Header Graphic




2016 Ron Massey Memorial Fall Hoops Classic Recap:
Mater Dei Takes Home The Hardware

By Dinos Trigonis
(September 19, 2016)

The 3rd version of the Ron Massey Memorial Fall Hoops Classic brought several of the best of Southern California HS basketball squads together recently (September 10-11) along with the premier HS power in Nevada (Bishop Gorman) to honor the coaching legacy of the late Ron Massey and give HS fans and hoop pundits a preview of the upcoming 2016-17 season.

Besides myself, other scouts/media in attendance included Frank Burlison (BurlisonOnBasketball.com), Ronnie Flores (Ball is Life &GrassrootsHoops.net), Joel Francisco (Bob Gibbons All-Star Report), Devin Ugland (HoopsbyUgland.com), Etop Udo-Ema (Dunk News), Dave Rogahn (CaliforniaPreps.com) and Ladell Hill(MidMajorHoopsReport.com) as well as video services like Ball is Life and Ballersvisions.  My Own Sports (moslive.com) videotaped every game of this event in its entirety and those videos  are now available for purchase. 

Mater Dei – behind a balanced team attack, outlasted a tough Elite 8 Bracket field to capture the 3rd annual Ron Massey Memorial Fall Hoops Classic – knocking off a pesky Bishop Montgomery (playing without 2 key starters, David Singleton and Jordan Schakel, out due to injury) 62-55 in the title game.  6’6” 2017 Justice Sueing led the way for the Monarchs with 25 points in the Finale.

Mater Dei’s road to the championship game included wins over Crespi (68-52) and Corona Centennial (67-57) while Bishop Montgomery defeated Corona Roosevelt (71-64) and Bishop Gorman (48-44) to reach the Final.

   

This event also had a slate of “showcase” games on Saturday and Sunday that included top HS squads like Redondo Union, Lynwood, Orange Lutheran, Harvard Westlake, Taft, Rancho Christian, Cantwell, Compton, Inglewood, Pasadena, Crossroads, Chaminade, Gahr, Price, Long Beach Jordan, Beverly Hills and Huntington Beach Edison.

Listed below are my top players/prospects for both the event’s Elite 8 team play-off as well as the standouts in the “showcase” division of the event.

2016 Ron Massey Memorial Fall Hoops Classic 
Elite 8 Bracket Top 20 Players
(in alphabetical order)

Max Agbonkpolo                            6’6”     2019   Santa Margarita (CA)
Promising young small forward with nice length and plenty of skill.  One to track in California’s 2019 class!

Jemarl Baker                                   6’3”     2017   Roosevelt (Corona CA)
Sharp-shooting Cal-bound SG has deep range on his jump shot and is getting better finishing at the rim.  Had 32 points in a 1st round loss to Bishop Montgomery.

Jamal Bey                                        6’6”     2018   Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas NV)
Agile WF with a jump shot that must be respected.  Looks to be a Mountain West priority target.

Harrison Butler                               6’5”     2017   Mater Dei (Santa Ana CA)
Very improved WF with plenty of bounce (had a couple of impressive flushes here).  Butler played with a renewed sense of confidence here.

Jalen Clark                                       6’4”     2020   Centennial (Corona CA)
Promising young wing guard has very nice 1st step.  One to track!

Spencer Freedman                        6’1”     2018   Mater Dei (Santa Ana CA)
Quintessential PG with terrific decision-making and passing skills as well as dangerous 3-point range.  Fabulous student and kid too!

Jalen Hill                                           6’8”     2017   Centennial (Corona CA)
UCLA-bound athletic forward is swift in transition and was more assertive than I have ever seen him before.  Hill had 20 points versus Bishop Gorman in the 3rd Place Game.

Gianni Hunt                                      6’2”     2019   Bishop Montgomery (Torrance CA)
Young and talented PG is a lefty with potential to be a dazzling playmaker alaBrandon Jennings.  Hunt scored 22 points in the title game versus Mater Dei. Gianni has started at the point for coach Doug Mitchell since his freshman year.

Myles Johnson                               6’8”     2017   Poly (Long Beach CA)
Improving PF is just now fully recovering from a leg injury that sidelined him last season.  Showed good signs of an effective face-up jump shot here.

