CIF State Finals: Saturday

Prep Hoops was at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, CA for the California State Basketball Finals. It was a two day event with games on Friday, and Saturday. On Friday in the DIV I Final Damien 65, Clovis North 57. Division III Pleasant Valley 57, Venice 53. Division V Stuart Hall 56, Chaffey 45. PH was in the gym on Saturday for the Open, Div II, and Div IV title games. CIF Open Boys Championship: Centennial 59, Modesto Christian 50. Donovan Dent 6’3 2022 Guard of Centennial showed himself to be the best player on the court on Saturday night. 21pts, 8rebs, 5asts, 3stls, and 2blks. The New Mexico commit showed his next level skills throughout the game. Jared McCain 6’3 SG 2023 of Centennial has an elite game, high IQ, constantly making good decisions, always seems to be aware of the situation. He plays at a good pace, and will make you work for your points. He’s established himself as one of the top shooters/guards on the West Coast. 16pts, 5-7fga, 3-5 3pa, 3-4ft, 3rebs, 2asts, 2stls. Devin Williams 6’9 2023 W/F of Centennial is a name we should get used to hearing about. At 6’9 he has a set of skills that we will see on full display at the next level. He’s long with range to knock down the 3pt shot, he has the length to disrupt defenses on the perimeter and in the paint. He was a game changer from the outside/inside. 10pts, 5rebs, 4blks. Aaron McBride 6’5 2023 F of Centennial. Versatile is what comes to mind when we see McBride, he was a contributor in all phases of the game. He scored 10pts, grabbed 6 rebounds and defended who ever was in front of him. He’s a component of a team that’s in sync with each other on the court. Ramsey Huff 6'1 2022 G of Centennial. He might get overlooked with all the top names on this team, but make no mistake he's a key component to the thing they call chemistry with this team. He's that ball hawking defender that tends to be annoying. He can guard top scorers. Most of what he does doesn't end up on a stat sheet. [player_tooltip player_id="1119247" first="Jamari" last="Phillips"] 6’3 2024 SG of Modesto Christian. Phillips level was tested in this game going up against quality DI prospects. He didn’t disappoint, the rising 2024 player has the physical tools to compete at a high level. He made shots while being hounded, and surrounded from all sides. He had 20pts the hard way. [player_tooltip player_id="1253094" first="BJ" last="Davis"] 6’1 2023 CG of Modesto Christian. Davis continues his rise as a top prospect in NorCal. His speed, handles, and quickness along with a relentless effort on both ends was on display at the highest level against quality competition. 9pts, 7rebs, 2asts, and 2blks. [player_tooltip player_id="1253235" first="Manasse" last="Itete"] 6’6 F/PF of Modesto Christian. The big body square shouldered prospect was a key player in keeping the game close and his team competitive. He played an outstanding game battling through fatigue and injury. He battled for paint presence on both sides of the court. He used a jump hook to add 11pts, and his big body to try and neutralize Centennial in the paint. CIF Boys Division II Championship: Elk Grove 62, Foothill 56. [player_tooltip player_id="766857" first="Ameere" last="Britton"] 6’2 2022 CG of Elk Grove. He set the tone early in the big game like most big time players do. He showed his composure and combo skills passing and setting up teammates, while mixing in his own scoring abilities, and good ball pressure up top. He trusted his teammates down the stretch. 20pts, 6rebs, 4asts, 2stls and 1blk. Jordan Hess 5’9 2022 G, and Karlos Zepeda 5’9 2022 SG were key players in this game Hess knocked down open 3’s in the first half for 10pts, (13) total, while Zepeda scored most of his points in the second half, including clutch free throws down the stretch to finish with 17pts. Both players combined for 30pts to help Elk Grove secure it’s first State Championship. Cruz Billings 5’9 2022 SG of Foothill. He’s about as tough and relentless as they come. He and his teammates were scrappy with good intensity on defense. He scored 23pts, 5asts,and 3rebs. He was good at getting into the lane for pull ups and attacking bigs. Jacob Horton 5’10 2022 G was just as scrappy together these two kept foothill in the game with their relentless ball pressure in full court causing turnovers and disrupting Elk Groves flow. He had 10pts, 5rebs. CIF Boys Division IV Championship: Scripps Ranch 46, Justin Siena 37. Lamont Wilkerson 6’0 2022 PG, SG of Scripps Ranch. He was the best player on the court in this game. His speed and quickness on both ends of the court couldn’t be contained by Siena. He scored 19pts in different ways, he had 4stls for layups. The lefty was unstoppable on the drive to the basket. Jax Leatherwood 6’6 2023 SF, PF of Scripps Leatherwood the multisport (football) athlete joins a small group of players to win a state title in two sports basketball, and football. He’s a big player with the skills, movement, and shot to play on the perimeter, along with the size to be a game changer in the post on defense. He flirted with a triple double. 7pts, 7rebs, 8blks. Travis Hightower 6’6 2023 SG, SF of Justin Siena. Hightower is officially on the watch list. Coming from NorCal Justin Siena is a small school in the Napa area that we hadn’t seen much of until they got on this play-off run to the state. He’s a long skilled player with a good inside outside game. He scored taking it to the basket. He used his length inside on both ends. 10pts, 9rebs. He’s on the Wright’s Watch List. Vincent Jackson 6’4 2023 G/F of Justin Siena. Jackson a strong player who made his presence felt around the basket finishing on both side with the left/right. He can handle in the open court. He has vision and good passing skills. He was effective at the high post. He came close to a double-double with 8pts, and 13rebs. He’s on the Wright’s Watch List. Ma’el Blunt 5’11 2023 CG of Justin Siena. Blunt has the speed and ball handling skills to go by defenders, using nice crossovers and change of direction to get to the basket. He’s a capable guard who can generate his own scoring opportunities, he’s a solid passer with good vision. Blunt has quick hands and good footspeed to disrupt other ball handlers. 6pts, 5rebs,4asts.   Tuesday March 8th, CIF NorCal Division I Finals: Clovis North 58, Saint Ignatius 56. Connor Amundsen 5’10 2024 PG of Clovis North The rising 2024 prospect Amundsen put on a show, carrying his team to a fourth straight road victory in the playoffs, and a spot in the CIF State Div I Finals. The Central Valley prospect scored 21pts, using his handles, and quickness to repeatedly get into the paint for jumpers. He was effective getting into the paint playing off two feet to keeping the bigs off balance, and dropping 3’s from a long distance. [player_tooltip player_id="1116239" first="John" last="Squire"] 6’6 2023 PF of Saint Ignatius. Squire owned the paint in this game, drawing double and triple teams at times to counter his a size advantage. When he wasn’t passing out of the double teams, he was busy racking up points and rebounds. He joins the double-double club with his dominating paint performance. He had 18pts, 22reb, 4blocks.