LIVE! MaxPreps Holiday Classic division championship games

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. — Brentwood School (Los Angeles, Calif.) apparently loves the desert climate.

See Quixcore

The Eagles won their third straight MaxPreps Holiday Classic title with a convincing 73-42 win over Foss (Tacoma, Wash.) in the championship game of the Qwixcore Division Tuesday at Rancho Mirage.

Maxwell Kupchak, the son of Lakers' General Manager, made 7 of 8 shots, 8 of 10 free throws en route to 29 points while adding nine rebounds for the winners, who raced to leads of 21-5 and 45-10 after the first two periods before breezing to victory.

Ountae Campbell added 16 points for the Eagles, who improved to 11-1. Foss got 10 points apiece from LJ Lovelace and Stephon Shaw.

"We love it down here," said tournament 3-point contest winner Andrew Gardiner, who also earned all-division honors. "For some reason we just play really well at this tournament."

Brentwood hopes to play this well in the second half off the tournament. Their goal is to win their first Southern Section title since 1991.

"That (1991) trophy is pretty lonely," said Gardiner, who had eight points. "Our goal from Day 1 has been to win another one."

The Eagles came out immediately and jumped all over Foss, which entered the game 7-2. "Our coaches did a great job getting us ready," Gardiner said. "They always do."

Beverly Hills (Calif.) 49, Urspring 38

It wasn't particularly pretty, but the effort was supreme. That's what it took for the Normans to win the Gear to the Max Division. It didn't hurt to get 21 points, six rebounds, two blocks and two steals from division MVP and Arizona commit Chance Comanche, a 6-9 senior.

"Our defense was really good tonight," Comanche said. "It turned into a lot of our offense."

There was little of it on either side. Urspring (Ulm, Germany), a prep team from German, had just 21 points through three quarters. Beverly Hills scored no more than 13 points in any quarter.

Trevor Bergher added 11 points for the winners, while Lars Berger had 12 points for Urspring.

Chance Comanche, a transfer from View Park, said he has higher sights than simply a Southern Section title.

"If we can play defense like we did today, with a little more offense we can win state," he said.

JW North (Riverside, Calif.) 70, Edison (Huntington Beach, Calif.) 61

Qwixcore

If JW North (12-0) can just bottle the fourth quarter, Dikymbe Martin said, watch out. Sky is the limit for the Huskies, who outscored Edison 26-14 in the final stanza to post the IHoop Division title.

Martin, a 6-1 junior guard, was named the division MVP by scoring 23 points and teammate Deshaun Highler added 15 and Maurice Ladd 12 as North broke open a tight game in the fourth quarter.

"The first two quarters were a C-minus," Martin said. "The third quarter was a C-plus and the fourth a definite A. We just need to keep up that level the rest of the year."

Edison (11-5) got 18 points and eight rebounds from A.J. Garrity and 16 points and eight assists by Brae Ivey.

Foothill (Henderson, Nev.) 77, Harvard-Westlake (Studio City, Calif.) 76

Qwixcore of game

Ryan Rapp has made some big shots in his two-year career at Foothill. But none quite as big as this.

The 5-10 guard drilled a 3-pointer with 21.2 seconds left to complete a long uphill climb and give the Falcons the comeback win in the championship game of the Gatorade Division.

Foothill (11-3) trailed at halftime by 10 points and took its first lead of the game 70-68 on a 3-pointer by Kevin Woodland. But Harvard-Westlake (8-4) looked like it took back control on back-to-back 3-pointers by Aaron Glazer and Wolfgang Novogratz to go up 74-70.

Foothill wouldn't give in, but after Alex Copeland gave Harvard-Westlake a 76-74 lead on a backline jumper with 1:07 left, the Falcons eventually worked the ball around and got to Rapp who drilled it from the right wing. "I just wanted to make it for my team," Rapp said. "My job is to put the ball up and knock them down. I'm glad I could."

Harvard-Westlake had three players score all but Glazer's three, led by Copeland (32 points), Novogratz (27) and Iki Iken (14). Foothill meanwhile relied on balance, led by Woodland (21 points), Te'vion Reed (12 points), Torrance Littles (11) and Colin Curi (10).

Harvard-Westlake had one last chance, but Novogratz drove all the way to the basket, but under heavy duress, his interior shot missed as the final horn sounded. There appeared to be contact, but no foul was called.

"Winning here will give us some great confidence," Rapp said. 

Pleasant Grove (Utah) 58, Tahquitz (Hemet, Calif.) 45

Qwixcore

Appropriately named Riley Court had 26 points, 10 rebounds and five assists leading Pleasant Grove (10-0) to the Palm Springs Ford Division title over Tahquitz.

Tylor Bott added 10 points for Pleasant Grove (10-0), which raced to a 19-10 lead after the first quarter and were never caught. It helped to hold a 35-23 edge on the boards. It was a great battle between Court and Tahquiltz' Jordan Williams, who had 24 points and seven steals.