Frank Burlison

REDONDO BEACH, Ca. — The first seven games played during Monday’s opening round of the 64^th Dijon Thompson/Pacific Shores Tournament went pretty much to script at Redondo Union High.

As for Game No. 8, though . . . well, that wasn’t quite the case.

Encino Crespi returned four starters from a squad that won CIF Southern Section 4AA and State Division IV crowns last March and the Celtics were No. 7 in the BurlisonOnBasketball Southern California preseason Top 25.

But apparently none of those things made a dent in the resolve of the Peninsula Panthers, who are projected to finish in third place in the Bay League standings this season behind Pac Shores host Redondo and another tourney participant, Inglewood.

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NORWALK, CA – The Cerritos College gymnasium was the seven-hour home Sunday to some of the better “pre-high school” basketball players in California – and beyond – during the first “Elite King of Kings 32”elementary and middle-school camp.

The second day of the event (it was played Saturday at Gahr High in Cerritos, just a couple of miles south of the community college facility where things were held Sunday) featured non-stop action on three courts from about 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

And the middle court, home to the “Best of the Best” all-star game, provided a nice showcase for many of those aforementioned exceptional seventh and eighth graders.

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LAGUNA NIGUEL – The longest-standing high school hoops tournament in California – the Pacific Shores/Dijon Thompson Tournament – tips off for the 64^th time Monday afternoon at 3 o’clock at Redondo High in Redondo Beach.

Six teams from within BurlisonOnBasketball’s Southern California Pre-Season Top 25 are slated to participate.

Those are: Long Beach Poly (No. 6), which takes on North Hollywood Campbell Hall at 7:30 in the auxiliary gymnasium.

The Jackrabbits knocked off the host Seahawks in overtime of the championship game with forward Zaafir Williams bagging event Most Outstanding Player honors.

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LAGUNA NIGUEL – The 2015-16 high school basketball season gets underway in earnest on Monday in Southern California.

And it shapes up as a terrific campaign, both in the numbers of potentially outstanding teams as well as in superb players.

That point is illustrated nicely at Chino Hills and Sierra Canyon, whose squads are a very tight “1-2” in the BurlisonOnBasketball Preseason Top 25.

Chino Hills, which lost to San Ramon Valley in overtime of the California State Division I championship game last March, is led by the best player in the Western United States in 6-foot-5 senior point guard Lonzo Ball.

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LAGUNA NIGUEL, Ca. – College hoops of the 2015-16 get underway in earnest on Friday, with things really kicking into pre-conference gear on Tuesday night in Chicago.

The United Center will offer up a double-header that will tip at 7:30 (ET) with Kentucky against Duke, following at about 10 or so by Kansas and Michigan State.

That would be a heck of a set of semifinal match-ups on Final Four Saturday (April 2) in Houston, wouldn’t it?

A look at my choices for the teams that will be playing into the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament this spring:

 

1. MARYLAND

Why: Plenty of key returnees from what was the second best Big 10 team during the regular season plus three terrific newcomers equal a solid choice to win the conference and get to the Final Four.

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