Frank Burlison

LAKEWOOD, Ca. – Defending champion Mater Dei High, along with Bishop Montgomery, Culver City and Las Vegas Bishop Gorman, won first-round games Saturday night in the Elite 8 bracket of the fourth Ron Massey Memorial Fall Hoops Classic at Artesia High

Those victories set the stage for championship semifinal games Sunday pitting Mater Dei vs. Culver City (Court 1 at 10:10 a.m.) and Bishop Gorman vs. Bishop Montgomery (Court 1 at 11:20 a.m.).

The championship game is scheduled for 2:50 (also on Court 1).

There were also four “showcase” games played Saturday night among teams that are not part of the Elite 8 portion of the event.

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LAKEWOOD, Ca. – The fourth Ron Massey Memorial Fall Hoops Classic is set for Saturday and Sunday at Artesia High.

The event is named for the much-loved basketball coach who died of an apparent heart attack on April 8 in 2014, just four years after he had retired as Long Beach Jordan’s basketball coach and athletic director, and just three months after the Panthers’ basketball court had been named in his honor.

Twenty-three high school teams are scheduled to participate, eight of those in an “Elite 8” bracket that includes Bishop Montgomery and Mater Dei, which played in both the CIF Southern Section Open and State Southern Open championship games last March.

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FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Ca. – The first-ever PrepHoops So-Cal Top 250 Expo is on tap for Sept. 17 at Fountain Valley High.

It’s a marvelous opportunity for high school players – be they freshmen, sophomores, juniors or seniors – to showcase their skills in front a multitude of those whose opinions are valued by coaching staffs across the spectrum (NCAA Division’s I, II and III, as well as NAIA and California and national community college competition) of college basketball programs.

Among those evaluators who will be on hand to watch the drills and games will be myself (Twitter @FrankieBur), Aaron Burgin (@FullTimeHoops1), Joel Francisco (@JoelFranHoops) and Devin Ugland (Dev_Ugland).

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TORRANCE, Ca. – The West Coast Elite End of Summer Camp – held Sunday at El Camino Community College – gave a couple of hundred players a nice opportunity to wrap up their summer hoops fare in grand style.

A hefty portion of the very best players, over all classes, from Southern California – and beyond – turned in nice efforts over the course of two “camp” games and during one of the four all-star games held late Sunday afternoon.

Among the players from the Class of 2018 on display were 6-foot-3 Payton Moore (who committed to Rice last week); 6-4 Alpha Okoli (Bellflower St.

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The first Rolling Hills Prep Fall Basketball Tournament, presented by ScorebookLive.com, is set for Oct. 21 at Cerritos College in Norwalk, RHP Coach Harvey Kitani announced Monday morning.

The 16-team event will include many of the top programs in Southern California, notably Torrance Bishop Montgomery, Santa Ana Mater Dei, L.A. Fairfax and Woodland Hills Taft.

General admission is $10.

The complete schedule: 9 a.m., Taft vs. Compton Dominguez; 10:30, Rolling Hills Prep vs. Altadena St. Francis; Noon, Redondo Beach Redondo vs. Long Beach Poly; 1:30 p.m.,

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