By Ed Piper
A week ago the trend didn't seem quite so "COVID", but on three days of the resurrected Holiday Classic of basketball at Torrey Pines last week I was able to get out and enjoy some roundball, courtesy of TPHS Coach John Olive and his group.
They had to do some shuffling--even before the tourney started Mon., Dec. 27, word was received that DeMatha and Iona Prep (national prep powers) wouldn't be attending due to COVID issues--but most of the games got played, divisions got champions decided, and the end result: Things were a lot better than the total shutdown that occurred a year ago when the entire competition was cancelled in the 10th month of the pandemic.
To get closer to the action, and to take my usual photos, I sat on one end of the playing floor in the games at Torrey Pines High. At the early (9:30 a.m.) game I attended at St. Augustine High Wednesday (Dec. 29), I sat in rare seats--"The Pit", where I have watched Saints students get vocal and go crazy during games, trying to distract their opponents to the nth degree. I was able to take some photos from that vantage point.
I have always been for the "common man" high school basketball that is characterized by local talent, no transfers, no holdbacks, etc. But I have to say thanks to Coach Olive and his continuing effort with the tourney for the fact that there was basketball last week, that it had some national quality to it, and that we could attend in person so close to home (10 miles or so) for a good product.
Because I took a photo of it, I have recurring images in my brain of big (6'10") Jeremiah Cherry of St. Mary's of Stockton slamming the ball home in a game they eventually lost to Clayton Valley Charter School of Concord (Bay Area), 53-51.
Cherry, mobile but solid, had just taken a pass from another standout, Styles Phipps (the name along qualifies him), who is a floor leader for St. Mary's. The interaction between Phipps, only a sophomore, and Cherry was an image for the week.
Another one was from Thursday, Dec. 30: Another tall and solid customer, Otto Landrum, 6'9", who students at TPHS had told me (I sub there) was talented, stayed around the hoop, patrolled on defense, and offensively controlled the rim against a shorter and over-matched Poway team to the tune of an 87-46 shellacking.
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