Getty The Pinnacle High School (Arizona) Pioneers will play the Rancho Christian School (California) Eagles on Saturday.
The Pinnacle High School (Arizona) Pioneers will take on the Rancho Christian School (California) Eagles at the Hoophall West High School Invitational in Arizona on Saturday.
The game is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. ET. While it won’t be broadcast on television anywhere in the US, you can still watch a live stream of the game on your computer, phone or streaming device via ESPN+, the new digital streaming service from ESPN that will have coverage of eight Hoophall West games this weekend.
You can sign up for a free seven-day trial of ESPN+ right here, and you can then watch a live stream of the game (and several other Hoophall 2018 games) on your computer via ESPN.com, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app.
If you can’t watch live, all games — including Pinnacle vs. Rancho Christian — that are streamed on ESPN+ are also available to be watched afterward on-demand via ESPN.com or the ESPN app.
Preview
Pinnacle point guard Nico Mannion lit up San Joaquin Memorial High School (California) for 33 points and 12 assists in his team’s first game of the tournament. He sat out the final 2:20 of the game as his team cruised to a 90-69 victory.
“The first half, I knew I had to get our team going,” Mannion said, according to The Arizona Republic. “I made my first two (baskets) and I just kept shooting.
“Once I started feeling it, I kept going.”
The senior is the No. 14 recruit in his class, according to 247Sports’ composite rankings, and the No. 1 point guard. After overtures from college basketball powerhouses like the University of Kansas and Duke University, Mannion elected to stay in-state, accepting a scholarship to the University of Arizona.
“I can’t wait,” Mannion said of playing for the Wildcats, according to 247Sports. “Hopefully we can hit the ground running. I think I’m going to get there early; maybe late June or early July.
“I want to start classes and training early. I think Josh (Green) is going to come up early with me and hopefully we can start building chemistry with the guys.”
Green, a 6’6″ wing out of IMG Academy (Florida), is the No. 11 recruit in the class, per 247Sports.
Pinnacle basketball coach Charles Wilde told USA Today that Mannion hasn’t let the hype get to his head.
“He likes being on the court with a big crowd,” Wilde said.
“But everything else outside of that, he’d rather just be at home or with his teammates in the locker room. He doesn’t have to have the glory.”
Pinnacle also features junior big man Tosh Baker, who’s received scholarship offers from California Polytechnic State University, Northern Arizona University, and UC Santa Barbara.
Baker will have his hands full with Rancho Christian’s frontcourt.
Center Evan Mobley is the No. 1 player in the class of 2020, per 247Sports’ composite rankings. His older brother, senior power forward Isaiah Mobley, is the No. 17 recruit in the class of 2019.
“Honestly, I think he’s like Kevin Durant, Greek Freakish,” Isaiah said of his younger brother, according to ESPN. “He’s a freak athlete. We train athletically, but he kind of woke up one day and was a totally different cat. He was just growing and growing, and now here he is.”
Isaiah (6’11”) offered a glowing review of his shorter (6’9″) big brother, who’s committed to USC: “He’s a point forward. He brings the ball up a lot. He can shoot it, too, but he can also go in the paint and score it whenever he wants.”
Rancho Christian destroyed the Simeon Career Academy Wolverines 78-59 in their first game of the tournament.
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