Some of Northern California's top boys basketball talent gathers Saturday at Newark Memorial High School for the NorCal Tipoff Classic.
Approximately 20 Division I prospects will be at the event, including four signees: 5-foot-8 senior Travon Abraham of Sacramento High (Rice), St. Mary's 6-4 senior Dominique Lee (Utah), and a pair of Oakland junior guards to Santa Clara, 6-foot Dominique Taplin and T.J. Taylor.
Other seniors of note include: Buchanan 6-3 guard Jackson Carbajal, Castlemont 6-4 guard John Green, Newark Memorial 6-4 forward Khion Sankey, Sacramento 5-8 guard Travon Abraham, Sacramento 6-8 forward Will Davis and St. Mary's 6-3 forward Demetrius Lee (Dominque's twin).
More prominent juniors are Castlemont 6-2 guard Deveraux Manley, Castro Valley's 6-foot guard Rodrick Bobbitt, 6-6 forward Juan Anderson and 6-3 forward Chris Read, Sacramento's 6-3 guard Josiah Turner and 6-10 post Robert Garrett, St. Joseph's 5-7 guard Jacari Whitfield and 6-9 center Brendan Keane, St. Patrick/St. Vincent 6-foot guard Robbie Herndon and University 6-3 swingman Noah Springwater.
Top sophomores including Buchanan 6-2 guard Alex Fertig, Newark Memorial 5-11 guard Casey Norris and St. Mary's 6-2 guard Glenn Baral.
The matchups are:
11 a.m., Tennyson vs. Analy
12:30 p.m., Modesto Christian vs. Castlemont
2:15 p.m., Buchanan (Fresno) vs. St. Patrick’s
3:45 p.m., Oakland vs. Miramonte
5:30 p.m., St. Joseph’s vs. University
7 p.m., Newark Memorial vs. Castro Valley
8:30 p.m., St. Mary’s vs. Sacramento
Here's a preview of each game.
Tennyson vs. Analy
Seniors 6-foot-7 Lavonte Calvin and 6-2 Julian Powers are both back for coach Damon Jones at Tennyson. Analy finished 27-7 last season and 5-8 junior guard Max Fuji returns as does 6-2 senior Kevin Aronis. Fuji led Analy in scoring at 14 points per game while Aronis is the best shooter on the squad.
Modesto Christian vs. Castlemont
Modesto Christian went 23-9 last year but Reeves Nelson has moved on to UCLA. Who will step up for Gary Porter? Check out Isiah Burse and 6-5 Hayden Lee. Reigning Oakland Athletic League MVP John Green leads Castlemont. Look for him to average a double-double this season and teammate Deveraux Manley, a 6-2 guard, to also stand out.
Buchanan vs. St. Patrick's-St. Vincent
Jackson Carbajal, a 6-3 senior who just committed to Sacramento State, is Buchanan's top performer, along with 6-2 sophomore Alex Fertig. Both are deluxe shooters. St. Patrick/St. Vincent Robbie Herndon scored 16 points per game last season as a 6-foot-1 sophomore while the Bruins finished 18-10.
Oakland vs. Miramonte
Oakland's junior backcourt of Taplin (15 ppg) and Taylor (17 ppg) are dynamite. Another solid backcourt player David Douglas has moved over from St. Elizabeth. Miramonte finished 24-6 last year and returns senior Chris Hatfield (17 ppg) along with 6-5 Spenser McDonald and top assist man Davis Louie.
St. Joseph's vs. University
Juniors Keane and Whitfield are the big and small leading St. Joseph's, the defending NorCal champions. They will face coach Randy Bessolo's Red Devils who finished 23-7 last year and return Springwater, who participating in the 18th Annual Maccabiah Games in Israel this summer.
Newark Memorial (Newark) vs. Castro Valley
Sankey stands 6-4 but backs down from nobody inside, 5-10 Casey Norris runs the squad from the point and Salesian transfer Kendall Andrews, a 6-3 forward, will be a great asset for Craig Ashmore's Cougars, who went 27-6 last season. Castro Valley will miss graduated Rashad Parker but still boasts the junior trio of Anderson, Read and Bobbitt. That's a load of athleticism and firepower for a team that went 23-5 last year.
St. Mary's (Berkeley) vs. Sacramento
This is the heavyweight championship battle of the night. Derek Swafford's Sacramento squad finished 27-6 last year and with the return of Abraham and Turner, one of Northern California's top-ranked players, watch out for the Dragons. Coach Manny Nodar's St. Mary's squad - 28-6 last year - return the Lee twins Dominque and Demtrius, along with 6-2 sophomore Baral and senior point Justin Pollard.
