Nike Extravaganza VXII
Mater Dei High School Gymnasium
Saturday, February 4, 2012
11:40am; Last game of Morning Session 

Mission Viejo (No. 3 in Orange County) vs. Ocean View (No. 6 in Orange County)

With all the speculation and anticipation of this game in the county of Orange, you would of thought this was a CIFSS championship game against the two tough teams in the county.  It was not that at all, but it was a statement game, which leads to how these teams are ranked and by what system is used.  All of the writers were in attendance and the Seahawks came out to prove a point to the Diablos.  Making a bold statement to many  (No. 6) Ocean view takes the win here against (No. 3) Mission Viejo, at the Nike Extravaganza VXII.  

Top performers for Ocean view were senior Connor Clifford with 26 points, junior Josh Mishler with 14 points, senior Robbie Weaver with 14 points, sophomore Dillon Reise with 12 points, senior Cristian Rivera with 10 points and freshman Kendall Small with 9 points in the game. 

Top performers for Mission Viejo players that contributed were junior Max Redfield with 21 points, junior Cordell Anderson with 18, junior Evan Zeller with 16 and senior Jahleel Pinner with 11points.

Scores from the Day were:

*Ocean View 92, Mission Viejo 80
*Fairfax 73, Eisenhower 67
*Taft 73, Loyola 57
*Long Beach Poly 67, Orange Lutheran 45
*Mater Dei 71, LaVerne Lutheran 66
*Bishop Gorman 69, Whitney Young 50

Long Beach Poly vs. Orange Lutheran is a great matchup on paper, but if you take a closer look, they are not a match in fact.  Long Beach Poly played the game with so much defensive aggression that it was just too much for the likes of Orange Lutheran.  Roschon Prince was a man amongst boys in this game and Jordan Bell was the game changer by chasing balls down and slapping them off of the backboards. Reuben Strickland came up real big for the JackRabbits with 21 points, 6 rebounds and 3 steals.  For the Lancers, of course Gabe York finished with 23 points, 5 rebounds and 4 steals as well as Darrien Williams with 11 points and Payton Banks with 9 points.  Final score was Long Beach Poly 67, Orange Lutheran 45.

Bishop Gorman dominated the first three quarters of play, all things were working for (No. 1 recruit nationally) in senior Shabazz Muhammad with a combined total of 21 in the first half of play.  Halftime score 31-27, Bishop Gorman over Whitney Young.  Sophomore Jahlil Okafor was the business for Whitney Young with 9 points at the half. Shabazz Muhammad would end the half with 21 points.  Being the dominant guard that he is, Muhammad would end the game with 41 points on 13 of 20 from the field, including a perfect 6 of 6 from three point land.  He has proven that his arsenal is new and improved from the past seasons and most have to take notice to that from his past Nike Extravaganza appearance.  I understand that Nerlen Noels need to be in the conversation with the reclassification, but Muhammad is removing all doubt why he is the Nations No.1 recruit right now.  If I had to compare, it would not be close, Muhammad is the full package right now.