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LONG BEACH – The Why Not Hometown Favorites dug themselves out of a couple of holes Monday at McBride High to leave the gymnasium that President’s Day afternoon with the championship in the 14-Under division of the Pangos Middle School Challenge of Champions.

The Hometown Favorites, founded and coached by former NBA player Dorell Wright, fell behind, 11-zip, in the championship game against Paul George Elite.

But they rallied behind terrific first-half efforts by Sean Madison and Caeden Hutcherson – who combined for 29 for their team’s 38 points – to take a 15-point edge at intermission before withstanding a late spurt to prevail, 58-54.

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LONG BEACH – Guard Jaden Raines, after taking an overtime inbound pass from the backcourt baseline with five seconds to go, sank a five-foot floater in the lane at the buzzer to give the Kings of Basketball squad a 76-75 win over The Truth Sunday night at McBride High.

The shot by the San Diego eighth-grader gave the Irvine-based KOB a spot in the 14-Under Pangos Middle School Challenge of Champions tournament semifinals Monday morning at 10 o’clock against Why Not’s Hometown Favorites.

In the other 14U semifinal, the Compton Magic plays Paul George Elite at 11, with the title game set for 1 p.m.

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LONG BEACH – Two Del Rey League boys’ basketball programs sent the last of the top four seeds in the division packing Friday night.

On an evening when the St. Bernard High Vikings eliminated No. 1 and host Riverside Poly, the St. Anthony Saints provided the other CIF Southern Section Division I “upset”.

The Saints, playing in Jack Errion Gymnasium and on the floor named for the greatest player in the school’s history (Darrick Martin, who was in the building for the game), shellacked No.

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IRVINE, Ca. – On a night when three of the top four seeds held serve in impressive fashion, one of the CIF Southern Section Open Division boys’ basketball openers didn’t follow any pre-game script.

The Damien Spartans, edged by Crean Lutheran by a single-point in a Selection Committee ballot last Sunday for the fourth seed in the eight-team bracket, found themselves in a 20-point hole with just less than three minutes to go in the second quarter Friday night with the host Saints.

But, in a comeback without parallel in the nine-year history of the top post-season playoff division in California, Coach Mike LeDuc’s visitors methodically fought their way back before pulling out a 64-59 victory in front of a crowd that was both stunned (the host fans) and delirious (those who made the trek south for the contest).

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LAGUNA NIGUEL – After going with 16 teams in its Open Division brackets for the first four seasons of the division (2014-17), the CIF Southern Section administration cut it to an eight-team bracket in 2018 and into eight-team “pool play” competition three years ago.

And that’s where it stands now, when play begins on Friday night with Corona Centennial and Sierra Canyon sitting atop Pools A and B, respectively.

So, how would things look on Friday night if the run for the Open Division championship was still in the 16-team bracket mode?

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