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LAS VEGAS – The Wednesday night basketball game in the Bishop Gorman High gymnasium did more than just “live up to” the hyperbole that had been building since the Team Takeover and Compton Magic squads proved themselves the best on the respective Nike/EYBL and adidas circuits:

It smoked that sucker.

Trailing by five points midway through the second half, the Magic got a gut-crunching 3 from out top by guard Isaiah Hill (Bakersfield Liberty) with 43 seconds to go to help send things into a five-minute overtime.

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CLAREMONT, Ca. – Two strong candidates – more accurately, locks – for the 2019 McDonald’s All-American put forth some impressive on-court credentials to present their cases over the weekend during the West Coast Elite Basketball Elite 100 Camp at Pomona Pitzer College.

Guards Nico Mannion (Phoenix Pinnacle) and Scottie Lewis (Tinton Falls, NJ, Ranney) separated themselves quickly over a lot of other outstanding “high major” college prospects that were also on hand at the even that actually included approximately 350 players from across the country (and world).

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LADERA RANCH, Ca. – The Compton Magic 17U squad made it 2-for-2 in two weekends Sunday afternoon at the Ladera Ranch Sports Center.

Onyeka Okongwu, the State Player of the Year after leading his Chino Hills High to a State Division I championship last March in Sacramento, averaged 16.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 4.0 blocked shots in leading the Magic to victories over the OSA Crusaders (from Nebraska), 73-69, in a semifinal and the Massachusetts Rivals, 58-57, for the championship in the gold bracket of the five-day adidas Summer Championships.

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PHOENIX – It took little more than 12 months for the Southwest All-American Camp to establish itself as one of the most prestigious summer of events of its kind in the west.

That truth was held to be self-evident on Sunday afternoon, when camp action wrapped at Cortez High with three all-star games made up from among the 100-plus players who participated in the two-day affair.

And the Top 20 All-Star game-finale proved much more competitive and well-played than the usual such contests that conclude most camps of the same ilk.

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PHOENIX – The second Southwest All-American Camp, run by Gregg Rosenberg, Anthony Ray and Justin Vargas and held at Cortez High, got off to a rousing start with 12 games involving 100-plus players Saturday.

Action resumes Sunday morning at 10, with each of the camp’s 12 teams playing one game apiece (they played twice Saturday).

All-star games begin at 1:45 in the afternoon, starting with a contest with just underclassmen (Classes of 2020-22), followed by Top 40 and concluding with a Top 20 affair (scheduled to tip at 3:55).

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