Gaels’ goal: KO visiting powers

Spencer Patterson

Thursday, Dec. 20, 2001 | 9:39 a.m.

For most of Southern Nevada's boys basketball teams, the annual Holiday Prep Classic provides an opportunity to play against high-caliber competition and gain experience for the season's stretch run.

The Bishop Gorman Gaels, meanwhile, approach the three-day event quite differently.

"We play to win it," senior guard Joe Anderson said. "We look forward to it every season, playing against top teams and showing what we can do."

And why shouldn't the Gaels expect to compete for the top spot? The past two years, they've placed second and third in the elite Millennium Cup division, posting a combined 6-2 mark against some of the nation's top squads.

"We're going in to try to win and to make some noise," senior forward Brandon Knott said. "You have to take the tournament one game at a time, but I think this team can do well."

Four Gorman players -- senior guard C.J. Watson, junior forward Mark Hill, Knott and Anderson -- will be participating in their third Holiday Prep Classic when the Gaels open against Andrew Hill (San Jose, Calif.) today at 6:50 p.m. at Green Valley.

That quartet helped the Gaels reach the 1999 Millennium title game, where they fell to a Long Beach Poly (Calif.) team led by guard Wesley Stokes, now a starter for the University of Missouri.

Then last year, Watson, Hill, Knott and Anderson got a chance to battle the nation's most storied high school program, Oak Hill Academy (Va.), in the semifinals. Gorman lost the game, but hung with the eventual national champions until the closing seconds and bounced back with a win over St. Mary's (Phoenix) in the third-place game.

This time around, the Gaels won't have to contend with the likes of Oak Hill or 2000 Holiday Prep runner-up Mater Dei (Calif.). In fact, Gorman is the only school in the 80-team field ranked among USA Today's four Top 10 regional polls, holding down the No. 10 spot in the West this week.

But first-year head coach Grant Rice cautions that just because the tournament won't feature nationally ranked clubs doesn't mean his club will have an easy path to the trophy.

"Obviously, if they're in the Millennium Cup, they're a quality team, so I know we're going to play some good teams this week," Rice said. "It's great to play Vegas teams, but it's also nice to judge yourself against quality teams from other places."

Gorman enters the tournament 6-0 overall, 1-0 in conference and ranked No. 1 in the Sun's statewide poll. Still, the Gaels realize they need to improve in several areas if they hope to match the accomplishments of 1999's 4A state championship squad or last year's 4A state runner-up team.

Durango will join the Gaels and Green Valley in the Millennium bracket. The Trailblazers will be without Martrel Johnson, who has been diagnosed with kidney failure and needs a transplant.

No. 2 Cheyenne, No. 6 Desert Pines and Cimarron-Memorial will play in the Gold Cup division; Valley, Eldorado, Foothill and Palo Verde will do battle in the Silver Cup division; No. 10 Mojave, Silverado, Basic and Chaparral will participate in the Bronze Cup division; and Western, Bonanza, Sierra Vista and The Meadows will compete for the Copper Cup trophy. HOLIDAY PREP CLASSIC