Frank Burlison

NEWARK, Ca. – The seven-game, 10^th annual Nor Cal Tip-Off Classic tips off at 11 o’clock Saturday morning at the Newark Memorial High gymnasium.

Opening play will be the Vallejo St. Patrick’s vs. Danville Monte Vista clash, with the spotlighted finale between SoCal and NorCal respective powers Torrance Bishop Montgomery and Oakland Bishop O’Dowd at 8:30 p.m.

Bishop Montgomery, which lost to Chino Hills in the State Southern Regional Open final last March, returns five starters from that squad.

But the Knights will be without a key player, 6-foot-3 junior David Singleton, due to a foot injury suffered in September that he is still recovering from.

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REDONDO BEACH, Ca. – The only piece missing for a figurative – if not literal – set of 2017 L.A. City championship semifinals Friday night at Redondo Union High is the Fairfax High Lions.

But the Lions – if they are so inclined – can only be spectators during the championship semifinals since they are not one of the teams in the 65^th Dijon Thompson Pacific Shores Tournament.

Three of their L.A. City brethren, Westchester (77-72 in overtime over Long Beach Poly), Narbonne (64-57, also in OT, over the host Redondo Seahawks) and Birmingham (76-73 over Santa Margarita), won their quarterfinal tilts Tuesday.

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REDONDO BEACH, Ca. – Championship quarterfinals pitting teams ranked in Southern California’s BurlisonOnBasketball Top 25 are on tap Tuesday in the second day of the 65^th Dijon Thompson Pacific Shores Tournament.

Monday’s night’s first-round games set up some terrific matchups in Redondo Union’s main gymnasium, with No. 13 Eastvale Roosevelt facing No. 14 Oak Park at 3:30, followed by No. 9 Long Beach Poly and No. 22 L.A. Westchester at 5; No. 19 Redondo and Harbor City Narbonne (among the “Next 10” in the first set of ratings) at 6:30 and No.

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LAGUNA NIGUEL, Ca. – The 2016-17 Southern California high school basketball season is off and at ‘em Monday, with the first’s week’s action highlighted by the 65^th Pacific Shores Tournament at Redondo Union High in Redondo Beach that tips off Monday afternoon.

Leading the way in the Top 25 are, to little surprise, are Bishop Montgomery, Sierra Canyon, Mater Dei and Chino Hills – interesting enough, the four programs that made up the semifinals of last season’s CIF Southern Section Open Division playoffs.

Chino Hills, of course, rolled the field – heck, it rolled all but a few of its foes en route to a 35-0 record that also brought State Open Division championship hardware to campus along with a “mythical” (labeled the national champions by various Internet sites, notably Ball Is Life and USA Today).

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ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, FL – The freshmen and sophomores who looked like the best players during their three camp games didn’t disappoint when it came to all-star game time Sunday afternoon during the second and final day of the first-ever Pangos All-Southeast Frosh/Camp at the Lake Brantley Complex in this Orlando suburb.

Orlando Oak Ridge 6-foot-4 sophomore Niven Glover had pretty much dunked anything that was nailed to the floor during his three camp games for “Florida”.

It was much of the same in the Top 20 All-Star – as well as a couple of 3s for a fellow who jump shots had done a lot of clacking off iron during the first three games – as Glover scored 25 points and grabbed four rebounds to help the white jersey-clad squad to a 103-74 to its black-wearing counterparts.

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