LIVERMORE, CA — For 24 high school seniors Sunday afternoon will go down as one of the more memorable days of their senior year.
It may not go up there with the senior prom or graduation but for one afternoon they could say they represented some of the best high school basketball players California has to offer at the firstr Prep2Prep California All-Star Basketball Classic.
Deveral Ramsey — a 5-foot-9 point guard out of Sierra Canyon — might have been the smallest player on the court, but Ramsey brought enough game to play with the biggest of players.
Ramsey earned player of the game honors behind a 20 point, five rebound, four assist and three steals performance to lead the 2016 SoCal All-Stars to a 137-134 victory over NorCal before more than 1,000 fans at Las Positas College.
“First of all it was a great honor to get the invite and play with so many talented players,” said Ramsey. “It was a blessing to play with such great people as Lonzo Ball, Milan (Acquaah) and Leland (Green). Coming into the game I wasn’t coming in looking to win MVP, just have fun. That’s what I did and I tried to put on a show.”
Keith Fisher led SoCal with 22 points and nine rebounds as SoCal finished with seven layers in double-figure scoring.
Ball had 19 points, five assists and three steals, Milan and Ike Anigbogu each scored 14 while Kobe Paras added 11.
“It was a great experience and very competitive,” said Ball who has committed to UCLA. “A bunch of great players and everyone on each side wanted to represent their side to the best; we just came out on top. I don’t really force nothing I just take what the defense gives me and we usually come out on top and that’s what we did tonight. It was a team effort.”
NorCal led SoCal 78-76 going into halftime but the South outscored the North 33-21 to take a 109 to 99 lead going into the fourth.
SoCal was able to hold off NorCal which hit 17 3-pointers to only seven for SoCal. The North had a chance to tie at the end, but Jordan Ratinho's 3-pointer hit off the back rim and bounded away as the buzzer sounded.
Jordan Ford scored a game-high 28 including hitting five of his six 3-point attempts while adding four rebounds, three assists and four steals for NorCal.
Nikhil Peters scored 25 points — including five 3-pointers — while Ratinho added 20 points and had four 3-pointers in the loss.
“SoCal is usually the better team so NorCal usually has to prove themselves and I think we did today,” said Ford who has narrowed his college choices to UC Santa Barbara, St. Mary’s and Oregon State. “We tried to make a run at the end we just came up a little bit short.”
NorCal came into the fourth trailing 109-99 and found themselves down as many as 12 at 129-117 with 4:42 to go in the game but responded with a 14-4 run capped with a Ford 3-pointer to cut SoCal’s lead to 133-131 with 55 seconds to go in the game.
NorCal didn't get any closer after that despite Ratinho's noble try off a set play with 11 seconds left.
Ford couldn't recommend the event highly enough.
“It’s real fun and definitely come to it if you’re invited,” the Folsom star said. “It’s a great, great experience and you can’t ask for much more. Everyone was in good spirits and everyone respected each other and it was a great for everyone, especially the crowd.”
It wasn’t just the crowd and players that enjoyed the game, but the coaching staffs as well.
NorCal coach Lou Richie of Bishop O'Dowd said this All-Star game was right up there with some of the best there is.
“It was a great tribute to the kids," Richie said. "Gerry Freitas (game organizer) did a great job bringing people — great refs, fans and it came down to the last shot so you can’t ask for more. Kids were all receptive to coaching, Prep2Prep did a great job of hosting and sponsoring it, so hopefully it will be an event for years to come."
