Recapping the biggest high school basketball tournaments of the holiday season

The 36th annual Arby’s Classic didn’t lack for excitement as 16 of the 30 games played in the tournament were decided by 10 of fewer points. Those 16 games included both semifinal games and the title showdown.

No. 17 Carmel Christian (Matthews, N.C.) entered the event as the only nationally ranked team in the 16-team field and the Cougars had a challenging road just to make it to the finals. The defending state champions defeated Trinity (Louisville, Ky.) 55-49 and Buford (Ga.) 67-62 in the quarterfinal and semifinal games before taking on Bearden (Knoxville, Tenn.) for the championship game.



The Cougars appeared in control of the title game for long stretches and entered the final period leading 48-40. A 9-0 Bearden run midway through the fourth changed that as the Bulldogs used a 21-9 fourth quarter to knock off the previously unbeaten Carmel Christian and take home the event crown.

Title Game:
Bearden over No. 17 Carmel Christian 61-57

All-Tournament Team:
MVP Jacques Glover
Jake Boggs, Shamarcus Brown, Chico Carter Jr., Bradley Dean, Deangelo Epps, Zac Ervin, Stanley Eze, Connor Jordan, Marae Forman, Donovan Gregory, Jordan Meka, Taft Mitchell, Donell Nixon, Trent Stephney, Cameron Tucker, Stan Turnier, Marcus Watson

One of the more wide open fields of any holiday tournament. This was evident early as both ranked teams coming into the event were taken down before the championship game.

No. 18 Sunrise Christian Academy (Bel Aire, Kan.) was upended by eventual National Division champions, Bella Vista Prep (Scottsdale, Ariz.), in a semifinals double-overtime thriller. No. 25 Roman Catholic (Philadelphia), featured in the American Division, were unable to make it out of the first round as the Cahillites were upset by Independence (Charlotte, N.C.) in their opening game of the tournament.

An event loaded with exciting games saw buzzer-beaters, overtime thrillers and more with Bella Vista Prep winning the National Division title and Salesian College Prep (Richmond, Calif.) taking home the National Division.

American Division Title Game:
Salesian College Prep over Dorman 45-39

National Division Title Game:
Bella Vista Prep over St. Frances Academy 55-46

All Tournament  Team:
American Division
MVP — Shane Bell, MOP — Myles Tate
Brandon Boston, Tommy Bruner, Jalen Duren, P.J. Hall, Raekwon Horton



National Division
MVP — Terry Armstrong, MOP — James Wiseman
Adrian Baldwin, N'Faly Dante, Anthony Edwards, Addison Patterson, Dischon Thomas

Emerald Coast 16 (Niceville, Fla.)

Yankton (S.D.) over DeLaSalle 71-65 OT

Recap:
The island tournament had as much star power as any holiday event as the loaded field featured three of the top six teams in high school basketball.

The only problem was after a semifinal upset of the top ranked Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.), La Lumiere was unable to face No. 4 Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.) in the tournament championship game because of California state rules. The CIF does not allow its members to play independent teams, meaning Sierra Canyon was not allowed to play the Lakers for the championship game.

Instead Montverde Academy took on Sierra Canyon and Lumiere faced off against No. 20 Oak Ridge (Orlando, Fla.) with the winner being determined based on their overall record at the tournament. La Lumiere handled business against Oak Ridge, while Montverde Academy knocked off Sierra Canyon — giving La Lumiere the event title.

All- Tournament Team:
MVP — Isaiah Stewart, MOP — Cade Cunningham
Precious Achiuwa, Kaelen Allen, Kevin Bethel, Jordan Brinson, Keion Brooks,  Casey Brown, Noah Bumanglag, Bryson Crockett, Tyler Fairbanks, Micah Garrett, Niven Glover, Wendell Green Jr., Kenyon Martin Jr., Moses Moody, Kameron Ng, Scotty Pippen Jr., Geremy Robinson, Cassius Stanley, C.J. Walker

John Wall Holiday Invitational (Raleigh, N.C.)

