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All-American guard Jaylen Hands needed only 11 points to break the UA Holiday Classic tournament individual scoring record of former Lincoln (Brooklyn, N.Y.) All-American Stephon Marbury in the title game of this year's event versus a tough St. John's (Washington, D.C.) team. Hands would have been satisfied to score 10 points -- provided his Foothills Christian (El Cajon, Calif.) club won the tournament championship.

As it turns out, Foothills Christian is best when Hands has the ball in his hands and is looking to score and create for others with his drive-and-find game. That was the case for the Knights in the second half, after the score was tied 24-24 at halftime, as Hands netted 16 points in the third quarter and 10 points in the final period to lift Foothills Christian to a 61-57 win. Hands finished with 38 points and made two free throws with 8.4 seconds to seal the win.

The Knights are the first San Diego Section to win the National Division since 2004 when Steele Canyon (Spring Valley, Calif.) knocked of preseason FAB 50 No. 1 St. Anthony (Jersey City, N.J.) in the title game. That Steele Canyon team was coached by Brad Leaf, Foothills Christian's current coach who wasn't in attendance for the championship game.

Marbury scored 152 points in five tournament games for a Lincoln club that suffered its first loss of the season 92-77 to a Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) club that eventually won the CIF Division I state championship and finished No. 3 in the National Prep Poll/FAB 50. Lincoln eventually won the New York Federation Class A title and finished No. 15.

Marbury averaged 30.4 points and seven assists per game back in 1994 and had 39 points and eight 3-pointers in the title game loss to Mater Dei. Hands scored his 38 points on 8-of-14 2-point field goals, 3-of-8 3-point and 13-16 free throws versus St. John's to go along with six rebounds and four assists. He had 42 points in the 81-69 semifinal win over third place finisher St. Edward (Lakewood, Ohio), had 34 vs. Orange Lutheran (Orange, Calif.) in the quarterfinals, 33 in the opening round win over Calvert Hall (Baltimore, Md.) and 35 in the out-of-bracket loss to St. Augustine (San Diego Calif.) to finish with 180 points and a 36 pppg average in five tournament games.

"So much has happened in the past week there's not really a word to describe it," Hands said of breaking Marbury's record. "The biggest thing is that our team won the whole thing and made San Diego proud.

"I had a chance to connect with kids and parents and put a stamp on San Diego and hopefully the rest of the country on who I am as a player."

St. John's (10-3) was led in the scoring department by senior guards Reese Mona and Emanuel Hylton with 14 points apiece. Hands was the only double digit scorer for Foothills Christian, which improved to 12-2 on the season.

"Scoring doesn't matter," Hands said. "I just score to help our team win...winning is most important. In the loss to St. Augustine, we just played bad. We took that as a learning experience."

Other FAB 50 Updates

Besides the one to St. Augustine, the other loss for Foothills Christian this season came at the hands of FAB 50 No. 10 Chino Hills (Calif.), which is likely moving up in our next set of national rankings on January 2, 2017 by improving its winning streak to 51 games in capturing the Rancho Mirage Holiday Invitational. The 16-0 Huskies handed Sheldon (Sacramento, Calif.) its first loss of the season in their 91-82 championship game victory on Friday night to win that tourney for the second consecutive season.

The question will have to be answered as to which California team will be highest in the next FAB 50 after No. 5 Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.) fell to No. 24 Nathan Hale (Seattle, Wash.) 67-65 in the title game of the prestigious Les Schwab Invitational in Portland, Ore. Sierra Canyon previously knocked off No. 1 Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.), but Oak Hill has since dropped a second contest to No. 19 Findlay Prep (Henderson, Nev.). Leading Mr. Basketball USA candidate Michael Porter Jr. had 26 points, 15 rebounds and four steals vs. Sierra Canyon and 34 points, 20 rebounds and five assists in the semifinal victory over No. 22 Garfield. Marvin Bagley III went for 22 points and 10 rebounds for Sierra Canyon in the loss to Hale.

Preseason state No. 1 and current FAB 50 No. 9 Bishop Montgomery (Torrance, Calif.) is now 12-1 on the season after capturing the #D1Bound SoCal Christmas Tournament. Montgomery lost its first game of the season at less than full strength, but it hasn't played the national schedule Sierra Canyon has and the Bishop O'Dowd (Oakland, Calif.) team it lost to now has five losses itself.

