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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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LONG BEACH – The Nothing But Net Magazine/Pangos “Diamond in the Rough Showcase”, held at McBride High Saturday, proved to be nice platform for a lot of Southern California-based boys’ hoopsters.

But a bit more than a couple of weeks before the “real” high school season tips off, a bunch of players who made hefty trips to get to Long Beach were nothing short of terrific.

And a couple of Class of 2024 members, via middle America, showed why they’re already a couple of well-polished gems.

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