The marquee game of the morning was between two of the top teams in Southern California: Cal Sparks Gold and West Coast Premier Black. The Sparks have members from Long Beach Poly, Inglewood and Washington Prep. West Coast Premier has players from everywhere - Poly, Mater Dei, Beverly Hills, Ayala, Diamond Ranch, Colony and Santa Margarita, just to name a few.
The game was close until about the middle of the third, when Premier started pulling away. At least that's what I was told, because I was going back and forth between that game and Cal Sparks Black vs. EBO Red.
Teams have come from throughout the LA metro area, San Diego, Fresno, Arizona, Roseville CA, and Ventura. I was there for a long time because it was so much fun to watch. There was so much talent on all four courts that it was hard to pull away.
Cal Sparks Gold (in dark uniforms) and West Coast Premier Black face off in the premiere morning game.
Super about-to-be-soph Jordan Adams (Mater Dei) left, and super about-to-be-junior Reshanda "Too Tall" Gray (Washington Prep) are two of the reasons the future of the game is so bright.
The referee signals a Cal Sparks Black (in light blue uniforms) three-pointer, as EBO goes to retrieve the ball. The Sparks lost, 39-37 in overtime.
Cal Sparks Gold and West Premier Black battle it out under the hoop.
Each team played hard, but there was no dirty play on anyone's part, which was impressive.
Premier won, 54-46.
As previously mentioned in this space, most of the girls on these teams have had a brutal travel schedule so far this month, to hurry and "be seen" before the NCAA dead period July 16-21. I talked with one of the girls I know, who was still reeling from arriving back yesterday to turn around and do this tournament over the next two days. I told her to hang in there and remember she has days off coming up. And that when she is in college and doesn't have to pay a dime for it, she'll be glad. The guy sitting there taking tickets at the door smiled, nodded and said to her, "yup." It's a good lesson in life for the girls; sometimes you gotta just cram.
2 comments:
Great pictures and I am glad you had a good time. I love watching these events.
Many girls do get a nice rest between the viewing periods, however, many are going to be playing with their HS teams starting Thursday in San Diego. That could mean another 6 games in 4 days before they have to leave for another road trip and to play before the coaches again. Although I love the HS tournament, I hate the timing of it. I really wish it was moved to the middle of June. I have to believe the venues are free by that time. I would think the girls want to be at their peak strength and adding in the SD Classic is too much.
I know I mentioned it before but here is an example(in case anyone missed it) of one team, Cal Swish, but it could also be similar for other teams(includes players who will play for their HS teams in SD)
July 6-9 - 7 games in EOT in Oregon
July 10-- 1 game in Costa Mesa
July 11-14 -- 6 games in Chicago
July 15 Day off
July 16-19 -- 6 games in SD
July 20 off
July 21 plane trip to Nashville
July 22-25 -- 7 games in Nashville
July 26-27 drive from Nashville to Augusta SC
July 28-31 -- 6 games at Nike Nationals in Augusta-one of the toughest tournaments in the country
Thats 33 games in 25 days in 6 different cities/venues.
I am not sure anyone can be at their peak with that schedule.
Congrats to all the girls that bust their butts doing it.
IM in OC
The team I'm affiliated with is in a league Tuesday and Thursday nights. But I doubt if the coach will force the ones who participated in the summer jam tourney to play.
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