LA VERNE, Ca. – Damien High will play host to a Dec. 26-30, 2016 event that promises to be one of the strongest post-Christmas boys high school tournaments, both regionally and nationally, Damien Coach Mike LeDuc announced Tuesday.
The Classic at Damien, with title sponsorship from the Mark Christopher Auto Center in Ontario, will include three 16-team brackets.
The tournament has already attracted some of the top programs in the West, including six of the CIF Southern Section’s Open Division playoff entrants from last spring: Santa Ana Mater Dei, Corona Centennial, Eastvale Roosevelt, Encino Crespi, Mission Hills Alemany and Damien.
Crespi eventually captured the State Division I champion in Sacramento while another TCAD participant, Long Beach Poly, was the runner-up in Division II and another, Playa del Rey St. Bernard, lost in the Division V championship game.
Among the other teams in the field, Oak Park and Temecula Rancho Christian won Southern Section titles and Lynwood was a runner-up.
Also part of the event will be L.A. City Section Open Division participants Van Nuys Birmingham and Woodland Hills Taft.
Non-Southern California programs committed to the event include Hayward Moreau Catholic (which played in the Northern California Open Division playoff field), Las Vegas Centennial (led by one of the country’s best players from the Class of 2017, Troy Brown) and Avondale (AZ) Agua Fria.
Full disclosure: I’m a member of the event’s advisory committee.
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