Nation's Best Converge On Houston

Some of the nation's top basketball talent visited Houston in November for the 6th Annual Texas Jamboree and the McDonald's Texas Invitational. At the McDonalds' Texas Invitational, San Antonio Madison upended the nation's No. 1 team from Duncanville, 83-81 in overtime, to win the McDonald's Gold Bracket. Teams were flighted after pool play and designated into brackets. Alief Taylor won the Silver Division I bracket and La Porte won the Bronze DI bracket. Shreveport Huntington, Cinco Ranch and Smithson Valley won their respective Division II brackets. On the girls' side, College Park's Monique Smalls dominated the tournament, leading the Cavaliers over Cy-Fair in the Division I bracket. Corpus Christi Ray won the Division II bracket. "We wanted to establish a world-class basketball tournament and I feel that we have," founder Ben Meador said. "In a few short years, this tournament has grown in stature, not just because of the quality of the basketball played, but because of the support of hundreds of community volunteers and sponsors." The post-Thanksgiving Texas Jamboree was highlighted by teams from Houston, Dallas and Louisiana. Scouts covering the game were impressed with the likes of Dallas Episcopal junior guard Phil Pressey, Penn State-commit Tim Frazier from Strake Jesuit and Baton Rouge Istrouma's Ronald McGee. Also impressing from the Houston-area included seniors Joey Brooks (Notre Dame) of Strake and Westbury Christian power forward Kevin Perry. The underclassmen were led by juniors Mikhail McLean of Second Baptist and Tobi Oyedji of Bellaire, while sophomores Sheldon McClellan of Bellaire and Anthony Collins of Westbury Christian also shined. Freshman guard L.J. Rose of Second Baptist was one of the most surprising players of the weekend. -