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SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The high school hoops action in Springfield College’s Blake Arena Monday figured to be some of the very best of the season, anywhere.

And it proved to be every bit of that – and then some.

Three games that included a collective six 2017 McDonald’s All-Americans – and, no doubt, a few of the 2018 variety, too – gave those in the packed facility a close-up look at some of the very best teams and players in the country during the final day of the 16^th Spalding HoopHall Classic.

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SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Monday’s final day of the 16^th Spalding HoopHall Classic will feature what should be some of the better team – and matchups – of the high school season.

The “showcase” among the six games set for Monday in the Springfield College Blake Arena is the 5 p.m. (ET) clash between prep school powerhouse La Porte (IN) La Lumiere School and Southern California’s Chatsworth (in the San Fernando Valley, FYI) Sierra Canyon.

Unbeaten La Lumiere may have deepest – and most gifted – roster on the high school or prep school level this season, led by 6-foot-10 Jaren Jackson (who signed with Michigan State in November) and 6-7 swingman Brian “Tugs” Bowen (who lists Michigan State and the University of Arizona the finalists in the race for his signature on a national letter of intent in April).

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SPRINGFIELD, MA –   The finale of Saturday’s action during the 16^th Spalding HoopHall Classic was nationally televised and touted as a “showdown”, of sorts, between two of the elite big men in the high school senior class.

And DeAndre Ayton (Phoenix Hillcrest) and Mohammad Bamba (Westtown of Pennsylvania) did offer the crowd – those in Springfield College’s Blake Arena and those viewing on their flat screens or hand-held devices – an opportunity to watch the near-seven footers showcase their respective physical gifts.

But, ultimately, it was a couple of guys not named Ayton or Bamba who decided the outcome as Westtown outlasted Hillcrest, 66-54, in the last of six games played Saturday.

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REDONDO BEACH, Ca. – Some of Southern California’s better high school basketball teams – and players, in all classes – were on display and in full bloom Saturday during the second day of the Redondo Union High-hosted Take Flight Challenge.

In the sixth, final and showcase game of the day, Santa Margarita pulled away down stretch to knock off Eastvale Roosevelt, 70-64, in a hook-up of two squads that almost certainly will be reasonably high seeds in the CIF Southern Section’s Open Division playoff bracket.

Roosevelt was playing without one of its two-best players in University of California-bound guard Jemarl Baker, sidelined for the second consecutive game in what Coach Steve Singleton deemed a “precautionary” decision because of a swollen knee as a result of a collision in the team’s Classic at Damien Gold Division loss to Damien on Dec.

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REDONDO BEACH, Ca. – The host Redondo Union Sea Hawks, along with Oakland Bishop O’Dowd and Torrance Bishop Montgomery, were the winners Friday night during the opening of the two-day, fifth annual Take Flight Challenge.

The event wraps up on Saturday, with six games that begin at noon (Compton vs. L.A. Windward) and wrap up with an 8 p.m. clash between two of the strongest squads in the CIF Southern Section, Santa Margarita and Eastvale Roosevelt.

Friday evening the squad from Oakland broke out to an big early lead as junior guard Naseem Gaskin hit all five of his first-quarter shots – the first four of those coming from the arc – against the Lynwood Knights.

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