Frank Burlison

REDONDO BEACH, CA – The third Take Flight Challenge, hosted by Redondo Union High, tips off on Jan. 2 with what looks to be an exceptional field of eight games featuring some of the better boys’ basketball teams in Southern California.

The “morning/afternoon session” gets underway at 9:30 a.m., with Lawndale Leuzinger facing L.A. Brentwood.

Pasadena Maranatha-Santa Monica, Compton-Eastvale Roosevelt and L.A. Loyola-Beverly Hills follow at 11 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 2 o’clock, respectively.

The “evening session” is set to begin at 4 o’clock, with Long Beach Poly taking on L.A.

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LAGUNA NIGUEL, CA – Two strong Orange County-based events are on tap for Monday and Tuesday – with exceptional teams and players alike worth checking out.

The Santa Margarita Christmas wraps up Monday with the 3 p.m. championship game between the host Eagles (7-1) and unbeaten San Diego St. Augustine Saints (7-0) – two of the better teams in Southern California.

Each of the squads could be in the CIF Open divisions of the sectional playoffs, Santa Margarita in the Southern and the Saints in the San Diego.

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LAS VEGAS – The host Bishop Gorman High Gaels were oh-so-close to bagging their first-ever Tarkanian Classic Platinum Division title Saturday night in the fourth edition of the event.

A squad from Colorado had other designs, however.

Danny Fisher-coached Aurora Overland, which captured the program’s first-ever state championship last spring, trailed by nine points late in the first half.

But the staples of the Trailblazers’ first three wins during the week – determined and relentless half-court defense, the post play of De’Ron Davis and the overall excellence at both ends of the floor from guard Jervae Robinson – made up the ideal formula again in the championship game by way of a 58-56 victory over a big, gifted and experienced opponent.

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LAS VEGAS – One of the teams advanced to the Saturday night Tarkanian Classic Platinum Division championship game by way of a rock’em, sock’em and grind-it-out semifinal.

The other finalist took it altogether different path.

Defending Colorado State Champion Aurora Overland trailed South Jordan (UT) Bingham by eight points with a bit more than eight minutes to go before using its terrific pressure defense and its Jervae Robinson-led offense to pull away for a 64-55 victory in the first of those semifinals late Friday afternoon in the Orleans Hotel Arena.

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LAS VEGAS – The Bishop Gorman Gaels took another step Thursday night toward winning their first championship in the high-profile tournament they’ve hosted for four years.

The Gaels got a performance that was equal parts clutch and spectacular from Charles O’Bannon Jr. to hold off last year’s champion in the top (Platinum) division, Redondo Beach (CA) Redondo, 63-58.

The win moved Coach Grant Rice’s squad into a Friday night (5:30/PT) semifinal against Weston (FL) Sagemont in the Orleans Hotel Arena.

Sagemont knocked off Plano (TX) Prestonwood Christian Academy, 68-61, in the final Platinum quarterfinal played in Bishop Gorman’s main (big) gymnasium Thursday night.

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