No. 11 Ranney (Tinton Falls, N.J.) was tested from its opening game as it took on local Garner Magnet (Garner, N.C.) that got hot at the right time down the stretch.

Trailing 69-66 with one free throw remaining for Villanova pledge Bryan Antoine, Ranney looked to have suffered its first loss of the season. However, before Antoine could shoot his second free throw with just 9 seconds remaining, the Garner bench received a technical foul before Antoine's second free throw, giving him two additional shots. The 5-star guard calmly stepped to the line and knocked down all three free throws to knot things at 69. Ranney was then fouled on the inbounds and hit one of two free throws to win the opener 70-69.

In the final game for the Garden State contender, Ranney battled to knock off previously unbeaten South Central (Winterville, N.C.) while overcoming a 24-point, 20-rebound effort from 2020 UNC bound big man Day'ron Sharpe. Antoine averaged 32.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.3 steals per game to lead the Panthers to the event title.

TJ Warren Title Game:
No. 11 Ranney over South Central 65-58



David West Title Game:
Brewster Academy (Wolfeboro, N.H.) over Trinity Christian (Fayetteville, N.C.) 69-49

All-Tournament Team:
David West Bracket:
MVP — Terrance Clarke, MOP - D.J. Thomas
Jaden Bradley, Nimari Burnett, Alonzo Gaffney, Greg Gantt, Jalen Lecque, Keith "KJ" Marshall, D.J. Nix, Bryce Waterman

TJ Warren Bracket:
MVP — Bryan Antoine, MOP - Day'Ron Sharpe
Cartier Jernigan, Scottie Lewis, Justin McKoy, Shykeim Phillips, DJ Robertson, Isaiah Todd, Patrick Williams, Carter Whitt

Sierra Canyon showed they were clearly the best team, knocking off their opponents by an average of 22.3 points per game. The Trailblazers left no doubt in any of their four contests as a balanced attack saw three different players make the eight-man all-tournament team.

The other two out-of-state teams in the event were tournament runner-up University (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) and defending Evergreen State champion Gonzaga Prep (Spokane, Wash.). The Sunshine State powerhouse knocked off the Bullpups after a strong second-half surge that gave University the 58-53 victory in what may have been the best game of the tournament in the second semifinal.

There were also some outstanding performances by local talents as Aaron Deloney exploded for a tournament record 47 points in a tough loss for Grant (Portland, Ore.) in the consolation final against Skyview, while talented 6-foot-8 sophomore Ben Gregg averaged 23.3 points, 15.8 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 3.5 blocks per game with his versatility on full display.

No. 5 Sierra Canyon over University 68-52

All-Tournament Team:
MVP — Scotty Pippen Jr., MOP — Vernon Carey Jr.
Scottie Barnes, Justin Bieker, Aaron Deloney, Ben Gregg, Kenyon Martin Jr.,  Anton Watson

DeMatha (Hyattsville, Md.) held on to take down Wilson (Washington, D.C.) 56-54 in overtime of the title contest.

Curie (Chicago) took home a statement win in the title game of the 88th annual tournament, knocking off fellow unbeaten Bloom (Chicago Heights, Ill.) 58-44 in the championship game.

Jonathan Kuminga made his case for the title of best sophomore in the nation, posting an event record 40 points in a closely contested 76-70 loss to Gonzaga (Washington, D.C.).

Shadow Mountain (Phoenix) took home the event title by defeating Mission Bay 82-62 in the championship game. The Matadors were led by Arizona State signee Jaelen House who took home MVP honors.

Grayson (Loganville, Ga.) knocked off Meadowcreek (Norcross, Ga.) 55-51 and Wheeler took down St. Francis (Alpharetta, Ga.) 82-64 in event title contests.

Note: Rankings in individual event write-ups are based on Updated Xcellent 25 Rankings at the time of the event.

Note: Holiday Season was defined as Dec. 17-Dec. 31