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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Advanced Prep International (Dallas, Texas) has had an up and down start to the 2015-16 season after beginning the season in the top 10 of the preseason FAB 50 National Team Rankings powered by www.ebooksnet.com. API came into its Monday night showdown with Brewster Academy with six losses, but highly-regarded junior forward Billy Preston took it into his own hands to get the Bulldogs back on the right track.

After Brewster's Deleon Brown gave his team a 59-58 lead on a 3-pointer with 7.7 seconds left in overtime, Preston drove the lane and made a contested lay-up high off glass for the game-wining bucket with o.5 seconds remaining in the extra period. His free throw on the conventional 3-point play accounted for the final margin.

Preston led API with 16 points, while junior point guard Trevon Duval (who like Preston is a consensus top 10 2017 prospect) added 15 points. Duval nailed a straight-away 3-pointer with 35 seconds remaining to tie the game at 49-49 as Brewster had a couple of opportunities to win the game in regulation but couldn't convert close range looks with less than five seconds remaining.

Shooting guard Alpha Diallo led Brewster with 18 points while Tauren Thompson, a fellow 2016 prospect, added 14 points for the the Bobcats.

While API opened up No. 8 in the FAB 50 National Team Rankings powered by www.ebooksnet.com, Oldsmar Christian (Oldsmar, Fla.) opened up at No. 12, one spot behind still unbeaten No. 9 Chino Hills (Calif.), which has advanced to the Maxpreps Holiday Classic semifinals versus Jonesboro (Ga,.), which was also FAB 50-ranked to open the season. At the UA Holiday Classic on Monday, Oldsmar Christian looked every bit like its preseason forecast in a dominant 71-48 victory over Balboa City School (San Diego, Calif.).

South Florida-bound forward Troy Baxter attacked the rim with a vengeance, junior wing L.J. Figueroa scored in a variety of ways, while Florida-bound Eric Hester hounded ball-handlers on the defensive end. Baxter finished with 18 points and nine rebounds while Figueroa finished with 19 points and four assists for the Eagles.

Joining Jonesboro and Chino Hills, who some are clamoring for the No. 1 spot in the next national ratings shuffle, in the opposite Maxpreps Holiday Classic semifinal will be Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, Nev.) vs. Redondo Union (Redondo Beach, Calif.). Redondo routed No. 22 Bentonville (Ark.) in the quarterfinals, 83-57, behind 32 points from unsigned senior shooting guard Leland Green.

In the UA Holiday Classic semifinals, it will be No. 48 Foothills Christian (El Cajon, Calif.) vs. Centennial (Corona, Calif.), with Fairfax (Los Angeles, Calif.) taking on local favorite Army-Navy Academy (Carlsbad, Calif.) in the other semifinal. Foothills Christian already owns a win over Centennial and that early December win helped catapult the Knights into the FAB 50 rankings.

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

The post Billy Preston Hits Game-Winner! Troy Baxter Shows Out! appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.