Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2003 | 9:55 a.m.
The Holiday Prep Classic, one of the country's premier winter prep boys' basketball events as recently as last year, is being reduced to a quaint get-together this year.
The Clark County School District is severing most of its connection with the tournament, amidst a massive internal audit of the event focusing on former district athletics director and tournament founder Larry McKay. Current CCSD athletics director Bill Garis said the district's decision to step back from the tournament is based on a lack of funding and manpower, but is not related to the audit.
"We just don't have the capability of doing that out of this office this year," Garis said. "It's quite an undertaking, no question about it."
Green Valley High School is picking up the remaining pieces of the event, changing its name to the Las Vegas Winter Invitational and scaling it back from 96 to eight teams. McKay originally planned to pare down to 16 teams, having sent out letters to former participants well before the cancellation informing them of the change to allow them to find other tournaments.
"When the Holiday Prep was canceled, teams were left without any tournament to go to because it was cancelled late," said Jim Allen, Green Valley coach and tournament director.
Durango coach Al LaRocque is just thankful Allen is offering an opportunity to play.
"When the district canceled the event, we were just scrambling for games," LaRocque said. "We just need a game. That's the top thing."
It will take place Dec. 19 and 20, with some assistance from CCSD. The district will pay for some of the cost of officials for games involving two local teams. In past years, CCSD underwrote the costs of officials and gym usage for the tournament, which was founded by McKay in 1977.
Allen, who runs the summer adidas Big Time Tournament with McKay, brought in six local teams and rounded out the field with southern California power Harvard-Westlake and Phoenix-area contender Mountain View. Harvard-Westlake is ranked ninth in the West by USA Today, just ahead of Durango, which also will be in the tournament.
Green Valley, Coronado, Silverado, and Bishop Gorman round out the field. A number of other out-of-state schools contacted Allen, who decided to keep the field at a manageable small number as it starts over.
"I didn't want to leave those teams hanging without games," Allen said.
The tournament will be funded out of Green Valley's athletic budget, as well as entry fees, gate receipts, and concessions. The entry fee will be $5.
"We're hoping not to lose too much money," Allen said.
Garis said he did not know the actual cost of putting on the tournament, but called it "quite substantial." According to the district, the event lost money last year, even though McKay said in September that funds remaining from previous years covered most of that loss.
Garis left open the possibility of the district restarting its full involvement with the tournament in future years.
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