National High School Hoops Festival, Midwest Showdown add appeal to weekend slate.
High school basketball's holiday havoc begins a week from now with events like the City of Palms Classic and Iolani Classic getting underway.
But that doesn't mean this weekend doesn't have plenty to offer. Several ranked teams will be presented with formidable challenges and a key contest in the Pacific Northwest could serve as an
Xcellent 25 play-in game.
Weekend Watch* No. 9 Hopkins (Minnetonka, Minn.) at Osseo (Minn.)Former Osseo forward Sam Dower – now at Gonzaga – took one on the chin Wednesday night in an 81-59 loss to Washington State. Hopkins is capable of making things similarly miserable for the Orioles – one of Minnesota's proudest programs in recent years with a 101-17 record since the 2006-07 season.
Head coach Mike Jones, DeMatha
Photo by Lonnie Webb
The Stags will play host to LeBron's alma mater Saturday in the new Morgan and Kathy Wootten Gymnasium. Both teams lost key players over the summer with St. Vincent-St. Mary's
Jakarr Sampson heading to
Brewster Academy (Wolfeboro, N.H.) and DeMatha's
Quinn Cook transferring to
Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.). Both are determined to prove they can win without their departed stars.
* No. 22 Winter Park (Fla.) vs. Providence (Jacksonville, Fla.) – Hoops With a Heart (Oviedo, Fla.)Florida's defending 6A state champion (Winter Park) takes on the defending 2A state champion (Providence) in one of two games at the Hoops With a Heart event with national implications. Winter Park is averaging 83.2 points per game in its five wins this season, but Providence will counter with a stingy defense that has limited its last two opponents to 38 points or less.
Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.) takes on
Orlando Christian Prep (Orlando, Fla.) in another key game in Oviedo.
* Oakland (Calif.) at Rainier Beach (Seattle, Wash.)Jabari Brown and the Wildcats head north to face storied Seattle program Rainier Beach and University of Washington-bound guard
Hikeem Stewart. Both teams are on the outside of the national Top 25 picture. A win Saturday night could change that. Oakland will prep for Rainier Beach by taking on 6-foot-8, 295-pound
Zach Banner and
Lakes (Lakewood, Wash.) on Friday night.
* Lew Wallace (Gary, Ind.) vs. McCluer North (Florissant, Mo.) – Midwest Showdown High School Shootout (St. Charles, Mo.)Terrell Ramey put together a crowd-pleaser by pitting a pair of Top 50 prospects in Lew Wallace's
Branden Dawson and McCluer North's
B.J. Young. Dawson, a 6-6 wing headed to Michigan State, is rated No. 16 in the 2011 class by MaxPreps.com while Young was tabbed No. 49 among all seniors nationally and signed with Arkansas. The game takes place Saturday on the campus of Lindenwood University.
