No easy games in the Santa Barbara Tournament

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There are several quality girls’ basketball programs in the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions, the most high profile of which just might be Perris, or perhaps Troy, two teams ranked in The Times’ preseason top 25 poll. But make no mistake, the route to the title game won’t be easy.

Harvard-Westlake is traditionally tough, as is Hart, which never goes down without putting up a fight. Other teams that could pose problems for the favorites are Newbury Park and Palmdale. And don’t be surprised if underdogs such as Ventura and Buena both do well against the stacked field.

First-round play begins Wednesday at Bishop Diego, Dos Pueblos and San Marcos high schools. The championship game is at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday at Santa Barbara. Predicting a winner in this one is difficult, so instead of making a random guess, I’ll just enjoy the competitive nature of the tournament action.

-- Sean Ceglinsky