schwab invitational

Fairfax & Dominguez To Play In "Les Schwab
Oregon Invitational" In December --(Oct. 2, 2000)

For the past two years we've reported about the "Les Schwab Tires Oregon Hoops Holiday Invitational". Redondo Union played in the event this past December, and the year before, Crenshaw was there and won it. This year, the tournament also continues the tradition of bringing some of the top national teams from the SoCal region, and the 5th Annual Les Schwab Oregon Invitational" will feature not only the top teams in Oregon, like Portland Jefferson, but once again it will also bring in some of the top teams in the country, among them LA Fairfax and Compton Dominguez, which has a chance again to be the top ranked team in the U.S. with Tyson Chandler (7'-0" Sr. C) who is a truly gifted athlete and a potential NBA lottery pick next spring.

The Les Schwab Invitational has it's own website, the official one as they have the past two years, and the event will also receive a lot of coverage from the Rivals.com Oregon Preps website as well, with perhaps more commentary and insights about some of the local Oregon players (like Aaron Miles, etc) than you might expect to find on the "official" site. Still, as official tournament sites go, this one is amazingly detailed, with team photos, rosters, and reports of the games, and they also feature live updates from the tournament with scoring and stats, similar to what you'll find for many college web-casts. Truly impressive.

Here's who is coming this year to the event, which takes place over four days just before Christmas, December 20, 21, 22 & 23, at the Portland Memorial Coliseum:

Fairfax Lions	Los Angeles, California
Christ the King Royals	Queens, New York
Dominguez Dons	Compton, California
Barlow Bruins	Gresham, Oregon
Beaverton Beavers	Beaverton, Oregon
Benson Techmen	Portland, Oregon
Churchill Lancers	Eugene, Oregon
Jefferson Democrats	Portland, Oregon
Jesuit Crusaders	Portland, Oregon
Lake Oswego Lakers	Lake Oswego, Oregon
Redmond Panthers	Redmond, Oregon
South Salem Saxons	Salem, Oregon
Sprague Olympians	Sprague, Oregon
Thurston Colts	Springfield, Oregon
West Linn Lions	West Linn, Oregon
Westview Wildcats	Beaverton, Oregon

The four day tournament will feature the state of Oregon's top basketball programs as well as three teams from around the country, including #1 ranked Dominguez High School from Compton, CA. Perennial national power-house Portland Jefferson will also enter the tournament ranked in the top five in the nation, and they feature one of the most highly recruited point guards in the nation in Aaron Miles. The Democrats are coming off an undefeated season in which they captured both the State and Les Schwab Invitational Championship last year. Portland's Jesuit High School (Mike and Baker Dunleavy alma mater) will make a run for the LSI title after a successful 26-2 campaign in '99-'00. The Crusaders are currently ranked #22 in the nation. Fairfax High School, out of Los Angeles, will compete with a talented front-court tandem of Craig Smith (6'-7" Sr. PF) and Evan Burns (6'-7" Jr. PF) . And Christ the King High School, a powerhouse team from Queens, NY will bring a talented, young team into the LSI featuring junior swingman, Petey Nelson. Lake Oswego, with Salim Stoudamire (6'-2" Sr. SG/PG) who has committed to the University of Arizona, will also play in the event and vie for the championship.

And while this is not the biggest of the "national" level tournaments, not really comparable in size to the Las Vegas Holiday Classic, or even the Slam Dunk to the Beach, it is still one of the top tournaments around, especially with the demise of the Best in the West Tournament, which seems to be all but gone (there will be another new tournament in it's place which occur at LBSU this year), and if you want to see Fairfax and Dominguez take on Oregon's best, this is the place.