Frank Burlison

PARKER, CO – There are going to be some terrific boys basketball prospects making their high school debuts some eight months or so from now in Colorado.

That was evident during the elementary and middle school portion of the West Coast Elite All-Star Camp/Colorado Friday at Legend High in this Denver suburb.

Six-foot-four Jaedon Bowles scored 25 points while leading the white jersey-wearing to a 74-70 victory over its gray-wearing counterparts in the Top 20 game that wrapped up the first day of the camp Friday night.

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IRVINE, Ca. – The first Orange County Boys High School Basketball All-Star Game, presented by Open Gym Premier, takes place Saturday night at 7 o’clock at Irvine Valley College.

Many of the very best seniors in Orange County, including UC Irvine-bound Brandon Smith (Godinez), UC Riverside signee Eric Rwahwire (Saddleback Valley Christian) and future UC Davis player Rogers Printup (Orange Lutheran), are among those expected to participate.

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LAGUNA NIGUEL, Ca. – The 2015 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship Tournament – aka, “Can anyone beat Kentucky over the next three weeks” – tips off Tuesday night in Dayton two of the “First Four” games.

And let me dispense with a pet peeve: The Tuesday (Manhattan-Hampton and Mississippi-BYU) and Wednesday (North Florida-Robert Morris and Boise State-Dayton) games in Dayton are “First Four” or “First Round” games, not “Play-In” games.

Those eight teams are not trying to “play their way” into anything – they are already part of the NCAA Tournament’s 68-team field, every bit as legitimate NCAA tourney participants as are the teams that will played for the national championship on April 6.

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LAGUNA NIGUEL, Ca. – The first 2015 CIF Southern Section Open Division playoff game doesn’t tip off until Thursday night at 7 o’clock.

But here is a first look at what the field might look 12 months from now.

One note: If Ethan Thompson returns to Bishop Montgomery for his junior season (instead of possibly re-locating with his family to Corvallis, where his father is an assistant coach at Oregon State), then certainly the Knights will be strongly in the hunt for a return to the Open Division.

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SANTA ANA, Ca. – To beat a Mater Dei High basketball team, especially within the walls of the program’s snazzy Meruelo Athletic Center, an opponent is best advised to bring its “A game” – and then some.

The L.A. Fairfax Lions brought a 25-0 record into the building for the end of a nine-game Saturday schedule of the 20^th Nike Extravaganza.

But Coach Harvey Kitani’s club was well short of “acing” its performance against the Monarchs – most especially on the offensive end of the floor.

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