Hoops Factory TV Insider Report (weekly)
2013-14 HS news & story lines
1. CIF State Championship predictions
Division V Boys - St. Joseph Notre Dame, Alameda vs. Renaissance Academy, La Canada
-Prediction: Battle of the big fellas. St. Joseph's 6-7, 240-pound (Long Beach State Commit) Temidayo Yussuf and RA's Steve Herve, checking in at 6-6 230 respectively . Look for this one to be a grudge match coming down to the bench and role players making key contributions. Heart says St. Joes but brain says RA. RA wins in a close one.
Division III Boys - Sir Francis Drake, San Anselmo vs. Chaminade, West Hills
-Prediction: Drake is undersized and has overachieved all season. Chaminade is led by 6'9 soph Trevor Stanback, 6'8 (Long Beach Commit) Jack Williams and PG Michel Oguine. Classic David vs Goliath match up. Chaminade has learned a number of lessons this season. Chaminade wins.
Division I Boys - Monte Vista, Danville vs. Centennial, Corona
-Prediction: Monte Vista is the classic Nor-Cal underdog hard nose tem. Centennial-Corona is an elegant team that dissects oponents, lead by one of the top PG's in class of 2015. To much (Long Beach State commit) Deontae North and Sedrick Barefield in this one. Centennial wins.
Division IV Boys - Moreau Catholic, Hayward vs. Bishop Montgomery, Torrance
-Prediction: Match up pitts one of the best wing players in class of 2016 Moreau Catholic / Oakland Soldier, Oscar Frayer against Bishop Montgomery stud Stephen Thompson. Look for 2017 PG Demari Milsted to contribute to a balanced Moreau attack. Moreau wins.
Division II Boys - Folsom vs. St. John Bosco, Bellflower
-Prediction: Folsom has a nice point guard in Jordan Ford, but St. John Bosco has a three headed monster. Dorsey (Arizona Commit) , Hamilton (UConn) and 2016 super soph Vance Jackson are a tough bunch to handle on the hs level. SJB has tallied some big wins and big loses over a long season, the Braves will not lose this one. Bosco wins big.
Open Division Boys - Bishop O'Dowd, Oakland vs. Mater Dei, Santa Ana
-Prediction: Welcome to the Oakland Soldiers, State Open Championship. Ivan Rabb vs. Stanley Johnson. Rematch of the 2013 Tarkanian Classic championship. This one will be tight but Stanley Johnson's quest for 4 State Championships will not be denied. MD wins in a close battle.
2. New additions to the Oakland Soldiers include: Stephen Zimmerman - the 7-foot-1 Center from Las Vegas, Rex Pflueger - a 6-foot-5 2015 shooting guard out of Mater Dei, Derryck Thornton Jr. - a 2016 backcourter out of Findlay Prep and Ira Lee - a 6-8 2017 prospect out of Sierra Canyon. Look for more additions in coming weeks.
3. Per IndI Hoops Jarrell Strong, The # 1 Player in 2016 Thon Maker is on the move. Making the switch from Boo Williams to Team Loaded on the club basketball circuit.
4. Dicks Sporting Goods National Tournament field is set, The list includes: No. 1 Montverde (Fla.) Academy; No. 3 Rainier Beach (Seattle); No. 4 Northside Christian Academy (Charlotte); No. 5 Huntington-St. Joseph Prep (Huntington, W.Va.); No. 6 La Lumiere, La Porte, Ind.; No. 7 Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.); No. 8 Findlay College Prep, Henderson, Nev.; and No. 18 The Sagemont School (Weston, Fla.). No. 9 Our Savior New American on Long Island was considered but Sagemont School got the invite. Top-seed Montverde will face eighth-seed Sagemont; second-seeded Rainier Beach will play seventh-seed Findlay; third-seeded Northside Christian will play sixth-seeded Oak Hill; and fourth-seeded Huntington-St. Joseph will play fifth-seeded La Lumiere.
5. Kentucky signee Karl-Anthony Towns and St. Joe’s-Metuchen were seeded No. 1 in the New Jersey Tournament of Champions, took home the chip on Monday. Now Towns has his eye on what he can bring to UK next season in a bid to bring championship back to Lexington.
6. Luke Kennard, a 6-foot-5 2015 shooting guard from Franklin HS was named the Ohio Gatorade Player of the Year and the AP Ohio Mr. Basketball, announced he will be attending Duke on Monday night. Ranked No. 24 in the Class of 2015 by ESPN.com, Kennard also considered Kentucky, North Carolina, Louisville, Ohio State, Michigan and Florida.
Written By: @HoopsFactoryTV (Aubrey Gray)
