The Mayfair Wonder

Like most great high school basketball players, Josh Childress makes it look easy.

He shoots from way beyond the three-point arc and the ball floats through the net. He takes a rebound, dribbles the length of the court and seems to float through the air while extending his lithe 6-foot-7 frame for a windmill dunk.

Easy?

Hardly.

The Lakewood Mayfair senior might have worked harder and longer to perfect his skills than any college-bound player in the Southland. Under the watchful eyes of his older brothers, Jamal and Onye, Childress often practiced three times a day when he was younger, rising as early as dawn for 6 a.m. shooting sessions at the park near his family’s Compton home.

“I used to go to his house a lot because he worked on his game constantly . . .,” said Santa Ana Mater Dei center Jamal Sampson, who has known Childress since sixth grade. “Back then he really wasn’t that good. He really hadn’t hit a growth spurt yet and was just an average player.

“But just to see how hard he worked to get better [was an inspiration].”

Childress will continue to show how far he has come--and where his game might be going--on Monday when Mayfair plays Mater Dei in the featured game of the Dream Classic at Loyola Marymount.

The five-game event, one of several multigame events in the Southland during the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend, also includes: Fontana vs. Chino Hills Ayala; Torrance Bishop Montgomery vs. Corona Centennial; Compton Dominguez vs. Fresno Clovis West; and Redondo Union vs. Inglewood.

Mater Dei is ranked No. 16 in this week’s USA Today national poll.

“This is a big game for our team,” said Childress, who will play at Stanford next season. “I don’t think many people think we can beat them. But I do.”

Mayfair has been building toward this kind of matchup since Childress arrived on campus in 1997.

Childress had considered attending Compton Dominguez or Mater Dei, but chose Mayfair at the urging of friend Edwin Draughan, who has complemented Childress throughout their three-plus seasons and will play at Yale next season.

In the second game of his freshman season, the then 6-3 Childress scored 31 points in a loss to Bellflower.

“You kind of knew, right then and there, that Josh was going to be a great player,” Mayfair Coach Dave Grieg said.

Childress averaged 15 points a game as a freshman.

“It was kind of tough that first year because I needed to be more physical,” Childress said. “But my coach gave me a lot of freedom and that helped me become comfortable handling and shooting the ball.”

As a sophomore, Childress averaged 22 points a game and led Mayfair to the Southern Section Division II-A championship, the first section title in school history.

Last season, he again averaged 22 points and took the Monsoons to the II-A semifinals where they lost to Huntington Beach Ocean View.

This season, he has increased his scoring to 27.5 points a game and is averaging a team-high eight rebounds.

Childress’ play has helped Mayfair to a fast start. The Monsoons defeated defending Southern Section Division I-AA champion Long Beach Poly in triple overtime in the semifinals of the Rim Rattler tournament in Long Beach, then beat perennial national power Durham Mt. Zion Academy (N.C.) in overtime to win the title.

“That [tournament] boosted our confidence greatly,” Childress said. “You could just tell, the whole demeanor of the team changed. That will help at the end of the season when we have to win three or four close games. Now we have the experience.”

Childress is hoping it will come in handy against Mater Dei.

In elementary and junior high school, Childress played on traveling teams with several Monarch players, including Sampson, who has signed with California, and guard Cedric Bozeman, who has signed with UCLA.

“Everyone has already been talking a little smack,” Childress said. “We’re going to have to play great defense and rebound the ball.

“We have to be ready to work for it.”

*

Staff writer Ben Bolch contributed to this story.

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Top-Notch Basketball

Several high school basketball events will take place over the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend, offering boys’ and girls’ high school basketball fans a chance to see several top teams at the same venue. A schedule for three events:

BOYS

HOOP CHALLENGE, SATURDAY AT LONG BEACH CITY COLLEGE

Noon--Fresno Washington Union vs. Rialto Eisenhower

1:30 p.m.--Lynwood vs. Compton

3 p.m.--Anaheim Canyon vs. Santa Ana Mater Dei

4:30 p.m.--Torrance Bishop Montgomery vs. Lakewood Artesia

6 p.m.--Upland vs. Corona Centennial

7:30 p.m.--Long Beach Poly vs. Long Beach Jordan

DREAM CLASSIC, MONDAY AT LOYOLA MARYMOUNT

12:45 p.m.--Fontana vs. Chino Hills Ayala

2:15 p.m.--Torrance Bishop Montgomery vs. Corona Centennial

4 p.m.--Compton Dominguez vs. Fresno Clovis West

6 p.m--Redondo Union vs. Inglewood

7:45 p.m.--Lakewood Mayfair vs. Santa Ana Mater Dei.

GIRLS

MLK CLASSIC, MONDAY AT UC RIVERSIDE

9 a.m.--Apple Valley vs. Fontana

10:30 a.m.--Etiwanda vs. Corona Centennial

Noon--La Quinta vs. Ontario

1:30 p.m.--Fresno Clovis West vs. Temescal Canyon

3:30 p.m.--La Jolla Country Day vs. Chino Hills Ayala

5 p.m.--San Clemente vs. Riverside J.W. North

6:30 p.m.--The Bishop’s School vs. Fullerton Troy

8 p.m.--Brea Olinda vs. Moreno Valley