Gonzaga (D.C.) and La Lumiere (Ind.) advance to Les Schwab Invitational title

Gonzaga (D.C.) and La Lumiere School (Ind.) each won semifinal games Sunday evening to advance to the Les Schwab Invitational championship on Monday. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:45 p.m. Pacific.

Four Gonzaga players finished with point totals in the double digits Sunday as the Eagles hammered Portland Central Catholic (Ore.) 86-56.

Virginia Tech center signee Christian Gurdak led with 22 points while North Carolina signee Derek Dixon scored 17, Xavier signee Nyk Lewis scored 13 and Harvard commit Alex Touomou scored 10.

The Gonzaga defense held Central Catholic to just 18-of-53 shooting and 12 trips to the free-throw line.

Over in the other semifinal, La Lumiere scraped past Tacoma Annie Wright (Wash.) 52-46. UConn signee Darius Adams scored 16 points, San Jose State signee Melvin Bell scored 14 and Notre Dame signee Jalen Haralson picked up a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Wright attempted 14 more shots than the Lakers, but La Lumiere held the Gators to just 32.1 percent from the field.

Gonzaga is 9-1 on the season and came into the year the No. 14 team in the nation, per the On3 Composite Rankings. La Lumiere has faced a difficult national schedule but has worked its way to a 12-4 record.

The On3 Composite High School Basketball Team Ranking is a proprietary algorithm that compiles rankings listed in the public domain by respected High School media and data companies. It includes Massey, Max Preps, ESPN and SI, creating the industry’s most comprehensive and geographically balanced High School Team Ranking.

About the Les Schwab Invitational

A brief history on the Les Schwab Invitational from the tournament website:

During the early 1990s many of Oregon’s best high school boys’ basketball teams were traveling out-of-state to play in preseason holiday tournaments. While these tournaments provided players with the opportunity to play against other high-caliber programs, they denied local fans the chance to see Oregon’s basketball talent prior to the season. Preseason basketball media coverage is also limited in the PNW due to Oregon’s five-week football playoff system which finishes up in mid-December.

To brighten basketball’s spotlight, legendary high school basketball coaches Barry Adams and Nick Robertson and the Oregon High School Coaches Association proposed a preseason tournament in which Oregon teams could play up to four games. These four games would then only count as two against their 22-game schedule maximum. This new arrangement would align Oregon’s competition rules with states like California, Arizona and Nevada – and allow teams from other states to come to Oregon to play.

The proposal was made to the Oregon School Activities Association (OSAA) and after two years of letters, phone calls, meetings and lobbying, the OSAA Delegate Assembly agreed to the proposed plan. In 1996, with the OSAA’s approval and financial assistance from local sponsors like Les Schwab, the first annual Oregon Holiday Invitational (OHI) was played.

In 2000, the tournament name changed from the Oregon Holiday Invitational to the Les Schwab Invitational to recognize Les Schwab’s continued support of the tournament.