Jake Kyman                                     6’7”     2018   Santa Margarita (CA)
Skilled and improving WF with an accurate jump shot as well as an impressive basketball IQ.  Kyman scored 24 points versus Corona Roosevelt) and 20 points against Long Beach Poly here.  Excellent student and great kid too!

Matt Mitchell                                  6’6”     2017   Roosevelt (Corona CA)
Undersized but max-effort forward is productive on both ends. Visited soon to be Division 1 Cal Baptist recently.

Charles O’Bannon Jr.                   6’5”     2017   Gorman (Las Vegas NV)
High-powered scorer has great confidence in his outside stroke and is capable of putting up big numbers.  Top 40 national prospect has Texas, North Carolina State, UCLA and Washington in pursuit.

Darryl Polk                                       5’8”     2018   Poly (Long Beach CA)
Speedy lefty point guard can knock down outside shots.

Chris Popoola Jr.                           6’3”     2017   Gorman (Las Vegas NV)
Strong BYU-bound lead guard is athletic and capable of scoring in bunches.

Taj Regans                                      5’8”     2018   Crespi (Encino CA)
Quick and crafty PG can really score.  Regan’s 3-pointer with 5 ticks left pushed Crespi past  Long Beach Poly 49-47 in 5th Place semi-final game.  Will form a dangerous 2018 backcourt with nationally ranked Brandon Williams this upcoming season.

David Singleton                              6’4”     2018   Bishop Montgomery (Torrance CA)
Singleton scored 26 points in a 1st round win over Corona Roosevelt and Cal-bound Jemarl Baker here despite sustaining a foot injury that sidelined him for rest of this event (will be out for 4 weeks).  One of the toughest scoring guards in the 2018 national class, Singleton (a very good student) is currently hearing from the likes of Stanford, Arizona, Oregon, Gonzaga, USC, UConn, Indiana, Iowa, Georgetown, Colorado, Arizona State, Marquette, Cal, Washington, Virginia, UNLV, Harvard and Penn.

Justice Sueing                                6’6”     2018   Mater Dei (Santa Ana CA)
Strong and bouncy WF had 25 points to lead Mater Dei over Bishop Montgomery in the championship game.  I expect this Hawaiian native to have a great senior season and Justice should be in high demand going into the April signing period.

Jarvis Thomas                                6’8”     2018   Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas NV)
Bouncy and active forward had 22 points/8 boards in Gorman’s 77-68 3rd place game win over Corona Centennial.  Underrated perimeter shooter just transferred from Minnesota.

Ethan Thompson                           6’4”     2017   Bishop Montgomery (Torrance CA)
Smooth playmaking combo-guard can score with the best of them in this national 2018 class. Showed flashes here that he possesses excellent potential to develop into a pro-style PG.  Will make his college decision later today between Oregon State (where his dad Stephen Sr. is now an assistant coach) and Syracuse (where his dad played in college).

Michael Wang                                  6’9”     2018   Mater Dei (Santa Ana CA)
Very improved face-up “4” with a potent jump hook had a great summer. As his defense and rebounding improves, his high-major interest will increase.


Elite 8 Bracket Honorable Mention (in alphabetical order):

6’10” 2017 Miles Brookins (Mater Dei/Encino CA), 6’2” 2017 Isom Butler (Centennial/Corona CA), 6’9” 2017 John Duff (Poly/Long Beach CA), 6’7” 2018 Jordan Guest (Santa Margarita/CA), 6’5” 2018 Cyrus Johnson (Bishop Montgomery/Torrance CA), 6’4” 2019 Kyle Owens (Crespi/Encino CA), 5’10” 2017 Billy Oxley (Crespi/Encino CA), 6’1” 2017 Kaden Rasheed (Santa Monica/CA), 6’2” 2018 J.T. Robinson (Roosevelt/Corona CA), 6’5” 2018 Fletcher Tynen (Bishop Montgomery/Torrance CA), 5’10” 2017 Paul Vilela (Centennial/Corona CA).


 

 
Top 15 Showcase Division Players
(in alphabetical order)

Ron Artest III                                    6’8”     2017   Beverly Hills (Beverly Hills CA)
2017 sleeper PF is long, athletic and active in the paint.  Son of former NBA star Metta World Peace had 14 points vs. Crossroads and his dad’s former Laker teammate’s son Shareef O’Neal.

