Frank Burlison

LAGUNA NIGUEL, CA – The “23” portion of the “2022-23” Southern California high school boys’ basketball season tips off this week.

And several games whose results could prove significant for both the selections and seeding of the eight-team pool for the CIF Southern Section’s Open Division playoff field are among the games being played.

Two of those games are Trinity League clashes.

And five others are part of four Saturday “showcase” events across Southern California.

And Mater Dei, No. 6 in the updated BurlisonOnBasketball SoCal ratings, is involved in three key clashes.

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LA VERNE, Ca. – Twenty-four hours after an overwhelming performance by the Harvard-Westlake basketball team in its 27-point win over Curtis, best team in Washington, the Wolverines met their match – and, on Friday night, three points its superior – in its Classic at Damien Platinum Division showdown with Liberty High.

And – not surprisingly – it was the sizzling play from its backcourt that proved the difference in the Patriots’ 59-56 over 16-0 Harvard-Westlake.

Coach Kevin Soares’ team built a 16-point advantage on the first possession of the second half and then had to withstand David Rebibo’s squad, which cut its deficit to a point a couple of times in the final minute, the last of those coming on Trent Perry’s layup with 41 seconds to go.

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LA VERNE, CA – The Etiwanda High Eagles outscored the Inderkum Tigers by 26 points over the final nine minutes to prevail, 57-39, Tuesday night to complete the matchups for Wednesday’s Platinum Division championship quarterfinals of The Classic at Damien.

The Eagles (10-1) will take on California’s top-ranked team, 14-0 Harvard-Westlake, at 8:30 Wednesday night in Damien’s on-campus Athletic Center, for the last of the Platinum quarterfinals.

The quarterfinal action starts at 4 o’clock, with defending state champions facing off in Washington’s 8-1 Curtis vs. Utah’s 7-1 American Fork.

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LA VERNE, CA – It didn’t take long for senior Saugus High guard Max Tengan long early Monday afternoon to create the front-runner for “The Most Stunning Moment” in the 2022 Classic at Damien.

About five seconds after dynamic freshman guard Kaiden Bailey of Crean Lutheran had drilled a 3-pointer to tie the score at 63, Tengan countered with an even more improbable shot.

After taking he inbound pass following Bailey’s bucket, Tengan covered about 30 feet on three dribbles before pushing – OK, “launching” – the ball out of his right hand just before hitting the mid-court stripe and just before the game clock horn sounded.

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LA VERNE, CA – High-profile boys’ basketball programs from Southern California and the rest of the west highlight the action when play tips off Tuesday morning in the Platinum, Gold, and Diamond divisions on the second day of The Classic at Damien.

The eight Platinum games (beginning with the 10 o’clock between St. Bernard and University City (WA) Curtis) will be played in Athletic Center and the eight gold contests (starting at 9:30 a.m., with Roosevelt and Birmingham) in Event Center, each located on the Damien High Campus.

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