By Mitch Stephens
MaxPreps.com
BERKELEY, Calif. - A premier national team matchup plus individual showdown highlight Monday's Martin Luther King Jr. Classic hosted by De La Salle (Concord) at Cal's Haas Pavilion.
While most are focused - and rightfully so - on the showdown between De La Salle (14-1), ranked 23rd nationally by MaxPreps, and No. 25 McClymonds (Oakland, 19-0), just as intriguing is the individual matchup in the day's first boys game between Galena (Reno, Nev., 11-10) and Amador Valley (Pleasanton, 12-6) at 2:15 p.m.
Galena, the only team in the Classic located outside California, features Luke Babbitt, the 6-foot-8, 225-pound senior forward who last week became Nevada's all-time leading scorer during a 77-67 loss to Desert Pines (Las Vegas).
Babbitt, the nation's No. 24 recruit according to CSTV, de-committed to Ohio State and signed a letter of intent to Nevada. Through 15 games, Babbitt was averaging 29.9 points, 13.2 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game.
"He belongs on top of the record books because he's a top-end talent with a top-end work ethic," Galena coach Tom Mauer said. "He's one of those players you get to coach only once in a lifetime."
The same could be said for one of the nation's top defensive stoppers, Amador Valley 6-11 senior Kevin Laue, who according to Tri-Valley Herald prep editor Dennis Miller averages more than 10 blocks per game.
Laue had 10 blocks Friday in a 53-52 loss to Monte Vista, a game he played just 18 minutes due to foul trouble.
"He's got to be one of the most dominating big men on the West Coast," Amador Valley coach Rob Collins. "He's an absolute game-changer."
What makes Laue even more amazing is that he doesn't have a left hand or forearm due to a birth defect.
He uses his left nub to secure the ball and bring it up during free throws. His story has been widely told even in the pages of Sports Illustrated, but the best was written by Tim Fitzgerald of the San Francisco Chronicle.
In it, Fitzgerald notes that the high-spirited Laue rhymes with "wow," that he tells people his arm was bit off by a shark and that because he blocks so many shots, teammates have tabbed him Laue Ming.
Collins, a truly spirited and good soul himself, told Fitzgerald: "What he's doing is nothing short of amazing. How many amazing things do you see in your life? I've never seen a kid like this, with so much confidence to put up with the ridicule I'm sure he's put up with his entire life, to fight forward and keep his head up and not let things bother him -- and joke about it."
The premier team matchup is a rematch of last year's Northern California Division I semifinal, a 46-36 McClymonds victory.
Both teams return most of their players, but McClymonds added a huge piece in 6-6 junior Damon Powell, who transferred from San Lorenzo after attending McClymonds as a freshman. Add it 6-6 Frank Otis, who has already signed to SMU, and junior guard Will Cherry and the Warriors have been unbeatable. Literally.
De La Salle lost high-scoring guard Ryan Silva to graduation off last year's 28-3 team, but feature one of Northern California's top junior point guards Brandon Smith, high-scoring off-guard Jose Rivera, lights-out three-point shooter Dominic Martellaro and one of the top sophomores in the state, 6-8 John McArthur.
"It will be like a state championship environment," De La Salle coach Frank Allocco told Will McCulloch of the San Francisco Chronicle.
Here's a lineup of today's games at Haas Pavilion
MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. CLASSIC
GIRLS
St. Ignatius (San Francisco) vs. Alhambra (Martinez), 11:15 a.m.
Carondelet (Concord) vs. Granada (Livermore), 12:45 p.m.
BOYS
Amador Valley (Pleasanton) vs. Galena (Reno, Nev.), 2:15 p.m.
Skyline (Oakland) vs. Newark Memorial (Newark), 4
Berkeley vs. Salesian (Richmond), 5:45
McClymonds (Oakland) vs. De La Salle (Concord), 7:30
