brea olinda finals

SoCal High School & Prep Report

Brea Olinda Tournament: Brea Olinda
Wins Final--(December 31, 1997)

This was a great tournament, with some pretty fast offense and defense, nice play from a couple of good D-I signees and some future prospects. And like many of the other tournaments played this week, it was won by the hometown heroes who hosted the event.

In the Championship Game of the Brea Olinda Christmas Classic, host Brea Olinda managed to knock off Cerritos Gahr 71-67. Brea Olinda had advanced to the Championship game by beating La Habra 76-46 on Monday as Chris McMillian (5'-10" Sr PG) and Reid Carlson (6'-3" Sr SG) both scored 18 points apiece. Brea was the odds on favorite to win, and didn't disappoint the home crowd last night either.

Brea Olinda outscored Gahr, 27-19, in the third quarter to win its second consecutive Brea Olinda tournament title. With the loss, Gahr dropped to 9-5 on the season. Chris McMillian, who is bound for the University of Montana next year having signed a national letter of intent during the early fall signing period, scored 26 points for the Wildcats, who improved to 13-1. Brea Olinda teammate Reid Carlson scored 17, while Jeff Mason (6'-6" Sr PF/C) had 11 points and 19 rebounds. And even though Kyle Dodd (5'-11" Jr. PG) didn't set the tournament on fire, playing behind McMillian, he'll be running the show next season (hopefully) at the point, and he demonstrated why: He can drive, dish and shoot from outside.

Brea Olinda is a very talented team, very well coached, and it generally plays a disciplined, fast-paced game, with good defense and intensity. This game was no different and the Wildcats showed that they will be a team to beat in the Orange League.

Congratulations to Brea Olinda and Happy New Year from SoCalHoops.

And there were also a few other games played yesterday in this one:

In the Third Place Game:

California (from Whittier) defeated La Habra 74-54 on Brian McLaine's and Nick Strain's fine shooting which combined for 33 points for California. The Condors improved to 12-4, while La Habra Highlanders dropped slightly to 8-7. Josh Fisher scored 23 points to lead the Highlanders' scoring.

In the Fifth Place Game:

Whittier Christian defeated Orange Lutheran, 66-49 as Matt Martinez and Jon Stoa each scored 25 points to lead the Heralds to an 8-7 season record so far.

In the Seventh Place Game:

La Mirada beat El Toral 65-62. Mark Wulfemeyer scored 21 points for the second consecutive game for El Toro, which dropped to 9-5 with the loss. El Toro led, 38-30, at the half, but was held to only eight fourth-quarter points.

Congratulations again to all of the tourney participants and to Brea Olinda, the tournament champs for 1997.