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They’re Number One: Brea Olinda High Takes Nike Tournament of Champions Title
By Kenny Kallina
Correspondent
The basketball was as good as it gets in high school Wednesday night in the packed Hamilton High gym in Chandler, Arizona, that hosted the finals of the 15th Annual Nike Tournament of Champions, one of the most prestigious events in girls’ high school basketball. Two Southern California teams, Brea Olinda High School and Long Beach Poly, had spent the past three days duking it out with some of the best teams in the sport, drawn from across the country, for the right to compete in the title game.
They did not disappoint. In a game that was hard fought and close from start until the parade to the foul line began in the final minute—Poly trailed by just one point, 48-49, with a little less than three minutes remaining but the absence of a shot clock in girls’ high school basketball forced a succession of fouls in the end game—Brea overcome a five-point halftime deficit to take a 56-48 win in the tournament’s elite Joe Smith Division. Along with the Nike Tournament of Champions title comes a No. 1 national ranking for the Brea Ladycats—at least for now, as there is a lot of high school basketball still ahead of us.
Nike Tournament of Championship Semis Give Fans, Coaches a Night to Remember
By Kenny Kallina
Correspondent
While the first two days of the Nike Tournament of Champions had plenty of talent on display, many of the games in the early going have been lopsided and rather uncompetitive. But while this year’s Tournament of Championships may have lacked some of the great early-round games that have typified the NCAA Tournament in recent years, Tuesday night’s semifinals did not disappoint, as high school players, coaches, college coaches, and fans and families packed into Hamilton High School to witness the best night of girls’ high school basketball so far this year. If there were any doubt about the state of the game, the naysayers were silenced on Tuesday night with two epic semifinal battles between some of the top female ballers in the country in the event’s elite Joe Smith Division.
Top Talent on Display in Nike Tournament of Champions Quarterfinal Play
By Kenny Kallina
Correspondent
The top girls’ high school basketball teams from around the nation are on display again this year at the Nike Tournament of Champions in Chandler (just outside Phoenix), Arizona. More than 2,000 student athletes will participate over the two week course of this illustrious tournament, which has become known as the unofficial national championship for high school women’s basketball, but most eyes, including those of the college coaches who flock to the event, will be locked on the premiere Joe Smith Division in session one this week.
Set in Hamilton High School gymnasium, the Joe Smith Division features six of the top 10-nationally ranked girls’ high school teams in the country battling it out for top honors. Mater Dei (Santa Ana, CA) comes into the tournament ranked No. 1, and is the team to beat, but took a heavy blow when Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, one of the top recruits in the country this year, sprained her ankle after coming down hard on an awkwardly positioned joint. Mosqueda-Lewis had to sit out the rest of yesterday’s quarterfinals games on crutches, but promises to return for today’s semifinals; her availability, however, is still uncertain.
With or without Mosqueda-Lewis, it would be wrong to rule out the other top contenders. No. 2/3 Brea advanced yesterday, as did No. 3/2 Bolingbrook and No. 5/8 Long Beach Poly. That means there will be plenty of competitive play, not just in the Joe Smith Division, but in all six divisions scattered throughout several nearby gyms, over the final two days of Session I. Let’s take a look at some of the top action from Monday’s quarterfinals.