Ronnie Flores is the national Grassroots editor of www.ebooksnet.com. He can be reached at [email protected]. Don't forget to follow him on Twitter: @RonMFlores

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By Ronnie Flores

Every result counts and for the top-ranked teams in the FAB 50 National Team Rankings powered by www.ebooksnet.com, margin of victory usually doesn't help -- or hurt -- its rankings position. Taking on other elite teams, coaches will take a win any way they can get it.

Such was the case last week for FAB 50 No. 1 Chino Hills (Calif.). The Huskies remained unbeaten by winning their only game of the week on Saturday night versus Foothills Christian (El Cajon, Calif.) at the Sierra Canyon Showcase. In the first meeting of the season between the two clubs, Chino Hills blitzed Foothills 40-13 in the first quarter, but this time the boys from San Diego County were better prepared and got a sensational performance from UCLA-bound forward T.J. Leaf to keep the game close before falling to RUN GMZ, 85-83.

Leaf, who appeared on a single ballot in the latest Mr. Basketball USA Tracker, scored on a variety of moves around the basket, finishing with 43 points on 20-of-24 shooting from the field and 21 rebounds. Foothills Christian took a 83-82 lead on Leaf's last basket with 13 seconds remaining, but Chino Hills regained the lead when national player of the year candidate Lonzo Ball was fouled three seconds later. Foothills Christian missed its last field goal attempt and Ball secured the rebound and accounted for the game's final points at the free throw line. Ball, who will join Leaf at UCLA, finished with 24 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists. (See raw footage of that game below.)

While margin of victory doesn't help the higher ranked team, it can often help the lower ranked/bubble team and propel it into the rankings. Considering Foothills Christian lost by one basket, we considered Leaf and company for the FAB 50 this week after it fell out in the first rankings of 2016. But after carefully reviewing the Knights' log, we decided to go with still unbeaten Wayne of Huber Heights, Ohio at No. 49 this week.

We still have Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) in front of Foothills in our California pecking order, so Mater Dei nor Foothills can be ranked in front of fellow bubble club Moeller (Cincinnati, Ohio) in our national pecking order since that team defeated Mater Dei in December. Moeller is still ranked behind Wayne, No. 31 Lima Senior (Lima, Ohio) and No. 28 Westerville South (Westerville, Ohio) in the latest Ohio Division I power poll, so Mater Dei and Foothills will need more results to go in its favor before they can jump back in the FAB 50.

The second team Mater Dei lost to -- No. 8 St. John's (Washington, D.C.) -- was involved in the other top game around the country last week. It hosted No. 5 DeMatha Catholic (Hyattsville, Md.) in WCAC play and the Stags came away with a 59-57 road win. The game was close throughout and decided on a 3-pointer by DeMatha's Ryan Allen with just under a minute remaining and the shot clock expiring. The closeness of the loss and St. John's 75-72 overtime win earlier in the week over No. 19 Gonzaga (Washington, D.C.) keeps the Cadets at No. 8 this week.

MLK Rankings Bonanza

The Martin Luther King Jr. holiday has evolved over the last 20 years as a great time to see some of the nation's elite clubs pitted against each other. The top showcase is the Hoophall Classic January 14-18 in Springfield, Mass. Fourteen FAB 50 ranked teams will participate with five games nationally televised on ESPN networks. The games involving ranked teams include:

Saturday, Jan. 16 (ET)
No. 2 Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.) vs. No. 34 Roman Catholic (Philadelphia, Pa.), 2 pm
No. 4 Findlay Prep (Henderson, Nev.) vs. Athlete Institute (Ontario, Canada), 6 pm (ESPN)
No. 16 Sacred Heart (Waterbury, Conn.) vs. bubble Foothills Christian (El Cajon, Calif.), 7:45 pm

Sunday, Jan. 17 (ET)
No. 4 Findlay Prep (Henderson, Nev.) vs. No. 13 St. Benedict's (Newark, N.J.), 2:15 pm
No. 7 Patrick School (Elizabeth, N.J.) vs. No. 47 La Lumiere (LaPorte, Ind.), 5:45 pm

Monday, Jan. 18 (ET)
No. 10 St. Anthony (Jersey City, N.J.) vs. Bentonville (Bentonville, Ark.), 9 am
No. 5 DeMatha Catholic (Hyattsville, Md.) vs. No. 21 Chaminade (St. Louis, Mo.), 11 am (ESPNU)
No. 3 Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) vs. bubble Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.), 1 pm (ESPNU)
No. 2 Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.) vs. No. 17 Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.), 3 pm (ESPNU)
No. 1 Chino Hills (Chino Hills, Calif.) vs. No. 36 High Point Christian (High Point, N.C.), 5 pm (ESPNU)

Oak Hill Academy, Sierra Canyon and Chaminade will participate in the 2016 Bass Pro Tournament of Champions Jan. 14-16 in Springfield, Mo. before playing Monday at the Hoophall. The field also includes No. 45 Rainier Beach (Seattle, Wash.).

