biw first round matchups

We finally received the Best In the West Invitational first round matchups, and this is going to again be a great tournament with some of the top teams in the West. The tournament will run from December 27-30, and all games will be played at Long Beach State (In the East Gym and the Goldmine), with a couple of games also at Lakewood HS.

The top seeded teams in the tournament are, in order: (1) Artesia, (2) Dominguez, (3) Long Beach Poly, (4) Clovis West, (5) Long Beach Jordan, (6) St. Ignatius (San Francisco), (7) Compton Centennial, and (8) Bishop Montgomery.

Game No.	Time	Venue	Opponents
1	6:00 p.m.	West	Artesia v. Cabrillo
2	11:30 a.m.	East	Pasadena v. Harvard-Westlake
3	7:15 p.m.	East	Crossroads v. Fresno Hoover
4	5:45 p.m.	East	Hanford v. #8 Bishop Montgomery
5	11:45 a.m.	West	#5 Long Beach Jordan v. Morningside
6	1:20 p.m.	West	LA Washington v. Upland
7	10:15 a.m.	West	Archbishop Mitty v. Tampa Catholic
8	4:25 p.m.	West	Long Beach Millikan v. #4 Clovis West
9	7:30 p.m.	West	#3 Long Beach Poly v. Southgate
10	10:00 a.m.	East	Canyon Springs v. Bakersfield
11	8:50 p.m.	East	Palisades v. Fontana
12	1:05 p.m.	East	Lakewood v. #6 St. Ignatius
13	2:55 p.m.	West	#7 Centennial v. Long Beach Wilson
14	2:40 p.m.	East	Ayala v. Verbum Dei
15	4:10 p.m.	East	Bellarmine Prep v. Gardena Serra
16	9:05 p.m.	West	LA Jordan v. #2 Dominguez

We'll have the brackets posted up but, for the sake of simplicity, just imagine that the above is a bracket, so that the winner of each game goes on to the right, and the losers to the left. . . . get the picture? Well, as soon as we have time to do the bracket, we'll post it up. For now, these are pretty good looking first round matchups.

For those who just have to know, the Consolation Championshipp will be at 2:10 p.m. in the West Gym on 12/30, while the finals in the Championship bracket are at 9:00 p.m. in the West Gym (the Goldmine). There will be a number of other great games, including the 3rd place game at 7:30 p.m., the 5th place game at 5:20 p.m. and the 9th place game at 3:45 p.m.

This is a really tough tournament, and as last year proved, even the No. 1 seeded team (last year it was Artesia too) can get knocked off, as they were by Verbum Dei in a semifinal contest. This year should be just as exciting, and we'll have team rosters, profiles and more as the tournament approaches. For now, mark your calendars, and don't plan anything else.