State Preview Classic: Top Senior Performers (Pt. 1)

<p>ONTARIO — The annual State Preview Classic hosted by Harvey Kitani had a co-host this year in Colony high school and coach Jerry DeFabiis. The always-loaded event had some of the top SoCal high school programs and prospects line it up for an eight game event. Below are the game results and first set of top performers from the senior class.</p> <p>Rancho Verde 61, Oak Hills 51<br /> St. Francis 64, Long Beach Poly 60<br /> Rolling Hills Prep 68, Saugus 58<br /> Los Altos 61, Hillcrest 50<br /> St. Anthony 60, Capistrano Valley Christian 59<br /> Harvard-Westlake 79, Birmingham 55<br /> Etiwanda 53, Colony 52<br /> Corona Centennial 72, Crean Lutheran 57</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="748749" first="Benny" last="Gealer"]</strong>, Rolling Hills Prep - Gealer didn’t have the explosive scoring game that we’ve become accustomed to seeing as he finished with a solid 14 points, but his energy on both ends of the floor and ability to make plays for teammates went a long way in the Huskies win over Saugus, especially after starting point guard Blake Yamada went down early with an injury. Gealer was driving and kicking to open shooters, hitting big men with timely and accurate post entry passes and made the opposing ball handlers work for every offensive look.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="748768" first="Brandon" last="Perez"]</strong>, Saugus - One half of the Saugus Perez duo was available for this game and Brandon came out firing in the first half as he hit five three-pointers in the opening half en route to 21 points in the first 16 minutes. Rolling Hills Prep tightened the screws in the second half and Perez made the right decisions with the ball instead of forcing bad shots. The Western Oregon-commit finished with a game-high 25 points in the loss.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="970276" first="Buckley" last="DeJardin"]</strong>, St. Francis - Dejardin had an impressive effort on both ends of the floor and his versatility as a decision-maker on the ball and driver and shooter off the ball makes him a tough cover at the high school level. The 6-foot-5 Carnegie Mellon-commit scored a game-high 28 points and did so in a variety of ways. Dejardin hit catch and shoot three’s, pull-up jumpers and driving layups to lead the Golden Knights to a four-point victory.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="954226" first="Christian" last="Watson"]</strong>, Long Beach Poly - It was our first time getting a look at Watson this season as he’d been battling an ankle injury during our previous viewings of Poly. The 6-foot-4 point guard showed some positive growth in his game, especially when it came to his ball security and body control when driving. Watson has always been a long and wiry player who struggled to stay on balance through contact, but he’s definitely added some strength to his core which allows him to absorb and finish through contact better. Watson also showed more control with his shot selection and made it a point make the simple play on drives rather than forcing up a tough shot.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="748742" first="CJ" last="Bellamy"]</strong>, Los Altos - Bellamy was one of the bigger offseason transfer names as he went from Roosevelt to Los Altos and was expected to add an immediate scoring punch on the perimeter to go along with [player_tooltip player_id="992478" first="Jazz" last="Gardner"] in the middle. The 5-foot-8 guard is as quick and strong as they come and can knock down pull-up three’s and mid-range jumpers with consistency. Bellamy’s offense was needed in the win over Hillcrest with Gardner out most of the first half due to foul trouble. The senior tied for game-high honors in scoring with 18 points.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="954255" first="Elijah" last="Price"]</strong>, St. Anthony - CVC had no answer for St. Anthony’s Price whose combination of size, length and skill at 6-feet-8 allowed him to dominate inside for the majority of this game. The senior Division I caliber prospect had 16 points at the half and finished with 22 in the Saints narrow one-point victory. In addition to his offense, Price controlled the painted area on the defensive end with his rim protecting and rebounding.</p>