By Jeremy McDonald

jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com

This week marks the typical second week of the Holiday Invites.  Below are three Monday match-ups to keep an eye on through social media, internet broadcast or in person if your in the areas.

1.) Whitney (Rocklin, CA) vs. Sprague (Salem, Oregon)- It’s a battle of NorCal and Northern Oregon in San Diego, California.  Whitney (7-2, 0-0 Capital Valley Conference) have won a tournament this year with the Whitney Winter Classic Varsity Tournament capped by a three-point shot to win it over Crenshaw of Los Angeles in part of a six game winning streak.  They battled one of the best teams in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division-I in Woodcreek, in a 66-57 loss to start their season.

For the Olympians (1-4, 1-1 Greater Valley Conference), they enter the Surf-N-Slam with a run-and-gun high tempo presence behind a strong perimeter presence and a solid post presence behind sophomore Tyler Miller.

This game should be interesting as both play in this interstate battle.

Tip off is at 6:30p in San Diego.

2.) McKay (Salem, Oregon) vs. Roseburg (Roseburg, Oregon)- The Royal Scots (2-5, 1-2 Greater Valley Conference) have already had experienced some of the Southwest Conference competition with a thrilling late-game rally over Grants Pass as they open the Abby’s Classic Tournament at North Medford High School in Medford versus Roseburg (4-3, 0-0 SWC).

Behind the senior presence of Tristen Wilson and Darell Woods, McKay will hope to break the defense of the Indians that average only 49 points and permitted 29 against a Dallas team that squeaked past the Scots to start the season.

This game will be interesting to see if the Scots can duplicate their success from December 22 against another tough opponent.

Tip-off is at 7pm in Medford.

3.) Clackamas Community College (Oregon, City 6-4, 0-0 NWAC) vs Tacoma (Tacoma, Washington 5-5, 0-0 NWAC)- The Cougars open up their host tournament game versus the Titans with their youth versus the experienced team of Tacoma.  The Titans have a even balanced of sophomores (six) to freshman (five), but will have to play tough against the streaky three-point shooter of Joey Baldwin and Brayden Massey along with strong post presence of Vince Bowman and Daniel Thiesen.

Tip off is at 7pm in Oregon City.