Mater Dei Leads Pack in Orange Tournament

Mater Dei High School, the top-ranked team in the Orange County Sportswriters’ Assn. prep basketball poll, leads the list of entries in the 25th Orange Holiday Tournament that begins Tuesday at Chapman College’s Hutton Sports Center.

Mater Dei (8-1) won the Costa Mesa-Newport Harbor Tipoff and was the runner-up in the Tournament of Champions, losing to Long Beach Poly. Mater Dei is top-seeded in the 14-team Orange tournament.

The tournament features three teams--Saddleback (5-AA), Dominguez (4-A) and Orange Lutheran (2-A)--that advanced to Southern Section championship games last March.

Saddleback won the Orange tournament last year, defeating Mater Dei in the championship game. Saddleback (7-4) is seeded second and features forwards Jimmy Galbert and Elton Moore.

Third-seeded Foothill (6-3) has won six consecutive games after opening with three losses. Foothill features forward Mark Wilkinson, who has signed with Cal State Northridge.

Among the top players scheduled to compete are David Boyle (Mater Dei), Cherokee Parks (Marina), Rob Johnson (El Toro), Chauncey Woolridge (Santa Ana), Mike Merli (Fountain Valley), Jim Barker (Kennedy) and Daryl Cole (Orange Lutheran).

The championship game is scheduled for 8:50 p.m. Friday. The first-round pairings:

12:50 p.m.--Dominguez vs. Orange junior varsity; 2:20--Saddleback vs. Kennedy; 3:50--Orange Lutheran vs. Foothill; 5:30--Marina vs. Orange; 7:10--Alberta, Canada, Composite vs. El Toro; 8:50--Long Beach Wilson vs. Mater Dei. Fountain Valley and Santa Ana have byes.

Los Alamitos High School, coming off a 71-55 win over St. John’s in Washington, D.C., is the top-seeded team in the fifth Coast Christmas Classic scheduled to begin Tuesday at Estancia High.

Los Alamitos (7-3) won the Trabuco Hills Tournament and features 6-foot-11 center Robert Conlisk, who has signed with Arizona State.

Edison (7-3) is seeded second and features 6-foot-9 center Bill Martineau, who has signed with UC Santa Barbara. Edison also has sophomore Brandon Jessie in a lineup that has four starters returning from a team that finished in a three-way tie for the Sunset League title last season.

Tournament director Tim O’Brien said any of 11 teams in the 16-team field could win the championship. The top-seeded team the past three years has won only two games.

Among the top players scheduled to compete are Pat Nelson (Laguna Hills), Warren Johnson (Corona del Mar), Mustapha Abdi (Huntington Beach), Eric Cramer (Mission Viejo), John Hillman (Glendale Hoover), Augustin Heredia (Estancia), John Molle (Irvine) and Jared Rice (Cypress).

The championship game is scheduled for 8 p.m. Saturday. The first-round pairings:

Tuesday: 3:40 p.m.--Cypress vs. Edison; 5:20--Los Angeles Banning vs. Irvine; 7--Vista vs. Estancia; 8:40--Long Beach Jordan vs. Glendale Hoover.

Wednesday: 3:40 p.m.--Los Alamitos vs. Estancia JV; 5:20--Laguna Hills vs. Corona del Mar; 7--Tustin vs. Huntington Beach; 8:40--Costa Mesa vs. Mission Viejo.

Compton High School, with guard Calvin Curry and center Darnell Patterson, is the favorite to win the 24th Brea-Olinda Tournament beginning Tuesday at Brea-Olinda High.

Compton (8-2) has been the runner-up in the Laguna Beach and Irvine World News tournaments, losing to Lynwood and San Bernardino, respectively. Compton has a first-round bye.

Second-seeded Brea-Olinda features high-scoring forward Keith Walker, who rewrote the record book at the Tournament of Champions.

Walker established records for most points in a single game (50) and for the tournament (162 in four games).

The 15-team tournament will conclude with the championship game at 8:30 p.m. Saturday. The first-round pairings:

Tuesday: 3 p.m.--La Mirada vs. Centennial; 4:45--St. John Bosco vs. Sonora; 6:30--Fallbrook vs. Montclair; 8:15--El Modena vs. Brea-Olinda.

Wednesday: 4:45 p.m.--Buena Park vs. El Dorado; 6:30--Gahr vs. La Habra; 8:15--Whittier Christian vs. Sunny Hills. Compton has a bye.

Long Beach Millikan, the defending Southern Section 5-AA division champion, is the top-seeded team in the Katella Klassic beginning Tuesday at Katella High.

Millikan (9-3) has two starters--Demitrius Mayhand and Ibn Maddred--returning from its championship team. Millikan has lost to Cerritos in the Cerritos-Gahr Tournament, Redlands in the Irvine World News Tournament and to Marina in a nonleague game.

Western (6-2) is seeded second. Western has finished third in the Garden Grove and Fullerton tournaments.

Among the top players scheduled to compete are Sam Sabbara (Western), Steve Marusich (Servite), Chris Kirby (Villa Park) and David Green (Rancho Alamitos).

The championship game is scheduled for 8 p.m. Friday. The first-round pairings:

Tuesday: 6:30 p.m.--Western vs. Agoura; 8--Bell vs. Katella.

Wednesday: 6:30 p.m.--Servite vs. Rancho Alamitos; 8--Villa Park vs. Long Beach Millikan.

Loara and host Pacifica high schools are the co-favorites to win the Pacifica Varsity Tournament scheduled to begin Wednesday at Pacifica High.

Loara (8-0) is off to its best start in the school’s history behind the play of guard Tes Whitlock. Whitlock set a school record with 42 points against Western earlier this year in leading Loara to the Garden Grove Tournament championship.

Pacifica has an imposing front line of center Mike Maher (6-7) and forwards Randy Schulze (6-6) and Kevin Gaughen (6-4).

Santa Margarita, competing on the varsity level for only the second season, features 6-8 juniors Jeff Layne and Chris Hacker.

The championship game is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Friday. The first-round pairings on Wednesday:

3 p.m.--Pius X vs. Loara; 4:30--Dos Pueblos vs. Westminster; 6--Troy vs. Santa Margarita; 7:30--Magnolia vs. Pacifica.

Cerritos High School, featuring forward Kevin Williams and guard Scott Williams, is the favorite to win the Canyon Tournament beginning Wednesday at Canyon High in Anaheim.

Cerritos (8-1) is coming off the championship of the Fullerton Tournament. Other top teams entered include Dana Hills, Pomona and Esperanza. Newport Harbor is the defending champion.

Among the top players scheduled to compete are Johnny McWilliams (Pomona), Mark Minnieweathers (Bakersfield), Clayton Madden (South Bakersfield), Ian Long (Newport Harbor), J.B. Taylor (Dana Hills), Shawn Wiltshire (Southern California Christian) and Joe Foss (Esperanza).

The championship game is scheduled for 8 p.m. Saturday. The first-round pairings on Wednesday:

9 a.m.--Canyon vs. Cerritos; 10:40--Newport Harbor vs. Los Amigos; 12:20--Pomona vs. South Bakersfield; 2 p.m.--Bakersfield vs. Fresno Tracy; 3:40--Dana Hills vs. Bolsa Grande; 5:20----Esperanza vs. Anaheim; 7--Antioch vs. Burroughs Ridgecrest; 8:40--Valencia vs. Southern California Christian.