After the first week of tournament play concludes, here’s what the Moore League did, in a surprising effort: a 22-6 record, three first-place trophies, and two third-place trophies, meaning that five teams ended their opening tournament on a win. Stay tuned for our comprehensive basketball preview coming soon!
Wilson (4-0): Took home the league’s first trophy this weekend by beating Troy 51-37 in the Cypress-Western Tournament championship. They’d previously beaten South East 76-57, Segerstrom 67-58, and Cypress 71-53.
Poly (4-0): A 58-54 win over Gardena Serra in the Redondo tournament on Saturday gave Poly the tourney’s trophy, and another impressive performance from Shelton Boykin gave him the tournament’s MVP award (he averaged 18 points a game through all four rounds, while leading Poly in rebounding as well). They also topped Locke, Palisades, and Fairfax—the victory against Serra should help in the rankings, since MaxPreps had Serra as one of eight teams ranked over Poly in the state.
Cabrillo (4-0): The Jags—the city’s last-place team last season—were up by five at halftime and played consistent in the second half (15 points in the third and fourth quarter) against Beckman in the La Quinta tournament championship, which they won 61-56. They also defeated Century, Marina, and Northwood.
Jordan (3-1): Jesse Jones scored 35 points in Jordan’s consolation game against a great Riverside King team, who they knocked off 83-77 in the Cerritos/Gahr tournament. Jordan is starting to look like last year’s team: explosive offense that can play stifling defense when they really need to. They lost to Gahr in the opening round but also beat Artesia and Diamond Ranch.
Lakewood (3-1): The Lancers ended their opening tournament in Buena Park with a win over La Habra, 73-62, to take first place. Lakewood looked dominant, going up 15 by halftime and getting 19 points from Jared Garber (the 6’3″ senior averaging 17) and 23 points from Jonathan Snagg. Lakewood lost to Sonora in the opening round and then defeated El Modena and Carter to earn their spot in the consolation game.
Compton (2-2): Compton was actually the only team in the league that lost their final tournament game, falling 52-38 to a good Fairfax team in the Redondo tournament’s consolation game. They beat Harvard-Westlake and Lynwood in the opening rounds before falling to Serra and Fairfax.
Millikan (2-2): The Rams lost their first two games in the Cerritos/Gahr Tip-Off, but rebounded with strong wins against Bell on Friday, and Diamond Ranch on Saturday, winning 55-48 to take fifth place in the tournament.