L. A. Games to Offer an Early Look at Top Basketball Squads

The high school basketball season may have officially ended with the state championships in March. And it does not officially begin again until late November.

But many of the area’s top schools will preview next season’s teams in the Los Angeles Games, which begin today at various sites throughout the Southland.

There are 128 teams in the boys’ tournament, including Manual Arts, the 1988 state Division I champion and the City Section 4-A Division runner-up this season.

Cleveland heads the list of Valley-area entries. The Cavaliers will play Santa Ana Valley in the opening round at El Camino College in Torrance at 4 this afternoon.

In other first-round games, Rio Mesa will play El Camino Real at Banning High at noon, Taft will face Western Christian at Dorsey High at 1, and Burroughs will play Mission Viejo at El Camino College at 2.

Second- and third-round games in the single-elimination tournament will be held Sunday and later rounds will be played next weekend.

Basketball is one of 12 sports being contested at the L. A. Games.

The others are baseball, seven-man football, track and field, karate, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, water polo, wrestling and volleyball.

Chatsworth, which defeated Palisades for the City 4-A title in boys’ volleyball, will compete in that sport.

Other leading local teams include Thousand Oaks, Alemany and North Hollywood in girls’ basketball; and Canyon and Granada Hills in football.

Chatsworth, the 1989 City girls’ soccer champion, is also expected to play.