High School Holiday Basketball Tournaments Take Center Stage as 2022 Sports Calendar Comes to a Close — Sport Oregon Voices
Upcoming Les Schwab Invitational, Pacific Office Automation Holiday Classic offer top-level boys and girls basketball action
The Oregon sports calendar just wouldn’t be the same each year without its two signature high school basketball tournaments that annually take place over the holidays. And this season, the Les Schwab Invitational and Pacific Office Automation Holiday Classic once again promise to bring top-level hoops excitement to Portland, with a host of talented local and out-of-state prep teams.
Regarded as one of the top boys high school basketball tournaments in the country, the Les Schwab Invitational – which takes place Dec. 26-30 at Liberty High School – once again features an impressive roster of teams, including California’s Sierra Canyon and Texas’ Duncanville. The five-day, 32-game boys high school basketball tournament features a 16-team field that includes many of the top local schools and four national schools.
The Pacific Office Automation Holiday Classic includes a huge 42-team field of top girls teams from the West Coast, including the final eight teams from the 2021-22 OSAA Class 6A state tournament. It also features nine teams from out of state, including teams from Washington, California and Hawaii. The Pacific Automation Holiday Classic will take place Dec. 28-30 and will be held at Franklin, Grant, Lincoln and McDaniel high schools. Sport Oregon is a proud sponsor of this year’s tournament.
Headlining the Les Schwab Invitational, Sierra Canyon is led by Bronny James, son of LeBron James, and five-star recruit Isaiah Elohim. The talented roster also includes LeBron James’ younger son, Bryce, Scottie Pippen’s son, Justin, and Ashton Hardaway, the son of Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway.
Top-ranked Duncanville has won three-straight Texas state championships and features five-star recruit Ron Holland. Rounding out the group of national teams in this year’s Les Schwab Invitational are Bishop Gorman from Las Vegas and Brophy College Prep from Phoenix.
Locally, this year’s Les Schwab Invitational will feature boys high school teams from Barlow, Beaverton, Central Catholic, Cleveland, Grant, Jesuit, Lake Oswego, Lincoln, Roosevelt, Tigard, Tualatin and West Linn.
Historically, the annual boys tournament has featured upwards of 70 players who went on to play in the NBA. It also has raised over $1.9 million to support the participating schools and various charities during the 25 years of the tournament.
The Pacific Automation Holiday Classic, which is divided into three brackets, will include a large field of Oregon girls teams, including Barlow, Beaverton, Benson, Central Catholic, Clackamas, Cleveland, David Douglas, Forest Grove, Franklin, Grant, Jefferson, Jesuit, Lakeridge, La Salle Prep, Lincoln, McDaniel, McMinnville, McNary, Mountain View, Mountainside, Oregon City, Sheldon, Sherwood, South Eugene, South Medford, South Salem, Sunset, Tigard, Tualatin, Wells, West Linn, West Salem, Westview, Willamette and Wilsonville.
Outside of Oregon, the Holiday Classic will feature Washington’s Annie Wright, Camas, Kentwood, Lincoln and Skyview. Rounding out the field, Hawaii’s Punahou and California’s Etiwanda, La Jolla and Sierra Canyon also will participate.
The tournament features the final eight teams from last year’s 6A state tournament, in Barlow, Beaverton, Benson, Clackamas, Jesuit, Lakeridge, South Medford and West Linn.
If You’re Going
Tickets for the Les Schwab Invitational are available on the event website. Half of the tournament’s tickets will be sold in advance, while the other half will be available for purchase at the door. The best way to stay up to date on the bracket and ticket presales is to sign up for the event newsletter.