SoCalHoops Tournament News

58th Annual BH Tourney Will Showcase
LA Washington Prep--(Dec. 3, 2000)

The 58th Annual Beverly Hills Elliot Invitational Tournament gets started tomorrow at the "Swim Gym" at Beverly Hills HS. 
The first game will feature LA Washington Prep with Andre Patterson (6'-7" Sr. SF) who has verballed to UCLA taking on Buena at 3:00 p.m..  Other top teams include Palisades with Marko Mihailovich,  Rasheed Oliver (6'-7" Sr. PF) and James Matthews (6'-8" Jr. F) a transfer from Manual Arts last season, all of whom are potential solid D-I prospects.  Pali gets a first round bye and will play the loser of Ventura v. Campbell Hall which is the second game of the day tomorrow at 4:30 p.m.

For those who don't know a lot about this tournament, it's named in honor Sax Elliot, a Beverly Hills coach and physical education instructor who taught  at the school from 1935-50 ( with a four-year interruption to serve in the U.S. Navy during World War II). Elliot was responsible for the tournament's creation and the construction of  its unique home, the Swim-Gym, whose basketball court covers a swimming pool. The Swim-Gym could well be America's most-seen high school gymnasium, thanks to its appearance it Frank Capra's classic 1946 film, "It's a Wonderful Life."  Elliot also made it the world's first gym to feature glass basketball  backboards and the square behind the basket to improve the shooter's aim. His other innovations included multi-colored basketballs, with one version later   adapted for use by the American Basketball Assn. He later became the basketball coach at Cal State Los Angeles. He died in 1996.

The 2000-2001 version of the tournament marks the start of a new era for Beverly Hills High School  boys' basketball as well. Monday's game will mark Jason Sanders' debut as the Normans coach. Sanders coached Hollywood High School the past two seasons, posting a 34-18 record. He succeeds Jason Newman, who resigned after seven seasons to become the school's girls' golf coach.   Forward Haben Hagos, center Jason Kravitz and point guard Chasen Walker, all seniors, are the only returning letter winners off last season's 6-19 team. "I think because we have some strong JV players moving up, we'll be OK,"  Sanders said, citing point forwards Mike Sabet and Zack Tannler and guard David Swartz. "All those guys will be called on to play significant minutes."  Sanders called his team "a work in progress," that may "start out at a disadvantage," because it has only been practicing together since school opened in September. Most other schools have practiced together since the spring. "We may struggle early, but I think we'll catch up rather quickly," Sanders  said. Beverly Hills will benefit from the football team's failure to qualify for the Southern Section playoffs, Sanders said. "Having the football players so early is going to be a plus for us," Sanders   said. "They give us more depth and an inside presence."  Two of the football players, Jason Miller and Donnie Richardson, will give  the team some much-needed height. Both are 6-foot-4. Also marking a new era is the fact that Monday's quadrupleheader is the first  sporting event in the 60-year old Swim-Gym since it was closed in May for renovations.

Here's the schedule for the tournament, followed by the bracket:

We'd post up the bracket, but it's a bit different than most so we'll have to take a little time to prepare it. 

 
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