Canyon View Wins American Division of Holiday Classic at Torrey Pines with Dominant Performance

Canyon View (Waddell, Arizona) coach Randy Lavender wasn't worried at all on Saturday night when Crespi scored 16 points in the final quarter. Even though most coaches would have stopped play at 10 or 12-0, Lavender waited until the Celtics were actually in front with a score of 62-61.

"All season, we have been like that," Lavender said. "We are a team that shoots well from 3 points. If we make those shots, no one can beat us. Then it happens again and after two to three minutes without scoring any more."

Lavender was right. The Jaguars got hot towards the end with 14-5 run. They won the American part of Holiday Classic game at Torrey Pines by winning their match, which was a score in basketball - they did it because they had more points than others (75) against them having less(67).

Denali McNeal scored 29 points and Adam Hubbard, the best player in American Division MVP got another 24. The Jaguars (14 wins to only two losses) won a wild game of attacks and counterattacks.

Crespi, led by ex-NBA player Derek Fisher, scored 19 points from Joseph Sterling and added another 18 with Peyton White but lost after nine straight wins. The Celts dropped to 17-2.

Canyon View watched a 12-point first-quarter lead cut to two by halftime, only to squander a 15-point third-quarter lead completely as Crespi took a 62-61 lead with 3:32 were left after a slam by White and finish off an 16-0 run with side jump from Sterling.

Fisher's kid Drew, a 6-4 senior, was really the one who started it all with his total of 11 points.

Quincy Kirk (12 points) responded to the run with two free throws and Hubbard made a 3-point shot, out of nine by the Jaguars. White replied with a bucket, but McNeal who is 6-3 and can shoot from anywhere responded. Then Hubbard joined in making more baskets that finished the game mostly. Carter Barnes made a 3-pointer, making the score 71 - 67 with only 22 seconds left. But Hubbard won in the end by hitting two free throws and an easy basket that no one could stop.

"We're a team with many good players, so when we got behind I was not too worried," Lavender said.

Asked about the pleasure of winning against a past NBA player and WNBA coach.

"He can make anything he wants, but his team still needs to do it," Lavender said with a big smile. "We have been doing this for some time."

At the start, a not-so-famous team from Waddell (Ariz.) was playing strong against the Boston Celtics and even had an advantage of 12 during the first half. But using eight points from White and a fast 7-0 run, Crespi got closer to the lead by five.

McNeal scored 15 points near the end of the first half for Canyon View. Sterling and Peyton White scored 10 points each for Crespi.

McNeal scored everything in the third quarter, helping Canyon View lead 56-41. But the Celts started to play better, getting their only lead of the second part when Sterling made an easy shot.

A fourth-year school called Canyon View had a record of 3 wins and 11 losses, then they won 9 games out of their next season's total while also winning 8 more during another previous season. The Jaguars can score many points. They won against Lake Havasu by 129 to 32 and against La Jolla Country Day with a score of 107-45. This was on December the sixteenth and nineteenth, when they had victories in two games one after another.

They won closer games in American Division play, beating Monterey Trail (75-71) and Bellarmine-San Jose (68-62). Crespi started with an eight-game winning streak and then won another nine games in a row. Its only previous loss was 53-51 to Pasadena on Dec. 2.

When asked before the game how coaching at the high school level is, Fisher said: "Things are going well. My main goal is to make these young men smile. So far, they seem pleased which makes me feel good too."