Lakeshow is Steamrolling

Kevin McCarthy
 

Have you noticed? Is there an awareness in hoops circles that Joe Fuca’s Lakeshow 17s basketball team is ploughing through opponents throughout the state this spring and summer? Try a mid-May top finish in the City Championship, held at City College of San Francisco, a final four 6-1 finish in Rumble In The Bay, taking three out of four games in the NorCal Tipoff showcase in San Francisco and now the nabbing of the top spot in the most recent Double Pump Adidas Three Stripes tourney down in southern California.

Lakeshow 17s

Plus, this hasn’t been accomplished against the Little Sisters of the Poor. The NorCal Tip-Off had Lakeshow up against a quartet of tough opponents in Play Hard Play Smart, the Richmond Bad Boyz, Youth Basketball Academy and E-Time Hoops -- a 3-1 record was produced.

The latest -- Three Stripes -- was won via victories over the I-CAN All Stars, California Supreme, The Monarchs, Double Pump Elite and E-Time Hoops. An interesting sidelight was Tre Demps playing for the Double Pump Elite, the only team to keep it close against Lakeshow. Demps, who just committed to Northwestern, is a former Lakeshow and Concord High player -- that taking place prior to his family moving to Texas.

Here’s Fuca on a by-product of Lakeshow’s latest running of the table: "It was a great week for our kids. My phone is ringing off the hook because when you win a tournament like that, it gets crazy."

Continuing on, he said "Mark Tollefsen (2011, San Ramon Valley High) has just exploded. He’s up to 6-foot-9 now and his play had 12 D-1 coaches following us to every game." Tollefsen has a conga line of suitors including, Air Force, Pacific, UC Santa Barbera, UC Irvine, UC Davis, St Mary’s, Santa Clara, University of Denver and Columbia University.

"James Davis (2011, Arroyo High, San Lorenzo) was making shot after shot," Fuca added. "He has six or seven schools interested in him." Davis averaged just under 22 points a game during the high school season. He possesses toughness, superb range and a quick release on his shot. Count St Mary’s, UC Irvine, University of San Diego, Pacific and Hartford among the coaching entourage catching Davis’ games.

A relatively new arrival -- 6-foot-10 Ben Freeland -- has solidified the Lakeshow frontline. The 6-foot-10 Montgomery (2011, Santa Rosa) High star is blocking shots, scoring inside and rebounding. "Ben has seven or eight schools very interested in him," according to Fuca. He added, "we now go 6-foot-10 and 6-foot-9 up front." St Mary’s, UC Davis, Columbia, UC Irvine, University of Denver, Air Force and Portland State are the most interested coaching staffs, per Fuca.

Besides the above threesome, Castro Valley High’s Chris Read, another 2011 Lakeshow prospect, is being scrutinized by San Jose State, UOP, UC Irvine and Portland State.

Also, Kendall Jackson, a 2012 point out of Bishop O’Dowd, has University of Portland, UC Davis and Santa Clara tracking him.

Now, it’s on to the adidas Super 64 where the Lakeshow-ers will have the opportunity to make some national noise and open the eyes of further coaches.