Frank Burlison

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.

[Click to continue reading]

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.

[Click to continue reading]

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).

[Click to continue reading]

BURBANK – The combination of the West Coast Elite program and Julius Von Hanzlik invariable produces some of the best “grassroots basketball in the west”, especially as it pertains to middle school-aged players.

And the duo delivered the goods again this past weekend at Burroughs High, which is darn-near located in the shadows of the ABC and Disney studios.

The “Elite 32 King of Kings” Camp provided a sweet showcase for some of the very best of the “barely teen-aged” set in the region and beyond.

[Click to continue reading]

EL MONTE – Chris James remembers all-too-well the fourth quarter of his St. John Bosco High basketball team’s State Southern Regional Division I final with Chino Hills in The Pyramid on the Long Beach State campus on March 17.

In fact, it’s been pretty much one of the very first things on the minds of he and his teammates upon waking ever morning since – including Monday, just hours before the 2018-19 season opened for the Braves at El Monte High against St. Paul.

Uh .

[Click to continue reading]