Bruin Recruiting: Prep News Roundup (3/6)

By Bruin Basketball Report

Prep News Roundup published every Monday during the season.

Commits

The Pioneers avenged last year's loss to Santa Margarita in the final by absolutely crushing the Eagles, 77-44, for the CIF Southern Section Division III-AA title at the Arrowhead Pond... Their All-American center, James Keefe (14 points), struggled to get open against Pioneers mammoth Shawntell Norman, and nobody else was making shots. .. "They were more athletic and quicker than we were," Santa Margarita coach Jerry DeBusk said. "We got caught up trying to play up an up-tempo style of game and that's not us. We didn't play very smart, but, obviously, they contributed to that. L.B. Press Telegram 3/5

McDonald's All-American and UCLA-bound forward James Keefe leads the Santa Margarita Eagles in their third consecutive CIF Division III-AA title game on Saturday against Artesia. It will be a battle between the top two seeds in the division; Artesia is seeded No.1 and Santa Margarita No.2. Bruin Basketball Report 3/3

Howland's first recruiting class included McDonald's All-Americans Jordan Farmar and Arron Afflalo. His second was ranked 13th in the nation by Scout.com. His third, due on campus in the fall, features power forward James Keefe, another McDonald's All-American. And his fourth, to be signed in November, might include center Kevin Love, considered by many to be one of the top two juniors in the country. San Jose Mercury News 3/2


Recruits

Kevin Love enhanced his growing legacy and Lake Oswego prevented its season of redemption from ending before the state tournament as the Lakers made a furious comeback Saturday in the OSAA Class 4A boys basketball playoffs. Love's rebound basket at the buzzer in overtime gave second-ranked Lake Oswego a 50-48 victory over visiting Canby and advanced the Lakers to this week's state tournament in Eugene. Oregonian 3/4

Lake Oswego got 38 points and 18 rebounds from Kevin Love in a 79-58 victory over Redmond, and defending state champion Jesuit rolled over Roseburg 81-40. Portland Tribune 3/2

Once again proving they can take their show on the road, the Panthers shrugged off Mountain View’s deliberate style to win going away, 62-32, in front of a capacity crowd of 2,000 on Saturday. South Medford junior Kyle Singler had 19 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots in a game the Panthers took control of early and were relentless in their pursuit of a return trip to the state tournament in Eugene. Mail Tribune 3/5

Ahmaad Cook was the latest to fill the role, scoring 17 points Saturday night and contributing decisive baskets to help the fourth-seeded Comets (24-6) defeat third-seeded Woodland Hills Taft, 68-58, at the Sports Arena. Taft (22-5) trailed by 13 points at halftime and got as close as six points in the third quarter behind senior guard Calvin Haynes, who finished with 27 points. But the youthful Toreadors missed too many shots and had trouble finding support for Haynes aside from sophomore guard Larry Drew Jr., who had 18 points. L.A. Times 3/5

"Age is just a number," Larry Drew said. "We know we're doing something special here. We want to be known as the top team in the nation by the time we're seniors. We want to take this program to the next level." L.A. Daily News 3/4

Taft of Woodland Hills boys' basketball coach Derrick Taylor on sophomore point guard Larry Drew Jr., who scored 29 points with nine rebounds and six assists in the Toreadors' 71-54 victory over Sylmar in Friday's City Section semifinals. "Not many players can carry a team like Larry does. He understands the game. He knows when to pick his spots. He's a leader's leader."L.A. Daily News 2/28

The Cavaliers (23-7) showed that their team-first mentality could overcome sophomore Jrue Holiday and junior Justin Holiday, who had many convinced that Campbell Hall (25-5) would defend its CIF title. Instead, it was an all-around effort from Serra that proved championship caliber. Daily Breeze 3/4

Omondi Amoke, a 6-5 junior small forward from Oxnard High in Oxnard, Calif., had a rough summer last year in front of college coaches. Amoke hurt his ankle and tried to play through the injury during the evaluation period. By his own admission, he didn't show well in front of coaches, and he is anxious to show them what he can do at full strength. Amoke told us recently that he won't make a college choice until after the upcoming spring and summer evaluation periods. He told us UCLA, USC, Cal, Oregon, Washington and Utah are among the schools that have been in contact with him. Fox Sports 3/3

Oxnard (23-7) fell one win short of a trip to the final for the second time in the last four years.
Omondi Amoke had a game-high 19 points for Oxnard, which lost for the first time in 14 games. Ventura County Star 3/1

Lakewood Artesia 74, Santa Margarita 44 — The top-seeded Pioneers (29-1) stifled the Eagles (26-4) with a full-court press and a series of half-court traps that resulted in numerous rushed shots and several fast-break opportunities in the Division III-AA final at the Arrowhead Pond.Junior James Harden and sophomore Malik Story each had 22 points for Artesia. Derek Glasser contributed 10 points and six assists for the Pioneers. L.A. Times 3/5

"The idea was to go inside to Andy," Westview senior Nathan Clark said, referring to post Andy Poling. And why not? The 6-foot-11 Westview star had already scored 26 points in Saturday night's OSAA Class 4A basketball playoff game with upstart Franklin. But instead, Clark hit a 15-foot baseline shot with 2.3 seconds remaining to push the No. 6 Wildcats (21-6) past the Quakers 64-63 before an overflow crowd at Westview High School. Westview advances to play Lake Oswego on Thursday in the first round of the state tournament in Eugene. Oregonian 3/5

No. 6 Westview 73, Klamath Union 53: Andrew Jones scored 16 of his game-high 24 points in the first half and Andy Poling had 17 points for the Wildcats, who outrebounded the visiting Pelicans 33-15. Oregonian 3/2

Luke Babbitt, a 6-8 sophomore power forward from Galena High in Reno, Calif., is a gifted prospect who figures to be one of the top players in his class nationally. Babbitt recently told us he's been receiving early interest from UCLA, Arizona, Washington, Duke, Syracuse, Nevada and North Carolina State, among other programs. Fox Sports 3/3

Palo Alto (28-1) won the match-up of the section's top-ranked teams when many believed that Mitty was the favorite, having dominated the brutal West Catholic Athletic League with a team strong inside and out. But Palo Alto countered with tough defense on Mitty's 6-foot-9 Drew Gordon. Though the sophomore center scored 16 points, he became virtually the team's only offensive weapon as its guards struggled to score and forward Thomas Fang was held to six points. Mercury News 3/4

(BruinBasketballReport.com)

(photo credit: Oregonian)