Big Names In Above the Rim Tournament

The third- and 18th-ranked teams in the nation are going to face each other in the first Above the Rim Hoopwear Classic at Torrey Pines High School.

Not a bad championship matchup, except that the two teams, Jersey City (N.J.) St. Anthony and Camden (N.J.) are meeting in tonight’s first round.

March-type madness in December, you ask?

It’s John Farrell’s baby. The Torrey Pines boys’ basketball coach is hoping that San Diego, a city that just can’t seem to get behind professional or college basketball, will be a showcase for the nation’s finest high school teams.

“The point we’re trying to get across is that it is a national tournament,” Farrell said. “We want to make it so that, hypothetically, you have a national champion coming out of it, so that if you win it, you have some bragging rights.”

In a stroke of scheduling genius, the 11-team tournament originally included three teams ranked in the top 20, according to the Street and Smith poll. Since the season began, a fourth team has joined the top and Miami Senior, previously the 19th-ranked team, joined two other teams in the top 10, at No. 9.

Before the most recent rankings, the tournament had the most top 20 teams of any tournament in the country. It already has gotten better without even playing a game.

“We have to prove ourselves on running the tournament, but we have the best field if you look at the top 20,” Farrell said.

Southern Section power Anaheim Mater Dei already has committed to play next year, when the field expands to 16 teams. So has Fairdale, Ky. Farrell has also talked to Dematha High in Hyattsville, Md.

“I feel the more you play good teams, the more the level of competition in San Diego will get better,” he said.

Two years ago, Farrell took his team to Fort Myers, Fla., to compete in one of these super tournaments. That year, they won the San Diego Section Division II title.

“I think the community has a smorgasbord of basketball coming up,” Farrell said. “I don’t think you can find a better high school format this year. This will be a real treat if you like basketball.”

The marquee schools are No. 2 St. Raymond from the Bronx, N.Y., No. 3 St. Anthony, No. 9 Miami Senior, and No. 18 Camden.

St. Raymond (7-0), winner of the Illolani McDonald’s Classic in Hawaii, begins play Thursday against Deep Creek, Va. (3-1). The Chesapeake school, second in the state last year, has Alonzo Mourning as an alumnus, and features guard Gary Taylor, Street and Smith All-America honorable mention.

St. Raymond (7-0) returns four starters from a 15-10 team that will be bolstered by its 27-1 New York City junior varsity championship team. Three players, 6-6 forward Orlando Antigua, Terrence Rencher and Tyler Brown also were honorable mention players.

St. Anthony (3-1) was 28-4 last season and returns four honorable mention players, 6-6 center Rodrick Rhodes, Danny Hurley, Jermaine Womack and sophomore Jalil Roberts.

Camden (3-0), St. Anthony’s opponent tonight (6 p.m.), was 25-5 last year. Coach Clarence Turner started the season with a 493-73 career record, including seven New Jersey state championships through 20 years. They boast senior forward Keith Carmichael and junior guard Greg Barr.

Miami Senior (8-1) was 30-3 last year and won the 4-A state championship. It has won three of the past four state titles and won its final 25 games. It reached the finals of the recent Ocala Tournament. Steve Edwards, a 6-6 guard/forward, was voted one of the top five junior prospects at the Nike National Basketball Camp.

Two San Diego teams, Lincoln (5-5) and Valhalla (8-1), open the tournament with a 2:45 p.m. game. Miami Senior plays at 4:30 p.m. against Las Vegas Bonanza (8-2), a state finalist the past three years; and Torrey Pines (8-1) closes the tournament tonight at 8 p.m. against Monsignor McClancy (5-3), which returns four starters from last year’s 12-7 Class B Catholic state champion.

Payson, Utah, (4-3) finished fifth in the state last year and plays the winner of the Miami Senior-Bonanza game at 8 p.m. Thursday.

The three local teams are excited about facing some of the country’s best talent.

Valhalla Coach Manny Silva, whose Norsemen are two-time defending Grossmont 2-A champs, said the experience should be an eye-opening one for his players, and a good measuring stick for his program.

“If you’re in a competitive sport, you want to know what the best is like,” Silva said. “You want to see how your kids compare with other kids around the country.”

Ron Loneski starts four juniors on his Lincoln team, and he thinks the tournament only can help his five-time defending Central League championship team improve.

“To be successful, you have to want to be good,” Loneski said. “Exposure to these other teams will show our kids what it takes to be good basketball players. . . . That’s why Morse is so good, (Coach) Ron Davis takes his players to Los Angeles every year and doesn’t worry about his record.”

But Farrell doesn’t think that it’s just a showcase for the visiting teams.

“The other thing is we’re also showing the rest of the country a little of San Diego basketball,” he said. “I don’t want to take away from that. We want to gain their respect, too.”

This definitely is their chance.