La Mirada (Calif.) picks up another win at The Classic at Damien

After fighting back for a 76-72 win over Parish Episcopal School (Texas) on Thursday, La Mirada (Calif.) picked up another win in ‘The Classic at Damien’ on Friday with an 82-72 victory against Redondo Union.

Elite sophomore shooting guard Gene Roebuck led the team with 30 points. He is the nation’s No. 26 overall prospect and No. 5 shooting guard in the class of 2027 according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. Senior point guard Julien Gomez added 23 points of his own.

La Mirada will face the winner of St. John Bosco (Calif.) and Heritage Christian (Calif.)

According to the On3 Composite Rankings, the Matadores are the No. 12 team in the Golden State and are the No. 93 program nationally.

The 2024 edition of The Classic features 12 of the top California programs, in addition to teams from Arizona, Texas and Utah. St. John Bosco, Roosevelt, La Mirada, Damien and Santa Margarita Catholic are all in the Platinum Division bracket and are top-15 teams in California, per the On3 Composite.

The On3 Composite High School Basketball Team Ranking is a proprietary algorithm that compiles rankings listed in the public domain by respected High School media and data companies. It includes Massey, Max Preps, ESPN and SI, creating the industry’s most comprehensive and geographically balanced High School Team Ranking.

More about The Classic at Damien

A brief history on The Classic at Damien from the tournament website:

“In December of 1981, the inaugural ‘Damien Cage Classic’ first took place.   At the time Ray Plutko, then Commissioner of the CIF was a part of the Damien Booster Club, as three of his sons played basketball and are alumni here at Damien.  He had the idea to start a basketball tournament and Ray served as the original tournament director.  At the time Coach Mike LeDuc was in his 3rd year as Head Basketball Coach here at Damien.”

“In January of 2016, the idea floated around to resurrect the original tournament.  The idea was to create an opportunity for quality teams to compete against quality opponents in a first class setting that was affordable to the schools without the need to travel overnight.  A group of basketball enthusiasts met and a committee was formed and met regularly to organize and plan this event.  In trying to keep a little of the history and also recognizing that it has been 35 years since its beginning, the tournament was renamed ‘The Classic at Damien” with a 48 team, 3 division format.”