By Dane Carbaugh

The 2015 Les Schwab Invitation is over and the nation’s top team was the champion out at Liberty High School. Oak Hill Academy stormed through the tournament, beating each and every opponent by double digits.

So how did the tournament play out, and what can the top teams from the LSI take away as they head into the meat of their regular season?

Let’s take a look at tournament grades for DeMatha (MD), Garfield (WA), Oak Hill (VA) and West Linn (OR).

West Linn (OR)
Grade: A-
Result: Lost to Oak Hill in the semifinal round, finished 4th overall.

West Linn has won the last three straight Oregon 6A state championships. With decorated senior Payton Pritchard (Oregon) at the helm, the Lions hoped to go deep into the tournament and hold their own against some of the nation’s best talent.

They did.

After a confident win over Portland-area rivals Jefferson, West Linn used Payton Pritchard to overpower Clackamas. Pritchard had himself a game in the second round, scoring 33 points and adding nine assists while going 4-of-8 from beyond the arc.

As has been the case with West Linn in the past, their greatest strength was also their targeted weakness when it came to their final game. Oak Hill pressured Pritchard incessantly, and the star guard’s tendency to over-dribble and make something happen for his team saw him finish with just 12 points and a whopping 0-of-9 from 3-point land.

But, West Linn did a great job with what they had to play against. Oak Hill had much bigger athletes and the size difference was noticeable. West Linn over-played on drives to the middle, leaving the Warriors to pick them apart from the 3-point line in the semifinals.

Save for a quarter in the 3rd place game, West Linn held their own against a Top 5 team in Garfield. They’re going to be a tough out in the state of Oregon this year.
 
Garfield (WA)
Grade: B
Results: Lost in the semifinal matchup with 2nd place DeMatha, finished 3rd overall.

Garfield’s grade is so low because it made the common powerhouse tournament team mistake: it got comfortable. 

Yes, the Bulldogs were an absolute buzzsaw for the first two games of the tourney, taking down David-Douglas and Central Catholic by 46 and 26 points, respectively. But in the final quarter of a game against an evenly-matched opponent, Garfield couldn’t regain control.

With the game teetering on the brink and after a couple big baskets by DeMatha, the Bulldogs struggled mightily. They looked frenetic and out of control. Shots went up with wild abandon and it felt as though players could see the writing on the wall.

But the perennial Seattle powerhouse righted the ship in the 3rd place game, with an expert strategy to shut down West Linn and pressure Payton Pritchard into six turnovers.

Garfield, which has won Washington’s 3A state championship the last two years in a row, would have liked to come out of LSI with at least a showing at the final. Even still, their athleticism is going to be a nightmare at the state tournament come the end of the season.


DeMatha Stags (MD)
Grade: A
Results: Lost in Championship game to Oak Hill Academy.

DeMatha had one of the better tournament runs this season. Top recruit Markelle Fultz (Washington) put on an absolute showcase, and was sixth in points scored, first in steals and third in blocks.

The 5-star Huskies commit won the tourney MVP and for good reason. While DeMatha’s athleticism was key against smaller local teams, Fultz stepped up when it came to take on Garfield in the semifinal round. He had 20 points on 9-of-14 shooting, including 10 rebounds, nine assists and three blocks against the Bulldogs.

The Stags were particularly impressive as they clamped down on defense and used their athleticism as a key instead of a crutch. DeMatha limited opponents assist opportunities for much of the tournament.

Perhaps the only blemish on DeMatha’s tournament resume was their championship loss against Oak Hill. They fell apart in the second quarter, as the Warriors jumped passing lanes for steals on their above-arc weave and laid back for big blocks in the lane.

Overall, DeMatha should be proud of what they did at LSI. They were nearly even with Oak Hill for two out of four quarters, and taking down Garfield with a 23-10 fourth quarter was no small feat.

Oak Hill (VA)
Grade: A+
Result: Won championship over DeMatha.

There’s not much to say about Oak Hill outside of the fact that they were flat out dominant. The closest anyone got to the Warriors was a 16-point deficit by DeMatha in the championship. 

Lindell Wigginton was a 3-point shooting beast, whose performance garnered him an offer from the Oregon Ducks when the tourney came to a close.

In an interesting twist, one of Wigginton’s prized performances came on the defensive side of the ball against Payton Pritchard in the semifinal round. He didn’t completely shut down the West Linn standout, but he pressured him immensely and showed that he was more than just the tournament leader in 3-point baskets made.

Outside of that, the Warriors were incredibly efficient. They had the top three players in FG%, which is likely due to the fact that they were bigger and faster in transition than any team on the floor. 

That showed up in the box score as a lopsided advantage in assists. Surprisingly, only host Liberty had double-digit assist totals -- and just barely at 11 -- against Oak Hill. The Warriors racked up 84 assists in four games and finished +49 for the tournament.

They came. They saw. They conquered. Oak Hill is the No. 1 team in the country for a reason, and they demonstrated that well at LSI.