Former baseball player Mazi Mosley of St. Francis is a rising basketball prospect

On his 17th birthday , 6-foot-5 junior Mazi Mosley of St. Francis scored 17 points in his team’s 72-49 win over Colony at the State Preview Classic on Saturday. His mother confirmed as his birthday present, a Tesla Model Y is coming next month. That’s for being a good student, good person and rising standout in basketball. A scholarship offer from UCLA was given last week.

The most intriguing background about Mosley is that he was a baseball player for nearly 10 years, playing shortstop and center field.

“I was a switch hitter,” he said.

Then, at 14, he tells a story that changed everything.

“One day I was playing basketball and I’ll never forget this, a kid told me to stick to baseball after scoring on me. I got mad. I started working out.”

After playing junior varsity as a freshman at Heritage Christian, he transferred to St. Francis as a sophomore and is averaging 24 points a game this season.

“He seems like one of those kids whatever he does, he’s good at,” St. Francis coach Todd Wolfson said.

This season, Mosley has taken on a role that Wolfson believes will help him.

“If he doesn’t rebound, if he doesn’t defend, if he doesn’t score, if he doesn’t have his assists up, we don’t play well and lose,” he said. “We count on him for so much that it requires him to get better and improve, where some of the guys on super teams, they don’t have to do that stuff every night.”

Wolfson predicts a bright future for Mosley.

“Potential-wise, his ceiling is wherever he wants it to be.”

Gaining more strength will be important.

“He has a frame that could use a tub of ice cream and a couple steaks to fill out one day,” Wolfson said.

Said Mosley: “I’m just working on getting better every day.”

Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 63, Crean Lutheran 51: The Knights are 23-0. Mercy Miller scored 24 points, Zachary White 15 and Lino Mark 14. Troy Jenkins led Crean Lutheran with 15 points.

Santa Ana Mater Dei 91, Campbell Hall 80: The Monarchs improved to 22-1. Brannon Martinsen scored 25 points, luke Barentt 17 and Owen Verna 16. Isaiah Johnson had 28 points for Campbell Hall.

Damien 75, Lynwood 66: Sophomore Eli Garner scored 28 points in a top performance and Nate Garcia added 24 points. Jason Crowe Jr. scored 31 points for Lynwood while Jahaz Wright scored 22.

Eastvale Roosevelt 59, St. Pius X-St. Matthias 54: Brayden Burries finished with 19 points for Roosevelt (22-2). Tyrone Riley scored 18 points for St. Pius X-St. Matthias (18-4).

Etiwanda 63, Rolling Hills Prep 48: Christian Harris scored 14 points for Etiwanda.

Anaheim Canyon 56, Hesperia 47: Josh Goodall scored 26 points in the Comanches’ early morning game at Colony.

Mira Costa 70, Dougherty Valley 50: Eneasi Piuleini scored 22 points for Mira Costa.

West Ranch 72, Rancho Cucamonga 60: Jaeden Robly had 18 points and James Evans and Bishop Brooks 17 points each for West Ranch. Aaron Glass led Rancho Cucamonga with 19 points in the final game of the night at the State Preview Classic.

Camarillo 77, Santa Clara 23: Tyler Hook scored 16 points for Camarillo.

JSerra 78, Verbum Dei 42: Sebastian Rancik had 12 points for the Lions.

Archbishop Riordan 68, Corona Centennial 58: The Huskies were beaten in a road trip to the Bay Area. Eric Freenay made seven of 11 shots and finished with 17 points for Centennial.

Sierra Canyon 77, Valencia 37: Justin Pippen contributed 17 points for the surging Trailblazers.

Brentwood 71, Milken 31: Jordan Houegban led the way with 22 points for Brentwood.

Arcadia 65, South Pasadena 61: Jordan Dollar finished with 16 points for Arcadia (17-7).

Granada Hills 61, Hillcrest Christian 58: Dylan Vo led Granada Hills with 14 points.

Viewpoint 69, La Salle 58: Aeneas Grullon finished with 24 points and 11 rebounds and Wesley Waddles added 20 points for Viewpoint.

Oakwood 73, Crescenta Valley 64: Oliver Ford scored 30 points for Oakwood.

King/Drew 72, St. Paul 62: Jayshawn Kibble scored 26 points for improving King/Drew. Freshman Semaj Howard had 17 points and Josahn Webster had 16 points and 10 rebounds.

Heritage Christian 63, Grant 54: Dillan Shaw had 23 points for Heritage Christian.

Windward 75, Oak Park 34: Jeremiah Hampton and JJ Harris led the Wildcats with 13 points each.

Girls’ basketball

Ontario Christian 78, Brentwood 61: Kaleena Smith scored 28 points for Ontario Christian.

Birmingham 80, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 57: Zoee Mitchell had 22 points for Birmingham (15-6).

Sierra Canyon 93, Valencia 14: Jerzy Robinson scored 26 points and had 11 rebounds for Sierra Canyon.

Santa Ana Mater Dei 58, Mission Hills 37: The Monarchs defeated one of the top teams in San Diego. Jenessa Cotton had 19 points and 14 rebounds. Kaeli Wynn added 19 points and 13 rebounds.