West Coast talent shines at Pangos Sweet 16

I’m not sure Devin Watson was even born when Tyus Edney took the ball the length of the court in 4.8 seconds to stun Missouri in the Round of 32 of UCLA’s 1995 Championship run, but Watson sure does a mean Edney impression.

The 5-foot-11 guard raced the length of the court to score the game winning layup to give his Earl Watson Pangos Elite team a 76-74 victory over Prodigy Elite in the Invitational Division finals of the Pangos Sweet 16 at Cabrillo High School.

Watson’s performance capped off a great tournament for the Army and Navy Academy rising senior, who had big games against LA Rockfish, Arizona Stars Elite and Team Inland to lead his team to the title in the tournament’s top division.

Gardena Serra forward Tavrion Dawson, Crespi guard DJ Usery and Santa Monica sophomore guard New Williams also were standouts throughout the tournament for Pangos’ squad.

Prodigy was paced by strong efforts from point guard Jordan McLaughlin and forward Jamar Akoh.

Rockfish, which received stellar performances this weekend from point guard Robert Cartwright, center Thomas Welsh and guard Grant Lozoya, came in third place with a one-point victory over the Las Vegas Prospects 17u.

Prodigy All-Stars, a collection of talented Inland Empire players, won the tournament’s second division over the Compton Magic Red. The team received strong performances all weekend long from PG Malcolm Drumwright and forwards Khalil Bedart-Ghani and Tide Osifeso. Gamepoint 17 Red took third place in the bracket with a win over a CYDC Elite team hailing from Calgary, AB.

In the 16u “Select Division,” the powerful Las Vegas Prospects survived a game effort by a strong Gamepoint 16u Red team, winning 60-58, in a game that pitted two of the hottest rising junior prospects in the country against each other: Prospects forward Ray Smith and Gamepoint point guard Justin Simon. The Prospects earlier dispatched Gamepoint’s 16u Black team, which went on to win the 5th place game in a rematch against the Compton Magic Black. Prodigy 16u Elite finished third in the division.

In the 15u “Gold Division,” Gamepoint’s 15u Black and 15u Red teams shared the title after each advanced to the final game. Gamepoint’s “Red” team, led by guard Lamarr Crouch and forwards Justin Young and Ronald Blain, upset MOC Magic Elite’s 16u team in its semifinal game, while the “Black” team – led by forwards Reid Johnson, Austin Beech and Riley Schaefer – rolled through its side of the bracket with little resistance.