Day one was full of intrigue and plays of note as the 25th annual Under Armour Holiday Classic began with the National Division at Torrey Pines.
T.J. Leaf Injuries Ankle, Likely Out
Arizona commit T.J. Leaf ’16 of Foothills Christian injured his ankle in the fourth quarter vs. Westchester when he rebounded a ball and came down on a player’s foot. Leaf had to be helped off the court and will likely miss the final three games of the tournament.
Leaf scored a game-high 22 points, had 13 rebounds and seven assists. Foothills Christian def. Westchester 67-49 in the first round and will play Centennial (Corona, CA) in the quarterfinals.
Prime Prep is Primed
Prime Prep, the charter school co-founded by Deion Sanders in 2012, was all primed and ready to go as the team came out for warm-ups with energy and a few nice dunks out of view of any referees.
Most likely thought that Spartan Terrence Ferguson ’16, wanted by a few collegiate institutions, would put on a show but Baylor commit Mark Vital ’16 stole the show with a couple of nice dunks that thrilled the large crowd.
Local Teams
San Diego ranked # 1 La Costa Canyon (Carlsbad, CA) and # 2 ranked Foothills Christian both prevailed in their first round games. Host Torrey Pines (San Diego, CA), ranked # 3 in San Diego lost to Jefferson (Brooklyn, NY).
The Falcons fell behind early to the Orange Wave but largely played Jefferson even the rest of the way but the early deficit was too much at Torrey Pines lost 64-46. La Costa Canyon defeated Santa Monica at LCC 88-71 while Foothills defeated Westchester 67-49.
Is it not appropriate that the top three ranked teams in San Diego all play in the National Division?
Shaq’s Son
Freshman 6-7 Shareef O’Neal ’18, son of Shaquille O’Neal, came off the bench for the Wildcats but had limited touches and no points. Windward (Los Angeles, CA) lost to Prime Prep (Dallas, TX) 84-71
Voice of the Holiday Classic Retires
J.J. Brull, long time P.A. announcer for the National Division, has decided to retire as he turns an elder age of 30. A young man’s game, with ten minutes between games and at halftime, there wasn’t much time to do anything else but eat and visit the restroom for four days beyond being the voice of the Holiday Classic. Brull will be missed for his voice and his ability to timely insert a descriptive word to a noteworthy play.
National Division 1st Round Games:
Fairfax def. Bellevue 58-55
Centennial def. Cantwell Sacred Heart 68-46
Redondo Union def. Loyola 64-55
Patrick def. Lawndale 54-42
Jefferson def. Torrey Pines 64-46
Foothills Christian def. Westchester 67-49
La Costa Canyon def. Santa Monica 88-71
Prime Prep def. Windward 84-71
Day 1 Videos
# 2 Sedrick Barefield '15, Drive And One vs. Cantwell, 12/26/14
# 35 Billy Preston '17, Alley Oop vs. Loyola, 12/26/14
# 22 T.J. Leaf ’16, vs. Westchester, 12/26/14
# 1 Mark Vital ’16, vs. Windward, 12/26/14