those seeking to spend the better part of a day in a gymnasium watching some of the best hoops that Southern California has to offer us.

First and foremost among those events is the James Samson/State Preview, hosted by L.A. Fairfax High.

Nine games are scheduled, beginning at 8 a.m. – that’s correct; 8 in the A.M.; you may want to bring an intravenous line, hooked to a large thermos of coffee, to mainline the caffeine – with L.A.

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LAGUNA NIGUEL, Ca. – There are three solid options on Saturday for those seeking to spend the better part of a day in a gymnasium watching some of the best hoops that Southern California has to offer us.

First and foremost among those events is the James Samson/State Preview, hosted by L.A. Fairfax High.

Nine games are scheduled, beginning at 8 a.m. – that’s correct; 8 in the A.M.; you may want to bring an intravenous line, hooked to a large thermos of coffee, to mainline the caffeine – with L.A.

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SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – If you were inside Blake Arena on the campus of Springfield College Monday for the better part of 10 hours, you got a nifty on-court primer for future McDonald’s All-American teams – 2015 and beyond.

The final day of the High School Invitational of the Spalding HoopHall Invitational featured five games – and at least twice that many players likely to be chosen McDonald’s AAs before they graduate.

And several of those, no doubt, will see their names and faces on their television monitors when the 2015 squad is unveiled on ESPN on Jan.

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SPRINGFIELD, Ma. – The Sunday action – eight games’ worth – took about 13 ½ hours to complete during the “prep school” competition of the Spalding HoopHall Classic in Blake Arena at Springfield College.

Not that I was counting the minutes down the stretch at all, or anything like it (wink) . . .

And things weren’t a wrap until sophomore Malik Pouncy’s jump shot was just off the rim at the buzzer enabling the MacDuffie School to hold off Commonwealth Academy, 66-65.

Pouncy and his teammates had trailed most of the way until before going ahead by a point on a steal and layup by another sophomore, Derrick Ellis, with 34 seconds to go.

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SPRINGFIELD, Ma. – The best – at least in terms of a noisy crowd and down-to-the-wire result – was saved for last Saturday during the Spalding HoopHall Classic in Blake Arena on the Springfield College campus.

In the finale of a seven-game schedule (that tipped at 11 a.m.), local program Putnam Vocational Technical Academy came oh-so-close to stunning nationally ranked Tempe (AZ) Corona del Sol.

But sophomore guard Alex Barcello patiently probed and then penetrated the Beavers’ zone defense, fired a pass to teammate Tyrell Henderson and the junior rose and snapped in a 3-pointer that drew nothing but net and air.

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