One upset so far as bubble club Mayfair of Lakewood upsets preseason No. 8 Compton in the quarterfinals of the 62nd Annual Pacific Shores Tournament. Mayfair will take on nationally-ranked St. John Bosco in one semifinal with state No. 11 and host Redondo Union taking on No. 4 Westchester in the other semifinal contest.
Ranking the talented boys’ basketball team at Compton in the preseason was a tricky proposition. The Tarbabes are loaded with talent, but have had a penchant for stinker losses in recent seasons.
We began Compton No. 8 in the state, but after beating Narbonne of Harbor City 74-66 to open the tournament Wednesday, the Tarbabes were upset by bubble club Mayfair of Lakewood, 75-66, in the quarterfinals. The Monsoons were led by Ocean View of Huntington Beach transfer guard Kendall Small. The No. 12 ranked 2015 prospect in the state netted 27 points.
Awaiting Mayfair in Friday’s early semifinal will be St. John Bosco, the No. 3 ranked team in the state and No. 15 in the preseason Student Sports FAB 50. The Braves dispatched of Palos Verdes in the opening round 84-35 and then knocked off upstart Long Beach Millikan, 83-69, in the quarterfinals behind stellar performances from Daniel Hamilton and Tyler Dorsey. Hamilton, the state’s No. 2 ranked 2014 prospect, had 27 points and 18 rebounds while Dorsey, the No. 2 ranked prospect in the 2015 Cal-Hi Sports Hot 100, added 23 points and 10 rebounds.
The St. John Bosco-Mayfair game will begin at 3:30 pm so Braves’ fans can endure Black Friday traffic to the San Fernando Valley and watch the school’s undefeated football team take on Alemany of Mission Hills in the CIFSS Pac-Five Division quarterfinals.
Millikan received 25 points in a losing effort from 6-foot-5 wing Malik Marquetti. The nephew of former Verbum Dei standout and 1978 McDonald’s All-American Leonel Marquetti has been the talk of the early season in SoCal hoops so far. In the opening round, Marquetti scored 30 points, including the winning free throws with just under two seconds remaining, in a 71-69 victory over Calabasas.
Marquetti is a bouncy wing with length and has the big-time scoring ability and athleticism mid major to low high major colleges crave. He does need a more consistent jump shot, but he’ll move up the board in our next player rankings shuffle and college offers will follow suit as well. He was introduced to the SoCal basketball community by noted grassroots coach and mentor Rick Isaacs and has not disappointed.
The next team right behind St. John Bosco in the state rankings is No. 4 Westchester of Los Angeles. The defending L.A. City Division I champions advanced to the semifinals with a hard-fought 72-60 win over preseason No. 12 Long Beach Poly. LMU-bound Elijah Stewart, ranked No. 42 in the 2014 Cal-Hi Sports Hot 100, led the way with 23 points.
Westchester, which had no trouble with Peninsula in the opening round, was only one spot behind Bosco in the preseason state rankings, but opened up 22 spots behind the Braves in the FAB 50 (No. 37 to No. 15). Westchester will have a chance to prove it will be a major player on a national level provided the rest of the tournament goes its way. The Comets will face state No. 11 Redondo Union in Friday’s late semifinal.
Host Redondo Union opened up with a surprisingly easy 76-39 victory over Morningside of Inglewood and dispatched of Campbell Hall of North Hollywood in the quarterfinals, 68-60. Unsigned center Terrell Carter, a transfer from West Torrance, has played well for Redondo and should make a move up in our next player rankings shuffle. Another falling into that category is Long Beach Poly’s Chris Sullivan. The physical guard and top-notch defender signed early with Cal Poly Pomona.
For more national basketball updates, please visit StudentSportsBasketball.com.
