Boys' basketball: Westchester is loaded with top juniors

There's no doubt the best player at Westchester this season is senior point guard Dominique O'Connor, who scored 18 points in the Comets' 72-52 rout of Los Angeles Windward Thursday night in a quarterfinal game of the Westchester tournament.

But what was so impressive about the Comets was that they kept sending wave after wave of junior standouts at the Wildcats, and Windward had no response.

Junior guard Jordin Mayes is a future college player. He scored 16 points and never took a bad shot all night. He's smooth, consistent and precise. Junior guard Kareem Jamar, who's 6-4, showed tremendous athleticism. Junior forward Dwayne Polee, after picking up two quick fouls, played much better in the second half. He still has a long ways to go, but Polee's potential remains strong.

Juniors Reggie Murphy, Mario Nored and Denzel Douglas all contributed for a Westchester (2-0) team that opened a 39-21 halftime lead. Many of the juniors played on a 29-0 JV team last season. Windward received 19 points from sophomore Wesley Saunders. Michigan-bound point guard Darius Morris struggled at times against the Comets' pressure defense.

Westchester will face the winner of the Dominguez-Bishop Montgomery game in Friday's 7 p.m. semifinals.

And here are some YouTube highlights of Mayes:

-- Eric Sondheimer