Salesian College Prep and Bella Vista made the most of their long trips to the 2018 Chick-fil-A Classic in Columbia, South Carolina, finishing atop a tournament field that included two of the nation’s best college prospects. 

Salesian Prep — from Richmond, California, in the Oakland area — claimed the American Division championship with a 45-39 win over local South Carolina school Dorman. 

Bella Vista (Scottsdale, Arizona) opened the Classic against the Class of 2019’s No. 1 recruit, Anthony Edwards, and Holy Spirit Prep. The Bears parlayed their 81-70 win over Holy Spirit tournament into a semifinal victory over Sunrise Christian, then capped it off defeating St. Frances 55-46 in the National Division championship. 

The National bracket featured Edwards and five-star University of Memphis signee James Wiseman of Memphis East, but it was a Bella Vista squad with Arizona recruit Terry Armstrong hoisting the hardware. 

Armstrong earned the National Division’s Most Valuable Player award, while teammate Addison Patterson delivered a 17-point, 10-rebound double-double in the championship game to earn All-Tournament honors. 

Wiseman was named the division’s Most Outstanding Player for Memphis East. Edwards made the All-Tournament Team, joining Adrian Baldwin of St. Frances, N’Faly Dante of Sunrise Christian and Dishon Thomas of Hillcrest Prep. 

In the American Division, Salesian’s Shane Bell garnered Most Valuable Player. Bell scored 11 points in Salesian’s defensive title tilt with Dorman to set the pace for the champion, while divisional Most Outstanding Player Myles Tate scored 14 points for Dorman. 

Tate presumably bolstered his status in the class of 2020. The current 3-star point guard is drawing local interest from South Carolina head coach Frank Martin, per 247Sports.com. 

Tate’s Dorman teammate P.J. Hall was also named All-Tournament. He joined Jalen Duren of Roman Catholic, Tommy Bruner of Gray Collegiate, Norcross’ Brandon Boston and Raekwon Horton of Keenan. 

Dorman knocked off Gray Collegiate and Keenan to earn its way into the championship. Salesian opened its cross-country excursion with a win over Norcross, and a semifinal defeat of Independence. 

Salesian opened the Chick-fil-A Classic ranked No. 3 in the state of California, the highest-rated undefeated team remaining in the Golden State. Salesian is unlikely to bypass top-ranked Sierra Canyon, which won the Les Schwab Invitational championship the same night Salesian handled business in South Carolina. 

However, the possibility of a NorCal-SoCal showdown for the state crown come March gains some intrigue with Salesian’s strong showing at the Chick-fil-A Classic.

Kyle Kensing is a freelance sports journalist in southern California. Follow him on Twitter @kensing45.