El Camino Real Suffers From Luck of Draw in Las Vegas Tournament

When El Camino Real High basketball Coach Mike McNulty received the information packet in the mail, he did a double take, scratched his head and let out a groan. When McNulty agreed over the summer to enter his squad in the 30-team Las Vegas Holiday tournament, he didn’t give much thought to the possibility that El Camino Real could get singed in the tournament draw.

McNulty said that when he learned El Camino Real would open the tournament--which runs Monday through Thursday--against Fairdale, Ky., he wanted to draw blood.

“They’re probably only the best team in the whole tournament,” McNulty said. “It may be uphill from the start.”

El Camino Real (3-1) plays Fairdale at 8 p.m. Monday at the North Gym on the Nevada Las Vegas campus. Fairdale, which finished last season with a 23-4 record, welcomed back 4 starters and its top reserve. Sophomores Jermaine Brown (8.6 points, 5.7 rebounds as a freshman) and Maurice Morris (12.8 points, 4.8 rebounds as a freshman starter) of Fairdale are regarded as the best 15-year-olds in Kentucky.

“Their names keep showing up in a lot of national basketball publications,” McNulty said.

El Camino Real will counter with senior forward Brent Lofton, a 6-foot, 5-inch, All-City Section selection last season, and 6-7 senior center Jason Steele.

Cleveland (4-2) opens play at 4:15 p.m. Monday against Chaparral of Las Vegas in UNLV’s South Gym. Chaparral finished 8-18 last season but defeated San Fernando, 73-67, last Monday in the first round of the Sundevil Classic at Eldorado High in Las Vegas. Senior forward Mark Cozad scored 46 points against San Fernando, including 6 3-point baskets, and added 11 rebounds. Cozad was an all-league selection last season and averaged 18.3 points and 5.3 rebounds a game.

Cleveland forward Lucious Harris is averaging 21 points in his past 5 games and had a career-high 29 in Cleveland’s 94-45 win over Crossroads 2 weeks ago.

Both El Camino Real and Cleveland will be playing after lengthy layoffs. El Camino Real has not played since its 77-62 win over Calabasas on Dec. 9, and Cleveland last played against Crossroads on Dec. 13.

Each team is guaranteed 4 games in the tournament. Other teams from Southern California include Santa Barbara, Lakewood, Rolling Hills, Ocean View and Inglewood.