COTC: Marmolejos is 2022 standout
CARLSBAD, Ca. – The fourth Crème of the County, held Saturday at Army-Navy Academy, was well-represented by players in each of the high school “classes”.
And that includes current seventh- and eighth-graders.
But the player who has yet to play a real high school games that left the most sparkling impression at the event was a member of the Class of 2022.
That was 6-foot Alexis Marmolejos, who had arrived in the United States from the Dominican Republican to enroll at Army-Navy eight days earlier.
Marmolejos may not have even a rudimentary understanding of the English language for the time being. But his on-court performance spoke succinctly to the point as he helped his “West” squad roll past its “East” counterpart, 74-55, the Class of 2022 Crème contest.
He showcased the best combination of vertical and horizontal explosiveness, relative to his size, of any player throughout the nine-game event.
How does he stack up with the rest of the players in 2022 throughout the West?
We’ll have a better of that if he makes an appearance at the Sept. 22-23 Pangos All-West Frosh/Soph Camp at Cerritos College in Norwalk.
A couple of eighth-graders were on the East squad in the 2022 Crème and 6-10 Jahzare Jackson and 6-2 Mikey Williams – classmates at San Ysidro Middle School in San Diego.
Each has a nice combination of athletic and basketball skill but couldn’t do enough to keep the East competitive with the Marmolejos-led competition.
Other 2022s that impressed Saturday included 6-3 D.J. Dudley of San Ysidro High (another high-octane athlete), 6-2 Nicholas Payne (a versatile scorer from Escondido High), 5-10 Kenny Gonzalez (Mater Dei Catholic in Chula Vista) and 6-3 Anthony Scott (Mission Bay; his brother, Andre Scott, is a senior for the program that won San Diego’s Open Division title last March).