{"id":169687,"date":"2020-01-02T15:46:50","date_gmt":"2020-01-02T23:46:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bilcomprd.wpengine.com\/?p=169687"},"modified":"2023-03-21T14:23:07","modified_gmt":"2023-03-21T21:23:07","slug":"holiday-tournaments-3-things-we-learned","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ballislife.com\/holiday-tournaments-3-things-we-learned\/","title":{"rendered":"Holiday Tournaments: 3 Things We Learned!"},"content":{"rendered":"

We attended three post-Christmas tournaments around Southern California and followed the other major ones across the country and these are our main take aways. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Is FAB 50 No. 1 Montverde Academy (Fla.) unbeatable? Is Rancho Christian (Temecula, Calif.) the team to beat for the CIF Open Division title?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nothing Has Changed At The Top<\/strong><\/p>\n

FAB 50 No. 6 Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.) fell in overtime, 85-81, to Rancho Christian (Temecula, Calif.) in the title game of The Classic at Damien and No. 27 Sheldon (Sacramento, Calif.) lost to a good JSerra (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) team in the finals of The Torrey Pines Holiday Classic in San Diego.<\/p>\n

If the CIF state tournament started today, however, those two losing teams would still rate as favorites to win the open division in their respective regions.<\/p>\n

Sierra Canyon went into that December 30 game knowing Ziaire Williams, a national Top 10 prospect, was going to be playing for the first time this season. It just so happened the date for transfers to be eligible fell on the same day as the title game against the last team to beat the Trailblazers during the 2018-19 season before they went on to win a second consecutive CIF Open Division state crown and begin this season 14-0.<\/p>\n

Sierra Canyon got to The Classic finals using a lineup that included Kentucky-bound B.J. Boston off the bench and played its rotation a variety of minutes depending on the foe. Against Rancho Christian, it was figured Williams would be eased into the rotation, but what happened was Boston started and Williams played 27 minutes off the bench. We were a bit surprised to see Williams take 21 shots and between him and Boston, the forward duo took 46 of Sierra Canyon's 70 shot attempts. Regardless of how the game played out, that was 27 minutes and 21 shots that went to someone else for the team's first 14 games, so it had an impact.<\/p>\n

Sierra Canyon will eventually settle into a rotation it will stick to, but to break in a player of Williams' caliber into an already successful lineup had to be tough and it still took 21 turnovers and overtime to knock off California's top-ranked team. Sierra Canyon will have to find its groove and iron out the kinks right away because it faces No. 13 Patrick School (Elizabeth, N.J.) on Friday evening in a nationally-televised game.<\/p>\n

That game will also give us a good barometer of just how good California teams are this season because The Celtics lost, 77-32, in the title game of the John Wall Holiday Invitational on December 30 to FAB 50 No. 1 Montverde Academy. Ironically, Sierra Canyon's next game versus a California foe will be on January 11 at Pasadena City College (Calif.) against the very same Rancho Christian team it just lost to.<\/p>\n

As for Sheldon, the Huskies advanced through the Torrey Pines Holiday Classic without the services of Marcus Bagley, it's 6-foot-8 senior forward who was playing so terrific at the Tarkanian Classic before being hurt in the second overtime of a third place win over No. 19 Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.). Sheldon has terrific depth, as senior guards Josh Williams and Dontrelle Hewlett, along with senior forward Darren Tobias, really stepped up their games in Bagley's absence.<\/p>\n

The loss to JSerra was Sheldon's first to a California team, and in both of its losses (the other was to Tarkanian host Bishop Gorman of Las Vegas), the Huskies had leads they blew because of unforced turnovers. If they can clean that up and Bagley remain healthy, Sheldon rates the heavy favorites to once again represent NorCal in the CIF Open division title game based on what we've seen so far. Sierra Canyon, meanwhile, could face Rancho Christian four times this season, so it has plenty of opportunity to find the lineup that will work best for another state title run.<\/p>\n