The 20th Annual MaxPreps Holiday Classic is taking place in Torrey Pines this year from December 26-30th. As all years prior, the tournament promises top teams and coaches from around the country. Every year, nearly 20,000 fans turn out for the tournament as well as many college coaches and recruiters to see the best young basketball talent. Brackets for teams have been broken into National Division, American Division, Governors Division, Mayors Division and Senators Division.
Among the players to watch out for at the tournament are power forward Jvonte Brooks, shooting guard Troy Leaf and point guard Kalob Hatcher. Together they have gotten Foothill Christians to a hot 6-0 start on the season. Each member of this trio is averaging twenty points or more and Jvonte is hauling in over 15 rebounds a contest, while Kalob is impressively dishing out over 8 assist per game. Troy has recently committed to the University of California, Santa Barbara after drawing interest from schools such as SDSU, Washington State, Nevada, Portland, SMU and UNLV ever since his freshman year. Also be on the lookout for Chen Cai, a 6’8 junior forward from Maranatha Christian, who is averaging 25.7 points, 16.7 rebounds and 4 blocks per game. Coming straight from the Torrey Pine Falcons (5-0) is Nick Kerr, a 6’3 junior guard, averaging over 25 points per game and shooting an astounding 43% from beyond the arc.
Making a trip all the way from New Jersey are the St. Patrick Celtics, ranked No.1 in the nation by MaxPreps and No.2 by rivals. The Celtics will be lead by two top 100 prospects in combo guard Kyrie Irving and small forward Julian Washburn. Kyrie recently completed his letter of intent during the early signing period to become a Duke Blue Devil. Competition from out of state will continue to heat up as the Mesa Jackrabbits, ranked No.1 in Arizona and No. 75 nationally by MaxPreps, come to town to try and stake their claim at the title. They’ll have to contend with the Taft Toreadors of Los Angeles who are lead by De Andre Daniels and Bryce Jones. The Toreadors are nationally ranked No.18 by MaxPreps and No.31 by Rivals. Center Greg Leslie bring his Chaparral Pumas in with a perfect 9-0 record on the year and are looking to take down the top contenders.
Seventy five teams are going to be on hand and each one is out to prove that they’re better than the rest. With the exceptional level of talent in this year’s tournament, fans are guaranteed exciting match-ups and plenty of surprises. For a full list of match-ups and locations please visit http://www.torreypinesbasketball.com/ .
