LOS ANGELES — The Nike-Fairfax High Summer Classic may not quite have lived up to the latter part of its name on the opening of the 27th version of the Southern California event Monday night.
But, all in all, one would be hard-pressed to find high school hoops games as entertaining – and as relatively well-played – in the summer as were the four contests played three weeks and two days into June.
Three squads that could go into next season ranked about the five best in the California Interscholastic Southern Section joined the Woodland Hills El Camino Real Conquistadors (with four starters on hand from the club that lost to Westchester in the L.A. City title game last March) with impressive upper-bracket victories to get the 16-team competition underway.
Two of those returnees, forward Evan Wardlow (20) and point guard Maleke Haynes (15), combined for 35 points while newcomer guard Chris Terry (a junior-to-be by way of Simi Valley Royal High) came off the bench to add 15 for the Conquistadors, who are under the guidance of first-year head coach Joe Wyatt (an assistant under David Rebibo, who left recently to join Rex Walters’ staff at the University of San Francisco).
The team led by just a point at intermission before pulling away in the second half for a a 77-64 victory despite a game-high 23 points out of Derick Newton, who only seems as if he’s played Harvard-Westlake since the Collins Twins graduated 16 years ago.
ECR’s victory set up a dandy quarterfinal Wednesday night (at 7) with Lonzo Ball-led Chino Hills, which was in control from nearly the opening tip of a 71-62 decision over Compton and its trio of Class of 2014 standouts Kyron Cartwright, Isaiah Bailey and Iziahiah Sweeney.
I’m not sure there is much more I can write to convey what I think I’ve already made pretty clear over the past few months:
The 6-foot-4 Ball, who’ll be a sophomore in the fall, is not only the best Southland prospect from the Class of 2016 that I’ve seen but also one of the very best guards I’ve seen at this relatively early stage of a “career”. He had 26 points and probably approached double figures in both assists and rebounds.
The Huskies also got 15 points from 6-5 senior-to-be Bishop Mency and 13 more (11 of those after intermission) by way of 6-9 junior-to-be Nnamdi Okongwu, who finally appears to be tapping into his immense reservoir of “potential”.
Loyola may have been without Arizona-bound point guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright (at the Deron Williams/Kyrie Irving Nike Skills Academy in New Jersey
But the Cubs moved into an 8:30 Wednesday night quarterfinal (vs. Centennial) via their 59-55 win over Santa Monica earlier Tuesday.
Max Hazzard (a guard from the Class of 2015) heated up after a slow start as a jump shooter to knock in enough shots to wrack-up a team-best 22 points for Loyola while 6-10ish Thomas Welsh and 6-8ish Henry Welsh, his Class of 2106 bro, were well-engaged in their usual in-the-lane stretches of domination.
Santa Monica hung tight behind what could prove to be one of the Southland’s better backcourts next season in 2016 class member Jonah Mathews (18 points) and big-leaping junior-to-be Nu’wriyl Williams (who knocked in three or four left-handed 3-pointers in the second half en route to 23 points).
In the second game, Crespi did its best to hang tight with the full court-pressing, transition-attacking gentlemen from Corona, who had too many sources of offense while keeping their feet on the pedal for a 94-77 victory.
Centennial Coach Josh Giles may have the best collection of perimeter talent on any team in SoCal next season, led by 2015 point guard Sed Barefield (20 points and a truckload of assists), 2016 wing Jordan Griffin (18 points and three 3s) and 6-4 (or so) “big man”, Deontae North, who finished with a night’s best 33 points in a variety of fashions.
Another one of the Class of 2016’s best in SoCal, guard Max Heidegger, had 22 points for Crespi while 6-3 DJ Ursery led the Celts with 28.
Tuesday’s lower-bracket opening games schedule: 4 p.m. PT, West Hills Chaminade vs. Orange Lutheran; 5:30, L.A. Fairfax vs. La Canada; 7, Santa Ana Mater Dei vs. L.A. Brentwood; 8:30, Long Beach Poly vs. Mission Hills Alemany;
