When It’s Time to Play During Holidays, There’s No Place Like Road : Travel: Straying from home can have lots of benefits. Basketball teams find fresh opponents, not to mention a chance to see the sights.

For many Orange County high school basketball teams, playing in holiday tournaments offers about as much excitement as finding a pair of socks under the Christmas tree. It’s standard, dependable fare, but not the stuff of which memories are made.

Perhaps that’s why several county teams choose to hit the high road during the holidays, venturing to games and tournaments across the state or around the country.

Kissimmee, Fla.; Pine Bluff, Ark.; Carson City, Nev.; and St. Louis, Mo. . . . Orange County teams will travel (or have traveled) to these and other destinations this holiday season. “If you play three Orange County tournaments, you’re bound to play the same teams that you’d meet in your league or in other games during your season,” said El Toro Coach Tim Travers, whose team will compete in the Carson City (Nev.) Capital tournament today through Friday.

“I think it’s good to get away, see other styles of play, other teams,” Travers said. “I’ve had a lot of coaches call me and ask me about traveling (for outside competition). I think there’s a lot of interest.”

Several other county teams are going--or have gone--the distance this season. They include:

--Mater Dei played Dec. 7 in the Coca-Cola Shootout in St. Louis, Mo., where it defeated four-time Illinois state champion, East St. Louis Lincoln, 62-48.

--Los Alamitos played in Hyattsville, Md., Tuesday night and lost, 78-60, to perennial power DeMatha High School.

Los Alamitos also will play at St. John’s of Washington D.C., another highly respected, national-class prep team, Thursday night.

--Capistrano Valley will travel to the King Cotton tournament at Pine Bluff, Ark., Dec. 26-30.

--Ocean View will compete in the Great Florida Shootout today through Saturday at Kissimmee.

Such competition gives Orange County teams a chance to return with a better sense of their cross-country counterparts. Ocean View Coach Jim Harris said one of his favorite memories is of former Ocean View standout Ricky Butler, now at UC Irvine, matching up with J.R. Reid, now playing for the Charlotte Hornets, at the Raleigh Times tournament in North Carolina.

“Ricky outscored him, he stole the ball from J.R. the last minute and was shooting over him,” Harris said. “And J.R. Reid was already a legend then, signing autographs and everything.”

Of course, traveling around the country to play in some of the nation’s most prestigious tournaments offers has several benefits.

Coaches say traveling together helps players develop better camaraderie with their teammates, and the educational and cultural experiences gained with their travels makes it more than worthwhile.

At the King Cotton tournament at Pine Bluff, Ark., for instance, the small town comes alive during the tournament week. A golf tournament and a 10K run add to the festive atmosphere.

“Every time you step into a barber shop or anywhere they want to know who you are and then they’ll root for you,” Harris said. “That’s what makes it so special.”

Said Los Alamitos Coach Steve Brooks, whose team will receive a VIP sightseeing tour of the White House during their eight-day trip to Washington, D.C.:

“I think travel is very beneficial. . . . The trip to Washington needs no justification. We’re going to see the Smithsonian, we’re getting tours of the FBI, Congress, Mt. Vernon . . . Some of my kids (from previous teams) come back and tell me that those trips were some of their fondest memories from high school.”

Most teams that travel do so through plenty of preseason fund raising--car washes, candy sales, free-throw-a-thons, etc. But in some of the more prestigious prep tournaments, such as the King Cotton tournament, the event sponsors pay for all expenses of invited teams.

Said Mater Dei Coach Gary McKnight, who, because of his team’s national reputation, must turn down invitations to some of the best prep tournaments every year: “We wouldn’t go if we had to pay for it.”

But Mater Dei--as well as Ocean View, Los Alamitos and Capistrano Valley--won’t be traveling cross-country again until 1992, though it won’t be because of lack of money or desire. Two years ago, the Southern Section adopted rule 702.1, which restricts teams from traveling farther than 500 miles one way more than once every three years.

According to Dean Crowley, the Southern Section associate commissioner of athletics, rule 702.1 was adopted because of financial considerations, but also because it seemed to be “a very attractive recruiting tool,” for some schools.

“I don’t want to use the word recruiting but I don’t know of any other word I can use,” Crowley said. “Our executive committee became concerned, we researched it . . . The strong, good programs seemed to be the ones who were doing (all the traveling), the run of the mill schools weren’t.”

While all of the aforementioned coaches believe the Southern Section rule is unfair--”It’s almost as if they’re trying to limit you to some level of mediocrity,” Harris said--most say they will adjust by scheduling tournaments closer to home.

Of course, not all Orange County teams feel the need to travel far.

Many teams head south to San Diego. Others go east to the Inland Empire. And some go north, as Fountain Valley, Anaheim and Santa Margarita did last week to compete at Arroyo Grande.

The Arroyo Grande tournament, an eight-team tournament in its 17th year, draws rave reviews from Orange County teams. The tournament is sponsored by the town’s Optimist Club, which goes all-out to make it special for all involved.

The tournament features free chicken and steak barbecue dinners for all the players and coaches, as well as free breakfasts served at a local church. The atmosphere is small town--the population is 11,000--and the gymnasiums are packed by supportive crowds.

“It’s a real intimate atmosphere,” said former Fountain Valley Coach Dave Brown, who took many teams there before he left Fountain Valley for Laguna Hills this year.

Said Anaheim Coach Conrady Byars, whose team has played at Arroyo Grande for the past five years: “Arroyo Grande’s just an unique environment. Orange County is so hectic and rushed, kids need to see some hills without houses all over them. . . . I think, no matter where you go, it’s really important for them to see an alternate life style.”