Frank Burlison

SANTA ANA, Ca. – The 19^th Nike Extravaganza wraps up Saturday night with a hook-up of McDonald’s All-Americans when the host Mater Dei Monarchs take on Chicago Whitney Young at approximately 8:45 p.m. PT.

The other 13 games that begin Friday afternoon at 3 o’clock should be pretty cool as well!

The Monarchs (21-0 after Wednesday’s action) are top-ranked in California and in some of the national polls, as well.

They’re led – of course – by Arizona-bound Stanley Johnson, one of just two Californians (along with future UCLA center Thomas Welsh of L.A.

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LOS ANGELES – The sixth James Samson State Preview Classic was an all-day, eight-game affair at Fairfax High Saturday.

And those that forked out the $10 admission for the whole shindig got a 20-fold return, in basketball entertainment and insight, on their investment.

The event was capped, appropriately enough, by another impressive performance from the most highly ranked club in the event.

Los Angeles Loyola led by just four points at intermission against the Woodland Hills El Camino Real team expected to provide, for the second year in a row, Westchester with his biggest roadblock to an L.A.

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LOS ANGELES – The sixth Fairfax High State Preview – now called the James Samson State Preview, in honor of the late long-time member of the Fairfax Family – tips off Saturday morning at 9:30.

Eight games are scheduled, beginning with the Pasadena Maranatha vs. San Pedro Rolling Hills clash, and wrapping up when L.A. Loyola and Woodland Hills El Camino Real hook up at 8:15 p.m.

Seven of the teams in the field, including Loyola, were among the 25 CIF Southern Section “Open Division” candidates posted by the section this week.

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SPRINGFIELD, Ma. – It really wasn’t quite a case of “saving the best for last” during the final day of the Spalding HoopHall Classic/High School Invitational on Monday.

But it was close enough.

During the 16^th of 17 games to be played Saturday-Monday it finally became oh-so-high-def-TV-clear as to the identity of the very best player in a field of a whole lot of exceptional athletes/college prospects.

If you’re reading this, I’m going on the assumption that you’ve read or heard the name “Cliff Alexander” once or twice already.

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SPRINGFIELD, Ma. – If you managed to spend all 10-plus hours in Blake Arena Sunday watching the six games of the Spalding HoopHall Classic/High School Invitational, chances are your mind might have gone a bit numb by the time you stepped outside into the no-so-numbing chill.

OK, so I’m back in my hotel room and it’s time to commence with the “un-numbing” and sort out what we watched . . .

Some of the most gifted post players in all of high school were on display Sunday and were quite impressive, indeed.

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