Former baseball player Mazi Mosley is a 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.

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.

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

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.