Riley Battin                                      6’8”     2018   Oak Park (CA)
Skilled scorer in the paint and underrated rebounder.

Kihei Clark                                       5’9”     2018   Taft (Woodland Hills CA)
Smart PG has deep range on his perimeter shot.

Bryce Hamilton                               6’3”     2018   Pasadena (CA)
One of the fastest rising 2018 prospects in the West is a high-octane lefty scorer with emerging athleticism.  Hamilton (scored 21 points vs. Rancho Christian here) is receiving interest from the likes of UCLA, Nevada, UNLV, Butler, Boise State, UTEP, Hawaii and Buffalo (older brother Blake is a starter there).

Juwan Harris-Dyson                     6’4”     2017   Heritage Christian (CA)
Cal-bound athletic wing is a tenacious defender and effective slashing scorer.

Antwan January                           6’9”     2019   Taft (Woodland Hills CA)
Burly young PF has the strength and explosiveness to hold his own down low and the scoring touch to fill the stat sheet.

Carl Lewis                                          6’9”     2019    Lynwood (Lynwood CA)
One of this Fall’s hot commodities used his great size, agility and bounce to be a factor on both ends here.  Underrated perimeter shooter with potential to be a hard to guard scorer off the bounce, Lewis looks to rise quickly up the national rankings.  Carl had 21 points (including 4 “threes”) in a win over Taft.

   

Oscar Lopez                                    6’3”     2019   Lynwood (Lynwood CA)
Savvy soph WG has real scoring ability and impressive court instincts.

Elijah Mobley                                   6’8”     2019   Rancho Christian (Temecula CA)
Talented multi-positional player has excellent inside-out skills, including impressive accuracy on jump-shot and above-average ball-handling skills for size.  Excellent student is a legit HM target

Shareef O’Neal                                6’10”  2018   Crossroads (Santa Monica)
Very improved forward has refined his skill level to go along with a recent growth spurt and is now starting to really fulfill his immense potential.  Son of NBA great Shaquille O’Neal had 15 points vs. Beverly Hills.

Joshua Phillips                               6’6”     2018   Edison (Huntington Beach CA)
Super sleeper West Coast 2018 PF won’t turn 17 until his junior year is over and is just now  scratching the surface of his very high potential.  Very active on the glass, Phillips is also an engaged defender/shotblocker.  Good student has a frame that looks like it’s not done adding inches and/or strength.

Wes Slatchert                                  6’3”     2018   Oak Park (CA)
Heady combo-guard has a very good feel for the game and dangerous 3-point stroke.

Cassius Stanley                             6’5”     2019   Harvard-Westlake (North Hollywood CA)
Big time athletic guard has underrated shooting and ball-handling skills.  Looked to be in great shape here.  Already high up on the 2019 recruiting charts, Stanley still has plenty of room to improve before he fulfills his great upside.  Expect his HM school list to get longer before it gets shorter!

Chris Williams                                 6’2”     2017   Orange Lutheran (Orange CA)
Very underrated lead guard can get buckets as is evidenced by his 25 point effort in a win over Redondo.

Ryse Williams                                  6’3”     2017   Redondo Union (Redondo Beach CA)
High-scoring WG headed to Loyola Marymount had 21 points and the game winning shot as time expired versus Cantwell.


Showcase Division Honorable Mention (in alphabetical order):

6’3” 2017 Jamal Bogan (Lynwood/Lynwood CA), 6’3” 2020 Dillon DePina (Heritage Christian/CA), 6’7” 2018 Andre Fields (Cantwell/Montebello CA), 5’10” 2017 Ali Iken (Harvard-Westlake/North Hollywood CA), 6’5” 2019 KJ Martin (Chaminade/West Hills CA), 6’4” 2018 Avery Martinez(Cantwell/Montebello CA), 6’3” 2019 Darius Mason-Robertson (Pasadena/CA), 6’1” 2017 Jailen Moore (Redondo Union/Redondo Beach CA), 6’8” 2020 Evan Mobley (Rancho Christian/Temecula CA), 6’7” 2019 Cade Potter (Orange Luthern/Orange CA), 6'2" 2019 L. Simpson (Harvard-Westlake/North Hollywood CA). 


 

HOME I  ABOUT I ARTICLES I CONTACT US I RANKINGS I SCOUTING 
                       



STAFF ONLY

- HOME -