Seven of California's top boys' teams square off, along with Lake Oswego (Ore.) in 15th annual event at Cal's Hass Pavilion; Top girls' squads Carondelet-St. Mary's-Stockton tip-off as well.
BERKELEY, Calif. - Arguably the biggest day of the non-postseason Bay Area prep basketball campaign takes place Monday to celebrate the life of Martin Luther King Jr.
Mitty's Aaron Gordon is averaged
more than 26 points in nonleague
play.
Photo by Todd Shurtleff
The headliner of four events is the 15th Annual Martin Luther King Classic at Cal's Haas Pavilion, which will feature almost exclusively cross-sectional showdowns, including the headliner of the six-game event, host
De La Salle (Concord) (12-2), California's No. 20 team, against No. 7
Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) (12-2), coming off a 61-59 loss at Serra on Saturday.
De La Salle is the defending Northern California Division I champion and Mitty is defending State and Northern California Division II champion.
Reigning San Francisco Chronicle Metro Player of the Year
Aaron Gordon, a 6-foot-8 post with guards skills, is one of the top juniors in the country for Mitty. He's recovering from mononucleosis and after not playing in a mid-week game against Riordan, he had 25 points against Serra. It wasn't enough.
De La Salle is led by 5-11 senior guard
Amadi Udenyi and 6-5 junior wing
Elliot Pitts. The Spartans also sustained an upset league loss, dropping a 41-40 decision at Monte Vista on Jan. 6.
Following a 10:30 a.m. match-up of local rivals who don't play often,
Berkeley and
St. Mary's (Berkeley), one of the most anticipated girls games of the season takes place at 12:15 p.m., as
St. Mary's (Stockton) (10-3) plays
Carondelet (Concord) (12-2). This is a terrific match-up of two of the top programs in the state.
Hannah Huffman has signed to Notre
Dame.
Photo by Dennis Lee
Carondelet, ranked seventh in the state by MaxPreps, features the potent one-two punch of Notre Dame-bound
Hannah Huffman and super sophomore
Natalie Romeo. St. Mary's, winners of seven state titles, is led by Courtney Range, Regina Camera and
Onome
Jemerigbe.
The remaining four games feature state ranked teams: No. 14
Newark Memorial (11-4) against
Lake Oswego (Ore.) (10-3) at 2 p.m.; No. 64
Deer Valley (Antioch, Calif.) (11-5) versus No. 52
Franklin (Elk Grove) (13-4) at 3:45 p.m.; De La Salle and Mitty at 5:30 p.m.; and finished up with No. 3
Salesian (Richmond) (14-2) against No. 33
Sacramento (12-4).
Salesian is led by the 20th-ranked junior in the country
Jabari Bird.
