Saturday's 10th annual Father Kelly Tribute at Jesuit High School will feature four games involving some of Northern California's top boys basketball players and six teams ranked in the NorCal Top 20 by NorCalPreps.com.
The Father Kelly event has become a good midseason barometer of how some of the area's teams stack up with those from the Bay Area.
NorCalPreps' No. 4 Jesuit will play No. 9 Newark Memorial (7-4) in the 7:30 p.m. marquee finale. Jesuit defeated Newark Memorial 50-49 in the Gridley tournament earlier this season.
The first game is at 3 p.m. with No. 11 Franklin taking on No. 20 Freedom of Oakley (9-3), followed by No. 16 Deer Valley of Antioch (9-4) against Foothill at 4:30; and No. 8 Pleasant Grove playing Berkeley (3-5) at 6 p.m.
Berkeley is led by Oregon State scholarship signee Langston Morris-Walker, who is rated No. 2 in the NorCal Class of 2012 by NorCalPreps.com.
Other top 40 players competing (graduating classes of 2012 and 2013) include Malik Thames and Cody Demps of Pleasant Grove; Bryce Pressley, Parker Uu and Akachi Okugo of Jesuit; Theo and Darin Johnson of Franklin; and UC Santa Barbara signee Michael Bryson of Foothill.
Also expected to play are Marcus Lee, Kendall Smith and Olajuwon Garner of Deer Valley; four-year standout Casey Norris of Newark Memorial; and James O'Neal of Freedom.
The host Marauders, The Bee's top-ranked team, won the Leo LaRocca Sand Dune Classic in San Francisco last Thursday, beating host St. Ignatius 68-49 in the championship game behind Pressley's 26 points and Uu with 19. Uu was named MVP and Pressley and Okugo made all-tournament. Jesuit coach Greg Harcos said that unsung three-year starter Brian Glodowski also played well.
Jesuit plays at McClymonds of Oakland (ranked No. 13 by NorCalPreps) tonight, then takes on Bee No. 10 Granite Bay in Carmichael on Friday.
Bee No. 3 Pleasant Grove also continues to play impressively. The Eagles beat King of Riverside 74-71 for the Maxpreps.com Holiday Classic Division 2 championship last Friday in Palm Springs as tournament MVP Demps led with 18 points. Thames and Colfax Nordquist joined Demps as all-tournament selections.
Winning ways – Joining Jesuit and Pleasant Grove in winning end-of-the-year tournament championships last week were No. 6 Antelope (Fairfield Holiday Classic), No. 9 Bella Vista (Trojan Toss-Up at Oak Ridge), No. 11 Del Campo (70th Kendall Arnett at Placer), No. 12 Center (Whitney Winter Classic) and No. 15 Cosumnes Oaks (Lindhurst tournament).
In beating Franklin 65-64 for the Fairfield title, Antelope avenged its only loss of the season. Coach Rob Richards' Titans lost 64-54 to the Wildcats on Dec. 2 in the Bella Vista tournament.
Sheldon leaders – Juniors Dakarai Allen and D'Erryl Williams continue to be No. 2 Sheldon's physical and emotional leaders.
Allen, a 6-foot-6 forward, and Williams, a 6-3 guard, helped the No. 2 Huskies win the top-rated National Division consolation championship at the ESPN Holiday Classic in Torrey Pines. Williams averaged 12 points and 9.7 rebounds; Allen 11.7 points, eight rebounds and 3.7 steals. Allen made all-tournament.
Sheldon defeated Lake Washington of Kirkland, Wash., 49-42 in the finale and also beat Lincoln of San Diego 56-55 and St. Thomas Catholic of Houston 56-48 after losing to Mayfair of Lakewood 51-43 in the opener.
Broncos' big presence – Bella Vista senior KJ Logue, who can score, rebound and defend, landed his third tournament MVP honor this season in leading the Broncos past No. 16 Oak Ridge 65-55 in the finals of the Trojan Toss-Up.
The 6-6 forward is generating plenty of small-college recruiting interest but also is considering walking on at St. Mary's College.
OT is OK for Hillmen – Placer (11-4) had to settle for third place in its own Kendall Arnett tournament last week but entertained nonetheless.
The Hillmen beat San Juan 97-88 in double overtime in the opener Wednesday and defeated Nevada Union 66-64 in double overtime in the third-place finale Friday. Sandwiched between those two games was a 62-47 semifinal loss Thursday to Woodcreek.
Hillmen senior Cody Riggs scored 82 points in the tourney.
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