Because of all the MLK showcases around the country, the next FAB 50 won't be published until Tuesday, January 19 and will factor in MLK Monday results.

Updated FAB 50 National Team Rankings
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(Fourth poll of the 2015-16 regular season; Through games played on Sunday, January 10; Previous ranking in parentheses; *Indicates forfeit wins, forfeit losses not included)

Dropped Out: Previous No. 33 Paul VI (Fairfax, Va.), No. 35 Overland (Aurora, Colo.), No. 36 Starkville (Starkville, Miss.), No. 43 Curie (Chicago, Ill.), No. 44 Father Tolton (Columbia, Mo.).

Bubble Teams: Advanced Prep International (Dallas, Texas) 17-7; American Fork (American Fork, Utah) 10-2; Beecher (Flint, Mich.) 5-1; Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, Nev.) 11-4; Bishop Loughlin (Brooklyn, N.Y.) 9-3; Brandeis (San Antonio, Texas) 21-0; Brentwood (Brentwood, N.Y.) 7-0; Cape Henry Collegiate (Virginia Beach, Va.) 7-2; Crespi (Encino, Calif.) 16-1; Curie (Chicago, Ill.) 13-1*; Dakota (Macomb, Mich.) 4-0; De La Salle (Concord, Calif.) 11-1; Douglass (Upper Marlboro, Md.) 8-0; Eaglecrest (Centennial, Col.) 10-0; Father Tolton (Columbia, Mo.) 9-2; Folsom (Folsom, Calif.) 14-2; Foothills Christian (El Cajon, Calif.) 9-3; Fort Bend Elkins (Missouri City, Texas) 20-1; H.D. Woodson (Washington, D.C.) 17-0; J.O. Johnson (Huntsville, Ala.) 16-3; Jonesboro (Jonesboro, Ga.) 13-3; Kenwood (Chicago, Ill.) 11-1; Kickapoo (Springfield, Mo.) 13-0; Lancaster (Lancaster, Texas) 18-2; Lone Peak (Highland, Utah) 9-2; Maple Grove (Maple Grove, Minn.) 10-1; Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) 15-2; Memorial (Tulsa, Okla.) 10-0; Mercer County (Harrodsburg, Ky.) 15-0; Meridian (Meridian, Miss.) 18-2; Merrillville (Merrillville, Ind.) 11-0; Mesa (Mesa, Ariz.) 13-2; Miller Grove (Lithonia, Ga.) 15-2; Modesto Christian (Modesto, Calif.) 13-1; Moeller (Cincinnati, Ohio) 11-1; Mustang (Mustang, Okla.) 5-3; National Christian Academy (Ft. Washington, Md.) 13-1; Norman North (Norman, Okla.) 8-2; Omaha South (Omaha, Neb.) 10-0; Oscar Smith (Chesapeake, Va.) 12-0; Overland (Aurora, Colo.) 8-2; Park School of Buffalo (Snyder, N.Y.) 9-0; Putnam Vo-Tech (Springfield, Mass.) 7-0; Ravenscroft (Raleigh, N.C.) 14-3; Renaissance (Detroit, Mich.) 6-0; Redondo Union (Redondo Beach, Calif.) 12-3; Regis Jesuit (Aurora, Col.) 8-1; Roselle Catholic (Roselle, N.J.) 5-2; Scotlandville (Baton Rouge, La.) 19-2; Shadow Mountain (Phoenix, Ariz.) 12-4; Shenendehowa (Clifton Park, N.Y.) 12-0; Steele (Cibolo, Texas) 20-1; Sunrise Christian Academy (Bel Aire, Kan.) 9-3; Victory Rock Prep (Sarasota, Fla.) 12-1; Wasatch Academy (Mt. Pleasant, Utah) 15-2; Westfield (Chantilly, Va.) 9-2; Westtown School (West Chester, Pa.) 14-5.

Note: The FAB 50 powered by www.ebooksnet.com is a continuation of the National Sports News Service ratings that began in 1952. These were the first national high school rankings and the late Art Johlfs of Minnesota compiled them. They were compiled for many years by the late Barry Sollenberger of Phoenix, who merged them into the FAB 50 16 years ago.

Ronnie Flores is the national Grassroots editor of www.ebooksnet.com. He can be reached at [email protected]. Don't forget to follow him on Twitter: @RonMFlores

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