LAS VEGAS -- The Big Time Tournament tipped off at 9 a.m. Monday with 20 games spread over 10 high schools across the Las Vegas landscape. And right away, a nice rematch took place in the auxiliary gym of Green Valley High School.

The Atlanta Celtics and Los Angeles Rockfish met previously at the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions over the Memorial Day Weekend in Cameron Indoor Stadium. And, while the location of this clash may have been lacking the big-time feel of an ACC venue, the rematch lived up to expectations.

Back in Durham, the Celtics using their inside dominance to beat the Rockfish by double-digits. And, once again, this game featured a top rising senior small forward facing off against one of the country's top rising junior forwards. Specifically, it was 6-6 rising senior Justin Hawkins (Mayfair H.S./Lakewood, Calif.) and his Rockfish teammates squaring off against 6-8 rising junior Josh Smith (McEachern H.S./Powder Springs, Ga.).

The Rockfish, looking for some payback, jumped off quickly to a 13-2 lead, behind six early points from 6-1 rising senior Jimmy Goffredo (Crescenta Valley H.S./La Crescenta, Calif.).

"I think everybody was looking forward to it , we came out hard and got the lead quickly," said Hawkins. "We really wanted to take it to them."

But, with the Rockfish's lead growing to as much as 18 in the first half (L.A. led 47-31 by halftime), it was Smith who decided to take matters into his own hands after the break. Smith started to hit jumpers from all over the floor. From as deep as 26 feet, the lefty had his stroke going and he also made some strong drives to the bucket.

"I guarded him a little bit," said Hawkins. "He's pretty good, he's only gonna be a junior and if he keeps working on his game, I'm pretty sure that there's no team in the country that wouldn't want him.

"In the past, I've seen him drive a lot, try to dunk on people but today he was intent on shooting jumpers. This is the first time I've really seen him shoot that well. He hit a couple of deep ones. It was a little shocking. If I were to play him again, I'd respect that and guard him a little tighter."

The Rockfish had little trouble with Atlanta's halfcourt trap and were successful early with their post defense against the Celtics' very tall and very talented frontline of 6-10 rising junior Dwight Howard (Southwest Christian H.S./Atlanta, Ga.), 6-10 rising junior Randolph Morris (Landmark Christian H.S./Atlanta, Ga.) and 6-9 rising senior Boubacar Coly (Laurinburg Institute/Laurinburg, N.C.).

"We knew that they'd want to go inside. When you look at them, you realize that their size is their strength," said Hawkins. "We played pretty good interior defense and that was a big difference."

As eye-popping as some of Smith's long-range jumpers were, it was a take to the bucket that was the most memorable. He drove past his defender, elevated and threw down a nasty two-handed dunk over Rockfish starting center, 6-9 rising senior Gary Hamilton.

"He took off from pretty far from the basket and he really got up," said Hawksins. "Gary said he didn't think that Josh would try to take off from that far. It was pretty nice."

Smith, who ended up with 34 points, still wasn't enough to bring the Celtics back. Goffredo was the catalyst for the Rockfish, knocking down 3 of 5 3-point attempts and also attacking the basket off the dribble for pull-up jumpers. Goffredo, who is a top student (4.6 GPA/32 ACT/1,320 SAT), also snared several big rebounds and even blocked the shot of one of Atlanta's big men. He finished with 25 points while Hawkins, finished with a rather quiet 20 points.

For Hawkins, who continually challenged Atlanta's frontline with strong takes to the basket, it was his tenacity which seal the Rockfish win.

"We had the big lead and felt comfortable," said Hawkins. "I was just trying to maintain the lead and get to the free throw line. Since we were in bonus, I wanted to be at the line and have the chance to win the game."

Hawkins, 9-14 from the free throw line for the game, made 7 of his last 10 free throws down the stretch to seal the win. While Smith, who had the 100 or so college coaches in the auxilliary game buzzing about his performance, might have won the battle, it was Hawkins and the Rockfish who won the war.

"It wasn't my best game," said Hawkins. "I thought I played solid, I was just trying to do what I could to win the game. I didn't play bad, I just went out there and played hard."

David Benezra and Mark Mayemura cover the national college basketball recruiting scene. E-mail at: hoopsusa@mindspring.com or call (818) 783-2244 or (818) 783-2212 for subscription information.