In The News - February

Second Annual T-Mobile Invitational a Resounding Success

By John Gillis

Set in the breathtakingly scenic Land of Enchantment of Albuquerque, New Mexico, the second annual T-Mobile Invitational basketball tournament was a resounding success on all counts.

For starters, four of the nation's top boys teams and four of the nation's top girls teams converged on "The Pit" on the University of New Mexico campus December 28-29 to test their cage-playing mettle against each other. The entire tournament was televised live on the VERSUS Network.

The tourney kicked off with Long Beach (California) Poly High School taking on Dayton (Ohio) Chaminade-Julienne High School. In that contest, Poly edged C-J, 67-61, behind its talented front-liners Jasmine Dixon (19 points and 10 rebounds) and Monique Oliver (16 points, 11 rebounds and a tournament-record six blocked shots), while 5-foot-6 senior April Cook added 14 points. Samarie Walker (18 points and 13 rebounds) and Shene Fleming (11 points and 10 rebounds) paced C-J.

In the boys opener, tall and talented Highland (Utah) Lone Peak High School used its height advantage to defeat Roswell (Georgia) Centennial High School, 75-57. Six-four junior guard Tyler Haws led Lone Peak with a tournament-record 26 points, while 6-7 senior forward Josh Sharp added 22. Six-eleven senior center Justin Hamilton and 6-7 senior forward Bracken Funk patrolled the backboards by pulling down 10 and 11 rebounds, respectively. Six-five junior guard Lorenzo Brown led Centennial with 16 points, while Alex Coxworth chimed in with an even dozen.

In the second girls first-round game, Hampton (Virginia) High School outscored Gallup (New Mexico) High School, 55-33. Tiffany Davis (24) and Alyssa Bennett (16) paced the victorious Lady Crabbers, while Courtney Cowboy and Talisha Joe led Gallup with eight and seven points, respectively.

In the day's final game, Jersey City (New Jersey) St. Anthony High School showed why it's ranked among the nation's top boys basketball teams by dismantling Albuquerque (New Mexico) La Cueva High School, 84-34. Twelve different players scored for the Friars, led by 6-3 senior guards Mike Rosario and Tyshawn Taylor with 15 and 14, respectively. Darren Palmer, a 6-4 senior forward, placed La Cueva with 10, while 6-5 senior forward Brett Koller chipped in nine.

In the girls consolation game, Chaminade-Julienne improved to 9-1 on the season with a 60-48 decision over Gallup, 8-3. Samarie Walker once again led the way for C-J, with a game-high 21 points and a T-Mobile Invitational-record 21 rebounds. Gallup's Talisha Joe dropped in 20 points, while Sage Natonabah added 11.

Lorenzo Brown tallied 21 points to lift 9-2 Centennial over La Cueva in the consolation tilt, 64-63, while Alex Coxworth added 11. Tim Pino and Jason Randall each had 16, and Darren Palmer contributed 10 for La Cueva, 6-3.

As occurred in Poly's first-round game, the formidable one-two punch of Jasmine Dixon and Monique Oliver helped lift the Jackrabbits to a 68-43 victory over Hampton in the finals. Dixon poured in 22 points, while Oliver collected 16 points and 11 rebounds for Poly, 8-1. Tiffany Davis (14) and Alyssa Bennett (11) paced Hampton, 6-2.

St. Anthony (6-0) held off Lone Peak in the boys finals, 54-43, to claim the 2007 T-Mobile Invitational championship. Dominic Cheek, a precocious and well-rounded 6-6 junior guard, led the Friars with 16 points and seven rebounds, and Travon Woodall scored nine. Bracken Funk amassed 17 points and 11 rebounds for Lone Peak, 7-2, while Tyler Haws was close behind with 16.

The 2007 T-Mobile Invitational was more than simply a run-of-the-mill high school basketball tournament, as it had several interesting and exciting activities interspersed throughout.

For example, on December 26, the teams, coaches, administrators and guests from around the nation expanded their horizons at the National Hispanic Cultural Center as they enjoyed an authentic Southwest cuisine welcome dinner and entertainment in the form of flamenco dancing. The next day, the players were able to give back to the Albuquerque community when they participated in the T-Mobile "Huddle Up" community service project, which entailed refurbishing McKinley Middle School.

Following the tournament, the awards banquet was held at the Embassy Suites. Among the presenters were banquet emcee NFHS Chief Operating Officer Bob Gardner, NFHS Executive Director Bob Kanaby and T-Mobile Director of Marketing Mike Belcher. The Gallup High School girls and the Lone Peak High School boys won the T-Mobile Huddle Up Sportsmanship Awards as voted on by tournament administrators. In addition to an excellent meal, the attendees enjoyed a video highlighting the 2007 T-Mobile Invitational tournament that enabled them to reminisce about the tournament's activities before departing for their respective homes.

"From all standpoints, we were extremely pleased with the second annual T-Mobile Invitational basketball tournament," NFHS Executive Director Bob Kanaby said. "With considerably larger crowds than those at the 2006 tournament, an expanded set of activities for the participants and outstanding high school basketball, the 2007 T-Mobile Invitational would unquestionably be regarded a resounding success.

"However, the true success of the tournament might have been better evidenced by the participants' opportunities to meet and interact with their peers from around the nation, to give back to the community through the "Huddle Up" project, and to sample a part of the country completely unlike their own. In this tournament, there were no losers - every individual who participated was a winner.

"We would like to sincerely thank everyone involved with the tournament, including T-Mobile, Samsung, the VERSUS Network, the University of New Mexico, and the New Mexico Activities Association under the leadership of Executive Director Gary Tripp. It was a true team effort from all of the individuals who worked together to make this tournament a successful and memorable one."

John Gillis is assistant director of the NFHS.

Brandon wrestling streak ends

The longest team winning streak in high school sports has ended. On January 5, Brandon (Florida) High School, winner of 459 consecutive dual wrestling meets since 1973, took the fall, 32-28, to Homestead (Florida) South Dade High School.

Having graduated half of its starters last year, Brandon's young team fell behind 22-3 to South Dade before rallying to 28-22, and keeping its chance of extending the streak alive. However, South Dade's Tico Baez clinched the historic victory with a major decision win.

During the streak, Brandon won 18 state titles and had 66 individual state champions.