Tuesday, January 09, 2007

The 2006 Schwab

The eleventh annual running of the Les Schwab Invitational High School Basketball Tournament served up a king's buffet of basketball talent and excitement to packed crowds in the Liberty High School gym in Hillsboro, Oregon during the final week of December. The tournament field included some of the top talent in the nation as Oregon has been blessed with two of the best players in the nation with Kyle Singler of South Medford and Kevin Love of Lake Oswego who were billed as top draws for the tournament. With visiting teams from Oak Hill out of Virginia, Wheeler High from Georgia and Mountain View of Arizona joining the field of 16 teams, the Schwab was a showcase of for some of high school basketball's elite.

Oak Hill won their fourth Les Schwab title as they defeted South Medford 99-90 in a nationally televised game on ESPN-U. The game featured amazing performances from Oak Hills' Brandon Jennings and Nolan Smith and South Medford's Kyle Singler and Michael Harthun. Oak Hill took control of the game early, but South Medford clawed it's way back in the fourth quarter to make a run at the nation's number one ranked team, only to succumb after failing to close the gap tighter than five points. One other feature game included a match-up between Singler and Love when South Medford staked it's claim to a number one ranking in Oregon by defeating Lake Oswego 71-63 before a sold-out crowd in the semi-finals.

The Schwab is a special gift to basketball aficionados in Oregon. Each year fans have been treated to great play, exciting games and a chance to see rising stars play in the prime of their youth.






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