Archives

SANTA MONICA – The No.’s 6-, 16- and 28-ranked teams in the BurlisonOnBasketball SoCal Top 60 opened their seasons with wins Wednesday during the third night of the Westside Tip-Off Classic at St. Monica Prep.

Playing in the day’s finale, the No. 6 St. Bernard Vikings – who won the CIF Southern Section Div. 1 title last spring – pulled away late in the third quarter to come away with a 74-54 decision against L.A. Westchester.

That was before No. 16 Rancho Cucamonga (the CIF SS 3AA champion last season) held off a furious fourth-quarter rally by Newport Beach Sage Hill to prevail, 84-74.

[Click to continue reading]

SANTA MONICA – True “Westside programs” won their season-openers Tuesday during the second day of the St. Monica Prep-hosted Westside Tip-Off Classic.

Los Angeles Windward, in its first game under Coach D.J. Gay (a former standout point guard at Sun Valley Poly and San Diego State, who coached in San Diego for several year), knocked off the host Mariners, 56-50.

Guards Gavin Hightower (one of the better sophomores in SoCal) and Luke Samman (the only senior on the Wildcats’ roster) made numerous big shots and big “plays” in the closing minutes to help their team bag the victory.

[Click to continue reading]

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA – It’s been more than eight months of spring, summer and fall leagues; grassroots “shoe circuit” and “non-shoe circuit” competition; and enough other camps and “showcase” events to enable me to stack hard-copy programs, rosters and “media/coaches’ packets” to the ceiling in a home office that has long since reached an absurd level of clutter.

Come Monday and running through the evening of the March 11, 2023, CIF State Open championship game in Sacramento, it’s “real high school basketball season” time!

And Coach Josh Giles’ Corona Centennial program returns three core elements from the teams that were a combined 54-3 over the past two seasons.

[Click to continue reading]

LAGUNA NIGUEL, Ca. – Tounde Yessoufou and A.J. Dybansta are my respective choices as the top sophomore and freshman during the annual fall Pangos regional All-Frosh/Soph Camp circuit.

The camps, established in 2002 by Belmont Shore/Pangos founder and CEO Dinos Trigonis, had two-day sessions in Long Beach (West/Sept. 24-25); Duncanville, TX (South/Oct. 1-2); LaGrange, IL (Midwest/Oct. 15-16) and Philadelphia (East/Oct. 22-23).

Collectively more than 900 players, from the classes of ’25, ’26 and ’27, took part in the camps.

The 6-foot-6 Yessoufou (Santa Maria, CA, St.

[Click to continue reading]

WESTMINSTER and LONG BEACH, Ca. – For those who are vested in knowing who the best of the high school basketball teams and players in Southern California are – you should have no problem identifying at least one of those – Sunday was quite the profitable day.

The day — for yours truly, at least – began late Sunday morning at Westminster High, where I watched parts of five games during the final day of the Compton Magic’s The League.

It wrapped up about eight hours later at McBride High in Long Beach, where I watched three quality matchups during the first-ever Pangos’ Lute Olson Legacy Classic.

[Click to continue reading]