SFV Tournament History (2005 – 2010)
The San Fernando Valley Invitational Tournament made its debut in December of 2005 under the direction of Dick Dornan (Tournament Director) with the assistance from Kevin Kanemura (Head Coach- Kennedy) and Tray Meeks (Head Coach- Alemany). Since then, it has quickly evolved into one of the elite tournaments in all of Southern California and is currently the largest tournament in Los Angeles with 32 teams participating each season. Over the last six years, there have been 70 different schools that have played in the tournament since its inception, including one each from San Diego, Fresno, Las Vegas and as far away as Australia and Canada. 42 CIF Southern Section and 23 LA CITY schools make up the balance.
Crespi and Knight currently have the most tournament wins with 19 each followed by Hart with 17, and Alemany, Palisades, Lancaster and LA University with 15 apiece.
Palisades owns the tournament’s best winning percentage (10 or more wins to qualify) with a percentage of .750 (15-5), followed by Hart .708 (17-7), Knight .679 (19-9), Reseda .667 (10-5), Crespi .655 (19-10), Lancaster .652 (15-8), Notre Dame .650 (13-7), and Granada Hills and Chaminade at .600 (12-8).
There have been six different champions and no multiple winners thus far: Notre Dame (2005), Knight (2006), Palisades (2007), Reseda (2008), Golden Valley (2009) and Crespi (2010).
2005
The inaugural tournament consisted of 24 schools with 16 teams playing four games and eight teams earning a fifth game. The host schools included Kennedy, Alemany and Crespi. The championship Final Four was held at Crespi and consisted of Notre Dame, Oak Park, Chatsworth and Moorpark. Notre Dame won the Kennedy Regional, Oak Park won the Crespi Regional, Chatsworth won the Alemany Regional and Moorpark earned the at-large bid.
In the semi-finals, Notre Dame defeated Moorpark, 71-53, while Oak Park knocked off Chatsworth, 71-55. In a thrilling championship game before a capacity crowd at Crespi, Notre Dame narrowly beat Oak Park, 48-47, in the last few seconds. The Knights entered the start of the fourth quarter down 37-33. They trailed by six points with two minutes left but were able to pull it out in exciting fashion. Notre Dame won the first annual SFV Tournament and continued to have an outstanding season finishing with a record of 18-11.
Notre Dame junior forward Pierce Brooks was named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament. Brooks had team-highs of 16 points and six rebounds in the final. The Eagles, led by future Princeton standout Kareem Maddox, had a great season as well and finished at 24-6.
In the third place game, Chatsworth (18-5) easily defeated Moorpark (9-18), 85-62. In the consolation championship, Knight (10-17) beat Golden League rival, Quartz Hill, 56-54.
Side note- In a blistering display of sharp shooting, senior guard Robert Valentine of Kennedy set tournament records for the following which still stand today. His records were accomplished over four games, not in the current five game configuration:
Most Points Scored, Individual Game = (46 pts) ’05 vs. Notre Dame in an 89-74 loss.
Total Points Scored, Tournament = (142 pts) ’05
Highest Tournament Scoring Average = (35.5 ppg) ’05
Most 3 Point Baskets Made, Individual Game = (10) ’05 vs. Notre Dame
Most 3 Point Baskets Made, Tournament = (24) ’05
2006
The second annual SFV Tournament expanded to a mega 32-team field and welcomed Crescenta Valley as the fourth host school. Each team was guaranteed five games and the tourney was divided into four regionals similar to the current NCAA format. The four regional winners would advance to the Final Four. The championship Final Four was held at Kennedy and consisted of Knight, Hart, Chatsworth and Cleveland. Knight won the Alemany Regional, Hart won the Kennedy Regional, Chatsworth won the Crespi Regional and Cleveland won the Crescenta Valley Regional.
In the semi-finals, Knight defeated Cleveland, 61-47, while Hart beat Chatsworth, 73-67. Knight, SFV consolation champions from the year before, was prepared to take the next step this season. A deep, talented Knight team beat a tough, determined Hart squad, 60-45, to claim the title.
Led by senior point guard and tournament MVP Robert Brown and current Indiana Pacer Paul George, Knight jumped out to a 17-4 lead at the end of the first quarter and never looked back in the convincing win over Hart. Brown finished with a team-high 17 points on 8 of 9 shooting to lead the way. The Hawks finished the season with an outstanding 24-4 record. The Indians had a solid season and finished 21-7.
In the third place game, Cleveland (13-13) defeated West Valley League arch-rival Chatsworth (20-8), 54-37. In the consolation championship, Grant (17-10) beat LA University, 73-46.
2007
The third annual SFV Tournament brought in Granada Hills as the fourth host after Crescenta Valley stepped aside to continue their own tournament. The championship Final Four was held at Alemany and consisted of Palisades, Beverly Hills, Monroe and Hart. Palisades won the Granada Hills Regional, Beverly Hills won the Crespi Regional, Monroe won the Alemany Regional and Hart won the Kennedy Regional.
In the semi-finals, Palisades defeated Hart, 64-47, while surprising Beverly Hills knocked off dark horse Monroe, 67-55. Palisades, one of the top teams in the LA City, won the championship by beating Beverly Hills, 56-44. Palisades senior forward Irvin Kintaudi had a great tournament and garnered the MVP award. In the championship game, Kintaudi had game-highs of 16 points and nine rebounds. The Dolphins finished with an overall record of 24-7 on the season. The Normans struggled in at 11-16.
