3P Creme of the County a resounding success
LA JOLLA, Ca. — There are few who do more to promote prep basketball players in their city than Aaron Burgin.
Better known as Full Time Hoops. Burgin, with the help of his family, consistently puts on one of the best fall showcase events in San Diego in his 3P Creme of the County.
What makes the COTC a must-attend event for the players and scouts/media is that Burgin makes sure to promote prospects of all different levels and doesn’t cater only to the biggest names and reputations in the game.
Saturday’s third edition of the COTC, hosted by La Jolla Country Day School, consisted of 10 games - two each (Creme and Select) from the classes of 2018, 2019 and 2020 and one featuring the area’s top eighth graders.
Let’s begin the break down with the 2018 Creme game…
The squad wearing the black uniforms defeated those in the white, 93-86, behind 15 points from underrated 6-foot-6 forward Adrian Lee of Castle Park high school. San Diego High’s Thomas Marcus pitched in 12 points for the winning side.
Sharpshooting wing Knox Winkler of Rancho Bernardo led white with 14 points, while smooth scoring El Camino wing Jalen Flanagan added 12.
Torrey Pines combo guard Finn Sullivan
There were plenty of sleeper-types in this game, including 6-foot-3 Torrey Pines combo guard Finn Sullivan (nine points) and rangy 6-foot-5 San Marcos wing Kody Clouet who finished with eight points.
One of the more fun storylines to watch unfold was Vista teammates Isaiah Morris and Taurus Samuels battling it out on opposing sides.
Morris is one of the best on-ball defenders in San Diego, while Samuels, a Dartmouth commit, is the top point guard. While this is a daily occurrence at Panthers high school practice, it was great to see those two compete against each other on that stage.
Co-MVP Hassan Hunt of High Tech High in Chula Vista led his White squad to a 75-67 victory over the Black team in the 2018 Select game, while physical, slashing and scoring guard Jayden Holloway’s performance forced voters into the only dual-MVP vote of the day.
Athletic wing Sedrick Altman of Colony High in Ontario turned in perhaps the most impressive performance of the day as his 21 points, which included a couple of highlight reel dunks, a game-winning free throw and MVP hardware, led the Black to an 82-80 victory over White.
Colony wing Sedrick Altman
San Diego’s most heralded 2019 prospect, Rejean “Boogie” Ellis of Mission Bay High, scored 20 points in a losing effort and led a last ditch Team White comeback effort that fell just short.
Malcolm Little and Mojus Mojus, two athletic guards from Balboa School, turned in strong performances in the 2019 Creme game, as did Mira Mesa guard Noah Tumblin (12 points) and San Dieguito forward Travis Snider (12 points)
Tri-City’s Chase Webb earned MVP honors in the 2019 Select game as his barrage of trail and spot-up 3-pointers helped lead Team White to an 86-73 win.
Preuss-UCSD point guard Kibru Sugebo and Vista guard Makiah Morris were also crucial components to Team White’s triumph.
Team Black was led by La Jolla Country Day guard Collin McGrath, Olympian point guard Sean Hernandez and Tri-City wing Josh Sedlock.
St. Augustine forward Chibuzo Agbo, one of the most versatile players in all of San Diego, was named MVP of the loaded 2020 Creme game, leading Team White to a 74-66 win over Team Black.
Agbo was assisted by 2021 guard Thomas Notarainni (Cathedral Catholic) who scored a game-high 17 points, Torrey Pines’ Nick Herrmann who added 15 and Mater Dei Catholic forward Beon Riley who rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10.
Bishops forward Nakial Cross
Team Black was led by 2021 Cathedral Catholic forward Obinna Anyanwu (16 points), Bishop’s forward Nakial Cross (12 points), Foothills Christian guard Yassine Gharram (10 points) and San Ysidro guard Kailen Rains (eight points).
San Marcos guard Brady Williams took home the MVP trophy in the 2020 Select game, powering Team White to a 68-58 win over Team Black.
Williams high school teammate Kasey Clouet, Scripps Ranch forward Grant Norberg and St. Augustine guard Declan Bretz also played well for Team White.
Team Black was led by guards J.D. Singson of Olympain High and Grant Mahler of Pacific Ridge.
The MVP decision in the 2021 Creme game was one of the toughest of the day, but Sweetwater’s CJ McMillan, a powerful and skilled forward, edged out Chris Howell, the best guard in the class, as those two led Team Black to a 91-70 victory over Team White.
Keavie Love (El Camino), Hayden Gray (Santa Fe Christian), Dillon Wilhite (Cathedral Catholic) and AJ Burgin (San Diego) also turned in good performances for Team Black.
Team White was paced by Fallou Cisse (Balboa), Gabriel Harrison (San Diego Christian), Nikko Taylor (Vista) and Kai Jesse (Helix).
La Costa Canyon guard Brendan Perry picked up the MVP in the 2021 Select game, leading team White to a 62-52 win.
La Costa Canyon guard Brendan Perry
Dreontae Raymond of Lakeside, Cormac O’Brien of Torrey Pines and Christian Gamboa of La Jolla had standout performances for Team Black.
And finally, in the 2022 Creme game, Gamepoint guard Devon Arlington won the MVP after leading Team White to a 71-50 victory.
This game provided us with an opportunity to see the future of San Diego high school basketball and Elijah Black, Jayden Barnett, Kenny Gonzalez and Jurian Dixon are a few names to keep an eye on in the future.
