Bruin Recruiting: Prep News Roundup (3/16)

By Bruin Basketball Report 

Prep News Roundup is published every Monday

Commits 

Sixth-seeded Fairfax came into Mater Dei's gym and handed the third-seeded Monarchs a stunning 79-64 defeat tonight in a Southern California Division I regional quarterfinal. Guard Jordan Weathers made seven three-point baskets and scored 23 points and forward Solomon Hill had 19 points for the Lions, who handed the Monarchs their first home loss since Lake Oswego (Ore.) and Kevin Love defeated Mater Dei in February 2007. Senior center Renardo Sidney had only 10 points and played much of the game in foul trouble. Tyler Lamb and David Wear had 19 points each for Mater Dei. LA Times 3/10 

The first smile came immediately after the St. Mary's High boys basketball team defeated Modesto Christian 59-40 in Thursday's California Interscholastic Federation Division IV NorCal semifinal at Ripon High....Modesto Christian star, UCLA-bound Reeves Nelson, ended the night with 11 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks. Contra Costa Times 3/13 

Central Catholic was inspired and Grant was sluggish, an afternoon after each lost semifinal games. And the third-place trophy at the Class 6A boys basketball tournament went to the Rams, who beat the Generals 59-39 Saturday at McArthur Court....Outside the other locker room, Grant coach Tony Broadous and his players talked about the letdown from losing to Jesuit in the 6A semis. "Tough game to play" meaning the third-place affair, says UCLA-bound Mike Moser, who had an unspectacular prep finale, with eight points on 2-of-10 shooting and four rebounds. "We were emotionally drained." Portland Tribune 3/14 

The second-seeded Thunder (31-2) escaped with a 50-49 win to advance to its first NorCal championship game Saturday at Arco Arena. Rocklin will play top-seeded St. Francis of Mountain View, a 63-52 winner over Fairfield, at 4 p.m. Third-seeded Hayward (21-9) brought defensive pressure unlike anything Rocklin had seen this season. The 6-foot-10 Brendan Lane looked as if he had been in a prize fight. He had a welt on his forehead, with bruises and scratches on his shoulders and arms. He wrestled for position with Demico Jackson, Hayward's burly, 6-5 center and the enforcer in the Farmers' double and triple teams. Lane finished with a game-high 18 points, but he had just five in the second half. "No team has played us that physical," Lane said. "They tried to push me as far from the basket as they could, so it was a real challenge." Sacramento Bee 3/13 

Top-seeded Windward-Los Angeles defeated No. 4 CVC 80-67 in a regional semifinal game. Windward-Los Angeles (27-6) features two of the state's top seniors in point guard Darius Morris and 6-foot-10 center Anthony Stover, and both proved their lofty prospect status with their respective performances against CVC. Morris, who will play college basketball at Michigan next year, scored a team-high 24 points, and Stover, who is a UCLA signed recruit, had 19 points. Visalia Times 3/13 

Rocklin 70, St. Francis 65: The Lancers trailed only 34-31 at halftime, but the Thunder steadily pulled away in the second half behind the frontcourt of UCLA-bound forward Brendan Lane (6-10) and future Santa Clara baseball player Pat Stover (6-5) in the Division II final at Arco Arena. ... Lane finished with 17 points and 15 rebounds and Stover had 15 points and 10 rebounds. Rocklin (32-2), which won despite 25 turnovers, will meet Eisenhower-Rialto in Friday's state final. San Francisco Chronicle 3/15 

Recruits 

The Miller School’s VIS Division 2 championship on Saturday was especially sweet for the Mavericks, as they avenged an earlier loss to top-seeded Atlantic Shores Christian en route to their first state title....One of the main reasons Miller was able to come away with the title was because of a stellar performance from Mychal Parker. The 6-foot-6 junior poured in a game-high 26 points, 10 of which came from the free-throw line. Parker made timely baskets throughout and also helped key a pivotal third-quarter run for the Mavericks. When he wasn’t doing the scoring, he often found open teammates Brice Kofane, Marshawn Powell and Hippolyte Tsafack underneath. Parker also grabbed nine rebounds and snagged a pair of steals in the win. Daily Progress 3/10 

Trey Zeigler has a message for UCLA coach Ben Howland: Get back to me in 10 days or so. A note from Ray McCallum Jr. to college coaches like Kansas' Bill Self and Oklahoma's Jeff Capel III: I want to hear what you have to say, but can you wait a few weeks? Now, you wouldn't expect that kind of bravado from your everyday high school basketball junior hoping for that exposure to a major program and possible full-ride scholarship. But Zeigler and McCallum, whose teams are playing in the state tournament this week, have a leg up on the normalhigh school player. It's called fatherly advice and experience. Detroit News 3/11 

Harrison Barnes and his Ames teammates will finish the season in the state championship game. Barnes, the Little Cyclones' highly touted 6-foot-6 junior, scored 23 points to lead No. 1 Ames to a 52-39 victory over Johnston on Friday in the Class 4A semifinals at the boys state tournament. Chicago Tribune 3/13 

Ames’ Harrison Barnes soared over Linn-Mar of Marion in Saturday’s Class 4-A title game before a gate-swelling 12,000 fans. Every one of his six dunks and 24 points brought back a bit of history in the 55-45 win at Wells Fargo Arena. Des Moines Register 3/14 

It was hard to tell what disrupted Riverside King High more Saturday night at Pauley Pavilion, a flurry of technical fouls or a zone defense that seemed to continually perplex the Wolves. Westchester benefited from both developments during a 53-39 victory over top-seeded King in the Southern California Division I regional boys' basketball championship that propelled the second-seeded Comets to their first state title game since 2005....Senior guard Dominique O'Connor had 14 points and junior guard Jordin Mayes had 12 for the Comets. LA Times 3/15 

One of the top shooting guards in the west coast, Jordan Mackie, gave the University of San Diego a verbal commitment on Wednesday. The 6-4 shooting guard attends Dorsey H.S. in Los Angeles. Mackie becomes the fourth commit for San Diego in their 2009 recruiting class. SLAM 3/15

(photo credit: Sacramento Bee)