Frank Burlison

LAS VEGAS – Boys’ basketball club teams from the Phoenix and San Diego areas won a couple of games apiece Saturday at Bishop Gorman High to earn spots in one of the championship games that will be played Sunday in the five divisions of the Pangos Spring Sweet 16.

The Factory (Phoenix) and Players Play Elite knocked off Salt Lake City Black, 59-52, while Players Play pulled away from Alley-Oop (Seal Beach in Southern California), 84-62, in the other Select Division (16s) Saturday evening to set the stage for the 9:10 championship clash.

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LAS VEGAS – Many of the top community college basketball players from the west – and beyond – were on hand Friday night at Bishop Gorman High for the four-game, Jerry Mullen Legacy JC Showcase.

It was also the first day of the NCAA first’s Division I “evaluation weekend”, with Cal Baptist, Grand Canyon, Hawaii, Long Beach State, Oregon, Pepperdine, Saint Mary’s, San Jose State, UC Irvine and Utah among the programs represented by coaches in attendance.

Players were spread across four teams (Jazz, Lakers, Suns and Warriors), with each team playing twice and the Warriors and Lakers winning both of their games.

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LYNWOOD, Ca. – Friday’s Night 1 of the three-day, Battle X Strive for Greatness/Los Angeles resulted in a couple of nifty matchups between the adidas-fronted Compton Magic and Nike-Strive for Greatness boys’ grassroots programs.

After a frenetic rally led the Strive for Greatness 16s squad to a 70-68 victory, the Compton Magic 17s bounced backed in impressive fashion, 67-59, Lynwood High.

Nine games are scheduled for Day 2 at Calabasas High, beginning at 9:30 a.m., with six games set for Sunday at the same location.

Six-foot-six Andrej Stojakovic (Jesuit High in Carmichael near Sacramento) was the linchpin in the Magic’s 17s victory, scoring 27 points with 12 rebounds as the Magic jumped out to a 10-point advantage after the first quarter and never allowed SFG to get any closer than to within five points in the fourth quarter.

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LAGUNA NIGUEL, Ca.  – The Corona Centennial Huskies’ boys’ basketball team rolled to a 33-1 record and bagged State and CIF Southern Section Open championships this season.

Coach Josh Giles’ club was led by the BurlisonOnBasketball Senior “Player of the Year” in 6-foot-2, University of New Mexico-bound Donovan Dent, with another senior guard – Ramsey Huff – also playing a big part in the team’s devastating dominance while winning its final 30 games.

But the Huskies also put the strongest core of players from the Class of 2023 on the floor to go along with that 2022 duo.

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LAGUNA NIGUEL – Here’s 13 of the “next best” of the senior class of boys’ basketball players in Southern California.

They may not have made the BurlisonOnBasketball Top 13 (including Player of the Year) cut but each member of the next group had a strong senior season and helped his team enjoy considerable success.

For want of a snappier (or more original) tag, I’m calling this the “Under-the-Radar” team – in large part because none of the players is of yet committed to a college for the 2022-23 basketball and academic year.

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