Notre Dame Plays Host to Basketball Showcase

A field of 16 teams, including an entry from the Bahamas, opens play today in an American Roundball Corp. basketball tournament at Notre Dame High.

The Future Stars Showdown, in its second year, features high school players from five states.

“There will be plenty of good players out there,” ARC founder Rich Goldberg said. “Some of the best returning high school talent in the area will be represented.”

The field includes out-of-state entries from Provo, Utah; Seattle; Indianapolis; Reno; Utah Valley, Utah; and Bellevue, Wash. Also in the field are teams from the South Bay, San Jose and Northern California.

There are three Valley-area teams in the tournament, including defending champion San Fernando Valley.

San Fernando, Mid-Valley and South Valley return to represent the Valley area, joining three teams from the greater Los Angeles area--Pump ‘N Run, South Los Angeles and Los Angeles.

San Fernando, coached by Joe Dunn of Bell-Jeff High, is led by two Times’ All-Valley players who will be seniors in the fall--Mitchell Butler of Oakwood and Adonis Jordan of Cleveland. San Fernando also features 6-10 center Nick Sanderson of Bell-Jeff.

Mid-Valley’s top players include Chris Dyer of Bell-Jeff, Brian Jones of Notre Dame, Dana Jones of North Hollywood, Eric Thomas of Rio Mesa and Brandon Bryce of Crespi.

South Valley is led by Jason Henderson of Faith Baptist and Jason Deyoe of Taft. The Los Angeles roster includes Rick Garrick of Chatsworth.

Teams will compete in pool play through Friday, with the winners of the four pools advancing to the semifinals at 10 and 11:30 a.m. on Saturday. The championship game is Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

Pool 1 includes Mid-Valley, Bellevue, Utah Valley and South L.A.; Pool 2 is composed of San Fernando, Reno, Bahamas and San Jose; Pool 3 is made up of Provo, South Valley, L.A. and Seattle; and Pool 4 has Northern California, South Bay, Pump ‘N Run and Indianapolis.

Today’s schedule: Provo vs. Seattle at 9 a.m., Bahamas vs. San Jose at 10:30, Bellevue vs. South L.A. at noon, Northern California vs. Pump ‘N Run at 1:30 p.m., South Bay vs. Indianapolis at 3, L.A. vs. South Valley at 4:30, San Fernando vs. Reno at 6 and Mid-Valley vs. Utah Valley at 7.