Los Angeles basketball powerhouse Fairfax High School defeated Burnaby South 80-61 on Saturday night to win the 55th annual Snowball Classic Basketball Championship.
The L.A. team was ranked No. 1 in California and No. 5 in the U.S. heading into the tourney hosted at Abbotsford Sr. Secondary.
In the final, Fairfax’s Donald Gipson scored 20 points and he was named tourney MVP.
The Fairfax Lions have played in the Snowball Classic twice before, winning it both times (2011, 2013).
“Fairfax was certainly the most prolific scoring team that we have seen at the Snowball. Their overall talent was phenomenal,” said Abby Sr. Panthers coach and longtime tournament organizer Prentice Lenz.
Lenz said fan support at the tournament was tremendous, with capacity crowds packing the gym on Thursday, Friday and Saturday night. “That support makes the atmosphere at the Snowball second to none.”
Next year the Snowball Classic will welcome New York’s Mount Vernon, another celebrated high school basketball program that has produced several college and NBA players.
2015 Snowball Classic All-Stars
Chase Claypool - Abby Senior Andrew Mckay - Walnut Grove Jermaine Haley Jr. - Burnaby South
Tyus Batiste - Burnaby South
Babacar Thiombane - Fairfax Lindsey Drew - Fairfax
Isaiah Ajiboye - Fairfax
Alec Bayne - Kitsilano
Howard Wang - Kitsilano
Nav Sandhu - Kelowna
Other scores from Saturday night:
Brentwood College 56 - Robert Bateman 46
St. George's 85 - MEI 71
Yale 107 - WJ Mouat 84
Walnut Grove 83 - Abby Senior 78
Kitsilano 82 - Kelowna 71