SoCalHoops High School News

More Must See Events This Season--(Dec. 3, 1998)

Louis Johnson of the Long Beach Press-Telegram published his "Must See" events for the 1998 high school basketball season involving SoCal teams and players.  His list was six events long.  We'd expand the list to a few more, and would include one more MLK weekend event, the Double Pump adidas MLK Hoops Festival, and the Nike Winter National Championship.  Here are Louis' six events for the 1998-99 basketball season, together with our additions to the list:

TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS

Dec. 7-12 at Ocean View and Mater Dei

This has been one of the top tournaments in Southern California for the past 26 years, and this year's edition might be the best ever. Area squads Jordan, Compton and St. John Bosco will join a 20-team field that includes the host schools and Crenshaw, Ayala, Serra, Westchester, Redondo, Morningside and A.B. Miller.  The tournament has actually been expanded from a traditional 16 team format this year, and will be played at two locations.

REEBOK HOLIDAY CLASSIC

Dec. 19-23 at Las Vegas (multiple sites)

Another loaded field for what has become the nation's premier boys basketball tournament. Two-time defending champion Mt. Zion
Academy of Durham, N.C., is one of four nationally-ranked squads in the 54-team field. Virginia's Oak Hill Academy, which has produced more McDonald's All-Americans than any school in the country, will be vying for the title with Dominguez, Mater Dei, Westchester, Inglewood, Jordan, Fresno Washington Union and Mountain View of Mesa, Ariz. Games will be played at Durango and Cimarron-Memorial High Schools.  We will be posting the first round matchups and schedules for this one early next week so you can plan your trip.

BEST IN THE WEST

Dec. 26-30 at LBSU and Lakewood HS

This tourney has built a reputation as the best in California, and hoop fans won't find a 32-team field better than this one in the state this year. Artesia, Dominguez, Poly and Compton are the top four seeds for what has become the must-see tournament in December. Among the teams in the field: Jordan, Bishop Montgomery, Verbum Dei, Ayala, Clovis West, Morningside, Palisades and San Jose Bellarmine Prep. Area teams include Millikan, Lakewood, Centennial and San Pedro. 

NIKE HOLIDAY CLASSIC

Dec. 26-31 at San Diego (7 different locations)

While this one somewhat cuts into the BIW, the San Diego Nike Holiday Prep Classic is fast developing into one of the premier eventrs on the west coast and it will be better than ever. And from what we've seen so far, some of the first round matchups look like they'll be
better than some of the past years' championship games. The tournament will run from December 26-31 (no games on Sunday), and will feature 75 teams, including a 10 team girls' tournament, 4 Junior College teams playing some exhibitions, and so far, 61 boys teams in four brackets. The number 61 might seem odd, but it's not, and it will actually work out fine we're told, because of the restrictions on the number of games that some teams can play under their own state's high school rules.  This year, the tournament will be played at five sites, La Costa Canyon High, San Dieguito High, Torrey Pines High School, Rancho Bernardo High School, and San Diego State. The finals will be held on New Year's Eve, and will be played at the Cox Arena at San Diego State.

This one will include Crenshaw, Dominguez, Santa Monica Crossroads, Fairfax, Glendora, Simi Valley, USDHS, LA Fremont, San Diego Horizon, Inglewood, JW North, John Muir from Pasadena, Manual Arts LA, Ocean View, Villa Park and more. There will be top
teams from just about everywhere in the country, including four international teams from Australia.  Teams from other areas will include St Anthony's from New Jersey, St. Augustine New Orleans,  Andrew Jackson NY, Bishop O'Dowd from Oakland, Charlotte Christian, Christian Brothers New Jersey, Frontier Central from New York, Holmdel from New Jersey, Jesuit from Sacramento, Juanita from Seattle, Palo Verde from Las Vegas, Paul Robeson from New York, Roosevelt from Seattle, St. Dominic's from New York, Springville Utah, Timpanagos from Utah, and Chapparal from Arizona.

ADIDAS- DOUBLE PUMP MLK HOOPS FESTIVAL

Saturday,  January 16, 1999 at Cal State Dominguez Hills

If you have only one weekend to see basketball during the entire year, then this would be the weekend, and there will be not just one, but two big MLK events this year.  The first one will be on Saturday, January 16, 1999 at Cal State Dominguez Hills.  The lineup for this one includes: Los Alamitos vs Chaminade, Canyon vs. Ocean View, Inglewood vs. Redondo Beach, Fontana vs. Fairfax, Sylmar vs. Simi Valley,  Verbum Dei vs. Fresno Washington Union, Long Beach Poly vs. Long Beach Jordan, Artesia vs. Mayfair,  Bishop Montgomery vs. Serra.

NIKE DREAM CLASSIC

Monday, January 18, 1999  at Pauley Pavilion

If you don't have an entire weekend, but have only one day and have to choose between either the Adidas or Nike events, you won't want to miss spending the day at UCLA on Jan. 18 for what should be the best single-day event of the season. The matchups: Jordan vs. Verbum Dei, Inglewood vs. Redondo, Fairfax vs. Simi Valley, Poly vs. Manual Arts, Capistrano Valley vs. Glendora, Dominguez vs.
Mater Dei and Compton vs. Crenshaw. Simply put, you have to be there.

ARTESIA-POLY CLASSIC

Jan. 30 at L.A. Southwest College

This 4-game event offers a break during the league season to see some of the top local powers pitted against each other. The matchups include Poly vs. Dominguez, Artesia vs. Compton, Pasadena vs. Verbum Dei and Mater Dei vs. Anaheim Canyon. A capacity crowd filled the Gold Mine last season for this event, and you can expect another one at L.A. Southwest.

NIKE EXTRAVAGANZA

Feb. 6 at CS Fullerton

Oak Hill Academy of Virginia edged Dominguez in overtime in this event last season, and the two teams will meet again this season. Other games include Poly vs. Villa Park, Capistrano Valley vs. Artesia and Oakland Bishop O'Dowd vs. Mater Dei.

SOUTHERN SECTION BOYS' PLAYOFFS AND CHAMPIONSHIPS

Preliminary Rounds:

Wednesday, February 17
Friday,  February 19
Tuesday February 23
Friday, February 26
Tuesday, March 2

SOUTHERN SECTION BOYS' CHAMPIONSHIPS

Friday, March 5,  TBD
Saturday, March 6, The Pond/Anaheim

STATE PLAYOFFS

Regional  Playoffs
Tuesday March 9
Saturday March 11
Tuesday March 13

STATE FINALS

Friday & Saturday, March 19 & 20, The Pond, Anaheim

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