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PLAYA DEL REY, Ca. – Be it a case of “championship hangover”, erratic shooting or tough defense by its opponent, the St. Bernard High boys’ basketball team got off to anything but a quality start to the Vikings’ State Regional D-I opener Tuesday night.

The Vikings scored only four points in the first five minutes of action and had rung up just 13 points by intermission.

But they step on the gas once the third quarter starter and, ultimately, pulled away down the stretch to knock off a Long Beach Poly, 52-40.

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LONG BEACH, Ca. – The annual Pangos Junior All-American Camp has produced too many McDonald’s All-Americans, college All-Americans and NBA first-round picks to list without my fingers getting cramped typing all of their names.

Will the most recent camp, held this past weekend at McBride High with 183 players in attendance from across the country, follow in its predecessors’ footsteps relative to the high school, college and NBA careers its alumni experience?

I’m not one to look far down the road when it comes to the basketball “futures” of 13- and 14-year-olds.

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CORONA, Ca. – The Centennial Huskies were the best boys’ basketball team in California when their season opened on Nov. 16 with a 75-point victory over Paloma Valley.

And, based on the work they did en route to a second consecutive CIF Southern Section Open Division title, someone is going to be hard-pressed to knock them off them perch – leading to and during the March 12 State Open Division championship game in Sacramento.

The Huskies, withstanding a third-quarter rally by a determined Harvard-Westlake squad that brought a 24-2 record into Corona Friday night, pulled away for a 68-48 victory behind their usual multi-pronged offensive and defensive attacks.

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LONG BEACH – The Why Not Hometown Favorites dug themselves out of a couple of holes Monday at McBride High to leave the gymnasium that President’s Day afternoon with the championship in the 14-Under division of the Pangos Middle School Challenge of Champions.

The Hometown Favorites, founded and coached by former NBA player Dorell Wright, fell behind, 11-zip, in the championship game against Paul George Elite.

But they rallied behind terrific first-half efforts by Sean Madison and Caeden Hutcherson – who combined for 29 for their team’s 38 points – to take a 15-point edge at intermission before withstanding a late spurt to prevail, 58-54.

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LONG BEACH – Guard Jaden Raines, after taking an overtime inbound pass from the backcourt baseline with five seconds to go, sank a five-foot floater in the lane at the buzzer to give the Kings of Basketball squad a 76-75 win over The Truth Sunday night at McBride High.

The shot by the San Diego eighth-grader gave the Irvine-based KOB a spot in the 14-Under Pangos Middle School Challenge of Champions tournament semifinals Monday morning at 10 o’clock against Why Not’s Hometown Favorites.

In the other 14U semifinal, the Compton Magic plays Paul George Elite at 11, with the title game set for 1 p.m.

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