nike extravaganza vii announcment

Nike Extravaganza VIII This Weekend
Features Miami Christian, Top Local Teams--(Jan. 6, 2003)


Nike Extravaganza VIII, Jan. 11, 2003 LB State Pyramid	What:	Nike Extravaganza VII
	When:	Saturday, January 11, 2003
	Where:	Long Beach State Pyramid
	Morning/Afternoon Session: 8:30 a.m. Westminster v. Servite 10:00 a.m. St. John Bosco v. Capo Valley 11:30 a.m. Verbum Dei vs. Ocean View Evening Session: 1:30 p.m. Glendora vs. Fountain Valley 3:00 p.m. Villa Park vs. Las Vegas Durango 4:30 p.m. Troy vs. Santa Margarita 6:00 p.m. Crenshaw vs. Brea-Olinda 7:30 p.m. Long Beach Poly vs. De La Salle 9:00 p.m. Mater Dei vs. Miami Christian

While this event won't be able to boast the No. 1 USA Today team in the country taking on Miami Christian, at least not after this past weekend's loss by Mater Dei to St. Vincent-St. Mary's and LeBron James, this still will nevertheless be one of the best events of the year, and yes, another excuse to spend all day watching a set of games featuring some of the top talent in Southern California, as well as some players from NorCal's De La Salle and Las Vegas' Durango HS. It may not be the adidas Las Vegas Big Time, but the Nike Extravaganza is always a quality event, and fortunately for all of us who live here, it's this coming weekend at the Pyramid.

We didn't receive any comprehensive press release from the event organizers this year as we have in the past, but if the Nike Extravaganza is anything like it has been in the past, it will once again feature some of the top basketball action in SoCal, showcasing some of the top teams in the country in the evening session and some very good regional and local matchups in the morning/afternoon session. Almost everyone knows most of the top players who will attend this event, but for those in the dark here are a couple of names: Mater Dei features Wesley Washington (Minnesota), DJ Strawberry (Maryland), and Harrison Schaen (Princeton) as well as unsigned Trevante Nelson, juniors Chris Henry and Marcel Jones, and soph point guard Mike Gerrity. Villa Park features UCLA signee Sean Phaler, while the morning session's best games will likely be St John-Bosco with unsigned senior Eric Lane, and a rising Verbum Dei squad featuring exciting guards like Mike Pagan against Ocean View's top players like the high-scoring junior Matt Sargeant. Troy vs. Santa Margarita will be a battle of two of Orange County's best, while Crenshaw will bring top rising point guard Brian McTear, along with Jermaine Middleton (7'-2" Sr. C), while Brea-Olinda features Evan Moore, a top dual-sport power forward who has signed with Stanford. Long Beach Poly is in a rebuilding year with players like Marcus Lewis, Barry Barnes and Isaiah Freeman.

We don't know the price for tickets (last year they were $8 for the morning session and $20 and $10 for the evening session), but we would anticipate prices will be similar this year. Tickets can be obtained from the Mater Dei Athletic office (714) 850-9573, or you can obtain them at the Pyramid Box Office on the day of the games. The ticket price will also includes some great half-time entertainment (hopefully the "balloon man" is coming back again), national all-star cheerleaders and the other usually exciting stuff.