Frank Burlison

ENCINITIS, Ca – The start of the “real” high school basketball season is less than a month away.

And those in the Boys & Girls Club gymnasium in this San Diego suburb got a nifty look at some of the better players in San Diego County, as well as the make-up of what should be some of the better teams, Wednesday night in the first-ever Pangos Best of San Diego Showcase.

The St. Augustine squad that has positioned itself as the preseason choice to win the San Diego section’s Open Division crown was well represented by three players that make one of the state’s best 2021-22 “perimeter: juniors Jurian Dixon (6-foot-5) and Jaden Matingou (6-2), and sophomore Lolo Rudolph (6-2).

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LA GRANGE, IL – Sophomores Dekwon Brown and Payton Kamin led the black jerseys past their white counterparts, 99-94, Sunday afternoon in The Top 30 Cream of the Crop Game to cap the annual two-day Pangos All-Midwest Frosh/Soph Camp at the Park District sports facility.

The 6-foot-3 Brown (Limestone Community on Bartonville, about 170 miles southwest of Chicago) opened the game with three 3-pointers, finishing with 17 points, and the 6-6 Kamin (DePaul Prep in Chicago) sizzled after intermission, when he drilled four clutch 3s en route to his 16-point effort.

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LA GRANGE, IL – There is no shortage of quality basketball “post prospects” from within the Illinois borders in the high school classes of 2024, ’25 and ’26.

That was made abundantly clear on Saturday’s first day of the annual Pangos All-Midwest Frosh/Soph Camp is once again being held at the Park District sports facility in this Chicago suburb.

And Chicago’s St. Rita High program showcased two of those bigs during the first two rounds of games played among the 200-plus players (scattered from among 14 states) divided into 24 games.

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ANAHEIM, Ca. – Last weekend’s Open Gym Premier Fall Preview served as a nifty bit of “one-stop shopping” as pertaining to get up-close-and-personal looks at what figure to be some of Orange County and much of the rest of Southern California’s top boys’ basketball teams for the 2021-22 season.

There was a significant hunk of the pool of programs that figure to make stout efforts to be part of the CIF Southern Section’s eight-team Open Division field in February.

Notable among those were defending champion Corona Centennial (which went 4-0 in the “Open” competition in Anaheim), as well as three others among that eight-team competition last spring in Damien, Mater Dei and St.

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ANAHEIM, Ca. – The two-day, Open Gym Premier Fall Preview tips off Saturday morning at 8 o’clock, with a large field that includes not only most of the best teams from Orange County but throughout Southern California.

Among those in the field are CIF Southern Section Open Division playoff teams Corona Centennial (the champion last June), Damien, Mater Dei and St. John Bosco.

Games will be played in the Open (which includes the aforementioned four programs), Varsity, Junior Varsity and Freshman divisions.

Noteworthy first-day clashes include Sherman Oaks Notre Dame vs.

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