Frank Burlison

LONG BEACH, Ca. – A couple of “upsets” on Saturday set the stage for Sunday’s competition during the first Ron Massey Memorial Fall Hoops Classic at Jordan High.

The No.’s 1 and 2 seeds, Las Vegas Bishop Gorman and Long Beach Poly, were stunned by Compton (77-64) and Montbello Cantwell-Sacred Heart (46-43), respectively, in the first round of the event Saturday evening.

In the other quarterfinals of the eight-team tournament, Chino Hills – with Ball Brothers Lonzo (a 6-5 junior, with 25 points) and LiAngelo (a 6-4 sophomore, with 30) combining for 55 points – out-sprinted L.A.

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SPRING VALLEY, Ca. – Many of San Diego County’s most high-profile boys basketball players didn’t take part in the first-ever “Clash of the Classes” Saturday at Mount Miguel High.

But that didn’t prevent the event – very well organized and run by Glen Worley and Aaron Burgin – from being a terrific success.

Even with the likes of sophomore centers DeAndre Ayton (Balboa City Prep) and Brandon McCoy (Morse), as well as junior post T.J. Leaf (El Cajon Foothills Christian), sophomore guard Jaylen Hands (Chula Vista Mater Dei) and freshmen posts Taeshon Cherry (St.

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LAGUNA NIGUEL, Ca. – Most of the better boys basketball players in San Diego County will participate in a first-ever event Saturday that should prove equal parts competitive, revealing and entertaining.

“The Clash of the Classes” is set to tip off at 11 o’clock Saturday morning with the last game scheduled for 4 in the afternoon at Mt. Miguel High (8585 Blossom Lane, Spring Valley).

Games pitting athletes in the classes of 2015 (seniors), ’16 (juniors), ’17 (sophomores) and ’18 (freshmen) will showcase a lot of players who are already well known to college recruiters, scouting service operators, Internet-based recruiting analysts and the general hoops fans, alike.

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LAGUNA NIGUEL, Ca. – Wow!

Now that was tough . . .

The chore of finding 25 deserving players for my “All Spring and Summer” Class of 2015 squad wasn’t difficult.

But the same can’t be said for putting them into a “Teams 1-5” pecking order or adhering to a strict “one player at each of the positions” method.

Doing that was especially tough because of the relative shortage (when compared to the other spots) of “exceptional” point guards after – IMHO – Isaiah Briscoe and Jalen Brunson.

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SAN PABLO, Ca. — Paris Austin missed on a breakaway dunk attempt during each half of the sixth NorCal Clash Sunday afternoon (August 24) at Contra Costa College.

And that’s about the only negative that could be gleaned from the performance of the 6-foot senior point guard, who paced the Class of 2015 Northern California squad to a 114-100 victory over its 2016 counterpart.

The 2015 team was playing without the state’s best prospect in that class in Austin’s 6-9 Oakland Bishop O’Dowd teammate Ivan Rabb (who was resting a sprained ankle that also kept him sidelined Saturday during the nationally televised Under Armour Elite 24 in New York).

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