Frank Burlison

GARDEN GROVE, Ca. – Many of the better “club” boys’ basketball programs from California were on display this past weekend during the SoCal Spring Tip-Off and Pangos Spring Spectaculars held in a few Orange County communities.

Several of them had head-up showdowns on Sunday.

Among them, at the SoCal Tip-Off at the Next Level:

*Two of the better programs on the Nike/EYBL (Cal Supreme) and Under Armour (Earl Watson Elite) met in the “17s” (top) division Sunday evening.

And Cal Supreme, with its balance of skilled big frontcourt players and two of the best Southern California guards from the Class of 2018, knocked of Earl Watson Elite, 76-54.

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GARDEN GROVE – The “spring season” for Southern California high school basketball begins in earnest this weekend via a couple of travel ball events.

The Dinos Trigonis-fronted ‘Pangos Premier Spring Spectacular” tips off Friday night at 7 o’clock at the MAP Sports Complex (12552 Avenue, Garden Grove) with three sets of games spread over eight courts at 7, 8:10 and 9:20.

The most notable of the scheduled first-night clashes are (8:10, Court 3) Compton Magic Elite vs. Orange County Pride Blue and (9:20, Court 3) Belmont Shore vs.

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LAGUNA NIGUEL, Ca. – The six state championship games will be played on Friday and Saturday in Sacramento.

But the results of those games aren’t going to impact the Southern California BurlisonOnBasketball Top 25 ranking for the 2016-17 season, which is why you’re about to take a look on the final Top BurlisonOnBasketball Top 25 that is made up of teams from the CIF Southern, Los Angeles and San Diego sections.

And, based on what happened in both sectional and regional play, the choice for the top spot couldn’t be any easier.

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LONG BEACH, Ca. – Southern California, as collection of geographic entities, will be well represented in the boys’ basketball championship games in Sacramento next weekend.

Los Angeles County (Torrance Bishop Montgomery, in the Open, and San Pedro Rolling Hills Estates, in Division V) will send two teams; Riverside County (Eastvale Roosevelt, in Division I) is sending one; Orange County (Anaheim Esperanza, in Division II, and Villa Park, Division III) is home to two; and San Diego County (La Mesa Helix, Division IV) will ship one north next weekend.

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LAGUNA NIGUEL, Ca. – Saturday in the Long Beach State Pyramid will be a case of basketball déjà vu or, for you Bill Murray fans out there, Basketball Groundhog Day.

Top-ranked (via the BurlisonOnBasketball Top 25) Torrance Bishop Montgomery and No. 2 Santa Ana Mater Dei earned a Saturday rematch Tuesday night with their respective wins in the State Southern Open Regional semifinal games.

Bishop Montgomery spurted in the final five minutes to knock off the Monarchs (70-55), in the March 4 CIF Southern Section Open Division championship game in the Anaheim Honda Center.

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