Frank Burlison

MISSION VIEJO – The competition so far has anything but the caliber that it will face once Trinity League play gets underway.

But the JSerra High basketball team, under its first-season Head Coach Keith Wilkinson, has used its first two games in the Diablo Inferno at Mission Viejo High this week to demonstrate why it’s going to be a problem for the other five programs in the toughest hoops league in at least the western portion of the U.S. of A. this season.

Less than 24 hours after the Lions opened their season with a 51-point victory over Woodbridge, they jumped out to a 20-point advantage Tuesday night after the first quarter against Fairmont Prep before cruising to the 67-52 victory.

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SANTA MONICA – Two programs stocked with considerable talent among their underclassmen were among the opening-day winners Monday in the St. Monica High Tournament.

The Crossroads School and Windward knocked off Ribet Academy and La Serna, respectively, and joined L.A. City power Taft and the host Mariners with victories in the eight-team, pool-play competition that resumes Wednesday and wraps up Friday night.

Crossroads, which won a State Division II championship last season under first-year Head Coach Anthony Davis, improved to 3-0 while cruising past short-handed Ribet Academy, 73-55.

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LAGUNA NIGUEL – Week III of the Southern California high school hoops season begins on Monday, with things getting hot and heavy with multiple tournaments on tap, many of those including several teams apiece from the latest BurlisonOnBasketball Top 25 rankings.

*Among those are the Trevor Ariza Tip-Off Classic that is being hosted by his alma mater, Westchester.

The host Comets are No. 6 in the Top 25 and open vs. Cleveland Tuesday at 7:20 p.m.

Among the others in the field are No.’s 8 Bishop Montgomery (Monday, 7:20, vs.

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NEWARK, Ca. – Two of Southern California’s better teams split the final two contests with their Northern California counterparts Saturday night to wrap up the eight-game, 12^th annual NorCal Tip-Off Classic at Newark Memorial High.

NorCal’s top-ranked squad, 2018 State Open Division runner-up Sacramento Sheldon, used its stable of veterans and equally impressive depth to stay on top of Playa del Rey’s St. Bernard, 89-66.

And, in Game No. 8 (that ended at about 10:30 p.m. for about 13 overall hours of Saturday action), Orange County’s Santa Margarita built an 11-point third-quarter advantage but had to overcome a five-point deficit in the final period to come away with a 72-66 decision against NorCal’s No.

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LAGUNA NIGUEL, Ca. – During the four regional sessions of the Pangos All-Frosh/Soph Camps this fall, a multitude of tall (as is 6-foot-8 and bigger) and skilled players from the Class of 2021 were on display.

But among the 600 or so sophomores among the 900-plus players in attendance at the West (Westminster, CA), South (Dallas), Midwest (La Grange, IL) and East (Thorofare, NJ) stops over September and October, there was no one quite like Patrick Baldwin Jr.

It was the third stop at the Midwest session for Baldwin (whose pops is the head coach at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee).

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