In the third place game, Hart (19-9) defeated Monroe (12-14), 41-36. In the consolation championship, Birmingham (11-12) beat Chaminade, 54-49.
2008
The fourth annual SFV Tournament came down to the wire in the championship game at Crespi. The championship Final Four consisted of Reseda, Hart, Golden Valley and Canyon (the latter three hailing from the tough Foothill league). Reseda won the Crespi Regional, Hart won the Granada Hills Regional, Golden Valley won the Alemany Regional and Canyon won the Kennedy Regional. Hart was making its third consecutive appearance in the Final Four.
In the semi-finals, Reseda defeated a valiant Canyon squad, 68-54, while Hart beat league-rival Golden Valley, 63-60. It was the first of four meetings on the season between the two teams. They split 2-2. Hart advanced to its second SFV championship appearance in three years.
As fate would have it, Reseda and Hart played another classic championship game at Crespi with Reseda winning the title at the buzzer, 69-68. Trailing 68-67 with four seconds left, Reseda inbounded the ball under the Hart basket and scored on a layup as time ran out. The Regents parlayed their victory into a successful 24-7 season. The Indians finished their stellar season at 21-9.
Reseda senior point guard Randall Harris was the unanimous choice as Tournament MVP. His floor leadership and uncanny ability to distribute the ball to open teammates earned him the honor. Against Hart, Harris scored only three points but his game-high 10 assists were timely and monumental. Hart captured their second runner-up trophy (06, 08) in addition to a third place finish in 2007.
In the third place game, Golden Valley (27-4) defeated league-foe Canyon (8-19), 70-65. In the consolation championship, Chaminade (20-13) beat Burroughs of Burbank, 48-39.
2009
The fifth annual SFV Tournament presented four talented teams that made their way to the Final Four at Kennedy. The championship Final Four consisted of Golden Valley, Burbank, Notre Dame and LA Jordan. Golden Valley won the Granada Hills Regional to reach back to back Final Fours, Burbank won the Alemany Regional, Notre Dame won the Kennedy Regional and LA Jordan won the Crespi Regional. Burbank denied Hart of a fourth consecutive Final Four appearance with a convincing 61-33 win in the regional final.
In the semi-finals, Golden Valley defeated LA Jordan, 75-60, while Burbank beat Notre Dame, 62-55. In a high scoring affair, Golden Valley prevailed as champions of the tournament with an inspirational 80-70 victory over Burbank. The Grizzlies were playing with heavy hearts as their teammate, Eric Gould, was recuperating from a serious car crash.
Trailing by eight points early in the game and 34-33 at the half, Golden Valley dominated the second half en route to the title behind the strong play of 6’8″ senior forward Trevor Wiseman. All he did was score a game-high 21 points, grab seven rebounds and hand out five assists. His accolades earned him the Tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
The Grizzlies had a phenomenal season as they finished 24-6. Golden Valley took third place in 2008 and now a championship in 2009. Their two year run netted them a startling 51-10 overall record. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs had their best season in 43 years by completing a highly successful 23-9 campaign.
In the third place game, Notre Dame (18-15) defeated LA Jordan (18-10), 64-43. In the consolation championship, Lancaster (16-12) beat Palisades, 73-67. Lancaster lost their opening first round game, 72-71, to eventual champion Golden Valley but bounced back to win four straight games.
2010
The sixth annual SFV Tournament featured 15 teams who reached the quarterfinals or farther of their respective playoffs in 2010, including three section champions. It also included eight schools that reached the quarterfinals or farther in the 2011 post-season, including two CIF champions and one LA CITY runner-up.
The Final Four was highlighted by four teams that went on to win a combined 85 games this season, including a CIF Champion (Sierra Canyon), two CIF semi-finalists (Crespi and Alemany) and Corona Santiago. Two host schools, Crespi and Alemany, won their respective regionals while Sierra Canyon won the Kennedy Regional and Corona Santiago won the Granada Hills Regional.
In the semi-finals, Crespi played a near-perfect game in defeating Sierra Canyon, 71-41, while Alemany knocked off Corona Santiago, 74-64, to set-up an all-Mission League final. It was the first championship game appearance for the Celts and Warriors. In a very exciting first 16 minutes of action, Crespi led 34-30 at halftime on the Warriors home floor.
But Crespi imposed its will in the second half outscoring Alemany 21-11 in the third quarter and 23-12 in the fourth quarter to win their first-ever SFV Championship, 78-53. The Celts had an amazing five-game run in the tournament outscoring its opposition by an average margin of victory of 33.6 ppg and scoring 74.8 per outing.
It was the most dominating performance by a team in the six years of the tournament. Crespi went on to have a very successful season at 24-9 while league-foe Alemany finished with a great year as well at 20-11. The two teams split their meetings during Mission League play.
Tournament Most Valuable Player, Matt Mounier, scored 24 points in the championship game on 12 of 12 free throw shooting. He also contributed six rebounds, three assists and three steals. For the tournament, he averaged 18.6 ppg including 23 ppg in the Final Four.
In the third place game, Corona Santiago (14-14) prevailed by upsetting Sierra Canyon in a thrilling finish, 49-48. The Trailblazers (27-6) had a chance for the win but a 10-foot jumper at the buzzer narrowly missed. In the consolation championship, Orange Lutheran (27-7) bounced back from being upset in the first round to defeat Antelope Valley, 68-54. The Lancers went on to win their first-ever CIF Championship in March.
2011- WHO WILL BE THE TEAM OF DESTINY????
