POA Holiday Classic has more star power than ever in 2023: ‘The more we’re able to highlight how awesome women’s basketball is, the better’

“People see elite teams coming here, and they want to be part of it”

There might be no better way to state it. 

When it comes to holiday high school girls basketball tournaments, the Portland Office Automation Holiday Classic seems to have it all — and then some.

What does it have?

Well, the tournament, which started Thursday and runs through Saturday at various Portland Interscholastic League sites, features national powerhouses; some dynamic Oregon squads; a total of 54 varsity teams, including seven from California, six from Washington and one from Texas; 36 junior varsity squads; 16 JV2 teams and seven varsity brackets/divisions.

“The PIL (Portland Interscholastic League) puts on an awesome tournament,” said Jesuit coach Jason Lowery, whose team is playing in the Diamond Bracket. “It’s fun for our girls, the competition is top-notch, and regardless of the results, we always come out of it with experiences that help us improve as a team.” 

Probably no one likes to hear that more than tournament director Jeff Peeler.

“This has always been the goal,” Peeler said. “We’ve always tried to remain inclusive. We’ve got 54 varsity teams this year, and we also told the programs to bring their JV and JV2 teams. I think that’s what makes it a little different from some of the other holiday tournaments.”

It might also be tough for other tournaments to match the Holiday Classic’s star power this year, as the event features five teams ranked in the SBLive/Sports Illustrated Power 25 rankings in No. 4 Archbishop Mitty (which is ranked No. 1 by MaxPreps) from San Jose, Calif., No. 15 Etiwanda (which is ranked No. 8 by MaxPreps) from Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., No. 16 Mater Dei (which is ranked No. 19 by MaxPreps), No. 19 DeSoto, Texas, and No. 25 Clackamas, which is the defending Class 6A Oregon state champion.

“We’re excited about this year’s group of teams,” Peeler said.

Those five teams, along with Benson, Willamette and Camas, Wash., will compete in the Open Division. That division is not set up in a bracket format, but sort of as a round robin, with each team facing three predetermined opponents.

“We’ll see what we think of that,” Peeler said. “We’re trying to avoid some repeat matchups, especially with the California teams. Clackamas, Camas, Benson and Willamette were all for it, so we’ll do it and see how it goes.” 

Two national powerhouses faced off on Thursday’s first day of competition in the Open Division, with Archbishop Mitty notching a 50-30 win over DeSoto at Franklin High School, which is the site of all the Open Division contests.

“We prepared for this team. They beat a team we lost to last year,” said Archbishop Mitty senior forward Belle Bramer, who scored a game-high 18 points. “Coming back from Arizona (where the Monarchs won the title at the Nike Tournament of Champions), a lot of us are tired, but we had to push through to win this one. We knew it would be a tough one.”

“It went well. We’re going to work to improve for the next game, and continue to improve,” said Monarchs senior guard Morgan Cheli, a University of Connecticut commit. “We love good competition. Credit to DeSoto — they’re a great team. Both teams got after it today.” 

Cheli had a strong overall performance for Archbishop Mitty with 10 points, nine rebounds, six assists and two steals. The Monarchs, who never trailed, also got 17 points and seven rebounds from sophomore McKenna Woliczko. Senior Elana Weisman added three points, three rebounds and three steals.

Senior Dawson Jemerson led DeSoto with eight points. Sophomore Amayah Garcia added six points for the Eagles, and sophomore Rieyan DeSouze scored five.

While the Monarchs were thrilled with the opening victory, they also seemed to be thrilled with getting to play in the tournament.

“I think it’s great. We all had a tournament dinner last night, and I thought that was great — to see everyone and just come together, all as players,” Bramer said. “We’re looking to push through. There’s top competition here. We’re really pushing every single game, and we want to work hard and get better every single game.”

“I think the tournament is great. We haven’t played in this tournament before. We’re super excited about it and happy to be here,” Cheli said. “I love that there’s 54 teams here. That’s awesome, growing women’s sports even more. The more that we’re able to highlight how awesome women’s basketball is, the better.”

The addition of more and more national powers, such as Archbishop Mitty, in the Holiday Classic, which started in 2018, isn’t a surprise to Peeler.

“We’ve slowly developed credibility, and there’s also word of mouth. People see elite teams coming here, and they want to be part of it. I also reached out to some teams, and they wanted to be here,” Peeler said. “We’ve had teams like La Jolla and Sierra Canyon (both from California) come back to the tournament last year after being here in 2018.” 

In addition to the national powerhouses, the tournament also features many of the top teams from Oregon. All of the top 10 teams in the latest Oregon Class 6A coaches poll — Clackamas, Benson, Willamette, South Medford, Jefferson, Tualatin, Jesuit, West Linn, McMinnville and Nelson — are competing at the event, as is defending Class 5A state champion Springfield.

But no matter the rankings, every team in the tournament seems to be grateful to be there.

“The POA tourney is a first-class event,” said Sheldon coach Brian Brancato, whose team is competing in the Emerald Bracket. “(Portland Public Schools Athletic Director) Marshall (Haskins), Jeff and all the PIL folks do an incredible job. Our team looks forward to the great competition each winter.” 

“Coming to La Salle this year, I was happy to see that we were participating,” said first-year Falcons head coach Lucas Fiorante, who got his start in coaching as an assistant at Cleveland. “The Holiday Classic does so much to showcase and promote girls basketball while also giving the PIL an opportunity to show the incredible amount of work they have put in providing top-notch facilities for their community and students. The fact that all the games are streamed is a huge benefit to the sport.”

Fiorante, with his PIL background, seems to take an extra sense of pride in getting to take his La Salle Prep team to the tournament, where the Falcons will be playing in the Sapphire Bracket.

“When I was growing up, PIL athletics were always a big community draw, and I was excited to attend any game that I could. This tournament is expanding those opportunities while also providing an incredibly fun and competitive experience for all the players,” he said. “It’s awesome to see the growth of this tournament, and hats off to everyone in the PIL athletics office for successfully organizing such an intricate event every year.”

And, according to Peeler, things could get even bigger and better — all while still serving all involved.

“We’ll continue to reflect,” he said. “We love having the elite teams here, and we would love to keep the inclusiveness. We’re attempting to give all the teams, including the JV and JV2 teams, a special experience.”

Ticket prices for the tournament, which is being held at Franklin, Lincoln, Grant and McDaniel high schools, are $15 per day for adults and $10 per day for students.